The Problem Arm

It's the little things that get you in trouble.
Those things that you don't even think about.
Hardly remember doing.
But it's the one domino to bring everything else down.

I've probably already done a blog post about this a while ago...but if not here's the story with a continuation of the problems.

So, waaaaay back before Thanksgiving I was making dinner.
Cooking bacon I think.
And wouldn't you know it.
My finger happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
And I burnt myself.
Oops.
I had the brief thought to place my finger under cold water. Might have even done it, but I can't remember for sure. I don't think I did. Because I always say I didn't.
In any case. I was in the middle of not burning my bacon.
So I continued on.
Thinking nothing more of the burn.

Cue somewhere around the same time.
At work, I ended up banging my elbow in the place multiple times in a row.
And it ended up hurting. Getting a little swollen.
I suppose I hit it just right....
But you could definitely feel a specific lump there.
And....as time passed.....it got bigger more feelable.

So.
Fast forward a couple of weeks.
Like the first week of December or so.
I took a weekend off to head home.
-I needed to use up some extra vacation time-
And it would be nice to take a break from scrubbing those fish tanks at work for a few days.

But while I was there...
My finger totally killed.
Like it ached, it was swollen, it was painful to the touch.

And wasn't getting better.
A little more time passed.
It was suggested that I might need to pop the area on my finger.
And get whatever puss/inflammation or whatever was in there, out.
Which I did.
And since I now had an open area on my finger.
I wrapped it up nice and snug in a Band-Aid with Neosporin to comfort it and get it better.

Only....
It wasn't getting better.
And just after Christmas.
I decided to have it checked out.
Because I was starting to get smaller reddened areas, three of them to be exact,
a little beyond the main burn.
Which. Was. Not. Good.
I knew what that meant.
It meant that whatever was wrong with my finger was spreading. The infection  was going elsewhere.
Never a good sign.
So I went and saw a Doctor.
Who prescribed a specific cream for that sort of burn/inflammation for me to use for a couple of weeks.
And if it didn't get better....well then I might need to see a Dermatologist for my problem.
At that same time, right before I saw the Doctor, I also started getting lumps on my arm. Just one on each side of my elbow. I wasn't sure what it was, but since my arm there was still tender, I thought maybe it was swelling or something. but didn't think it was anything to mention to the doctor. After all, I could have just hit my elbow there as well, and it was being irritated.

So for a couple of weeks....I did that. Put the cream on.
It was at the same point I went on my cruise.
And while I was on that cruise.
I noticed that the bumps by my elbow....were spreading.
Going in a line up my arm, towards my armpit. Four bumps. :S
Which I could only assume (cus I took anatomy in college) were that my lymphnodes were swelling up.
And if they were swelling up...then that wasn't good because that meant infection.
And there I was....in the middle of a cruise outside of the United States. :S

But thankfully... my Daddoo had brought some medicine with him, that were an anti-inflammatory or something like that. An antibiotic? I don't remember.
So I took that while on the cruise.
Along with spreading my cream on my finger.

Wondering if they were at all connected.
Because the finger is so far away from the elbow.
and I had no swollen lymphnodes on my forearm...

But. The medicine I had.
Wasn't helping.
So my Daddoo told me to go see a Doctor, again.

As soon as possible, after the cruise, I went up and saw my Cousin, who is a doctor.
And she recommended putting me on an antibiotic for like 10 days.
To see if that would help.
Mostly focused on the lymphnodes. But it could help a bit with my finger as well.

So for like two weeks after that.
I had to take take that medicine. Which was annoying in part because I'm a grazer/snacker. I eat little things throughout the day.
And the medicine had to be taken on an empty stomach.
Which meant I needed to take it either half an hour before I ate, or two hours after I ate.
So. Hard. To. Do. *shakes head*
But.
I managed.

And all the while I was still working at the PetStore.
But, I was careful to not get my finger dirty. -As I'd been forbidden to wear band aids as they can make it difficult for the skin to breathe and spread the inflammation.
But working in a petstore it wasn't like I could go around with my hand unprotected.
So for like a month and a half straight, I wore a single glove on the hand that had the burn.
(Ended up getting Called Michael more than once when the managers finally noticed what I was doing.)

The antibiotics seemed to work.
The swelling in the lymphnodes of my arm went down a bit. The swelling in my elbow also went down. And the redness of my finger also faded.

But....didn't disappear completely. >.<
Everything was still there.

Less obvious.
But still there.

And then.
Like three days after coming off the meds....
I ended up having an allergic reaction.
Had to go back to my cousin, to see if we could figure out what it was.
(No idea. I'm not aware of being allergic to anything....though I have decided it might have been a reaction to a particular bunch of tomatoes I'd recently bought...)
So once more, I was on drugs. Steroids of some sort this time if I recall correctly.
To get rid of the red spots that were covering me from basically head to toe.

That was like a week of meds.
Happened like two weeks ago that I took the last dosage?

And all the while....
My arm was slowly getting better.
Noticeably my finger was finally becoming less red, less swollen, healing! Yay!
The swelling in my elbow, basically gone.
But the lymphnodes?
Yah. Still feelable, still swollen.
The largest one is healing, though it got more red and scaley first, like a burn, but has healed even as it's gotten a bit more tender.

I don't know if it's just from how long I've had to deal with this, or something changed over the past week.
But then my arm has started getting achy.
In the elbow and shoulder.
Like I've been using it too much, though I haven't been using it at all.

In any case.
Since my hand was finally healing.
I've felt comfortable to go gloveless in the store now.
(Yay. It was sooo annoying.)
But, since I still had everything healing....
I've been careful to avoid scrubbing tanks with that arm. As I don't want to get another infection because all those problems haven't healed yet.
My poor right arm is getting soo tired of scrubbing tanks without my left arm's help.

In the meantime.
My Daddoo and my Cousin met up at my Daddoo's art event.
And got to talking about my arm.
As they're both in the medical field.

And finally decided....That they think they know why my arm is taking forever to heal.

Apparently.
In fish tanks.
There's a bacteria of some sort that exists there.
And can be spread to humans,
via contact through cuts or burns.
And it can be very difficult to remove quickly.
Especially because the symptoms appear to look like other problems, and those problems are treated first, while the bacteria isn't treated or something like that.
In any case. It's not a noticeable diagnosis. Or one people would think of.

But is common to fish tank owners, or in my case, pet store workers.

And if the problem goes untreated....it can cause more and more problems to appear.
Cue my paranoia. *shakes head*

So who knows if all the random little things I've been experiencing the past little while are all connected due to that bacteria. or just some of them.
More than likely all my arm problems are due to it.
I just hope none of the other random little things, like being a little more achy after work....are part of it.

In any case.
The decision was made that I should probably call my Cousin and get on some new antibiotics. Stronger ones. To help scourge the bacteria infection away if my arm wasn't noticeably improving.

And while I can see a difference in how my arm looks.
Other people who don't see it everyday, don't see a difference.
Which isn't good.

So today, I called my cousin, and had her prescribe me these medicines.
*sighs* It's another couple of weeks of having to take meds on an empty stomach. Boo. >.<
But at least this batch I only have to do once a day instead of twice, so it makes it easier.
I just have to remember that I can't eat anything dairy related for the first four hours after I take the meds.
Which since I basically only eat cheese....isn't a problem. Especially since I don't currently have any cheese to eat....

So. I get to start these new meds tomorrow.
I could have started them today.
But it's a lot easier to take the meds in the morning when I wake up, before work, as I don't eat right away when I wake up. So that will make things easier on me, especially considering I work at the same time everyday this week, it will help me stay consistent on taking the meds every 24 hours.

Here's to hoping that this time it works.
That I can finally get rid of this problem and be able to work without any restrictions at the end of it. :)

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi