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A Week in Photos: 2023, Part 40
October 10, 2023
Monday, October 2: When I got home from my trip last week, I was feeling tired, which seemed appropriate. I gave myself permission to not jump back into all my usual social activities and just stuck close to home, getting a start on unpacking and laundry and such. Except I was still feeling tired at the end of the week, and some bug bites (or maybe heat rash or a reaction something else—with my skin it’s hard to know what’s irritated it) I’d been keeping an eye on were getting worse instead of healing. I even ran a low grade fever a couple afternoons. When I woke up on this particular day with a swollen, red, and goopy eye, I decided it was time to seek outside help. Amazingly, I was able to get a same day appointment, which is how I came to be waiting in this room for a doctor I don’t usually see (my normal nurse practitioner wasn’t available). She looked at my eye and looked at my spots (only two were concerning at that point) and took a swab for testing and asked some questions and I left with a prescription for strong antibiotics and instructions for “wound care”.
Tuesday, October 3: Was resting on the couch when I heard a helicopter. Looked out the window to see it was ferrying lift parts being installed on the new chair going into the beginners’ area. Joked to myself that it was rather rude of them to use a helicopter that blended so well with the trees so I had to zoom in to make it even barely show up.
Wednesday, October 4: Another day of resting, as I was not feeling better despite the antibiotics (or maybe because of them). My temperature spiked to 101.6, higher than it had been before I went to the doctor. At least I had bright yellow leaves to look at from one of the bedroom windows.
Thursday, October 5: Same story as the day before, with resting and spiking a fever. It was World Teacher’s Day, and the Happy Color app had some pictures for the occasion.
Friday, October 6: Given that I was feeling worse than I had when I went to the doctor on Monday, what with the fevers plus the fact that the two spots that were concerning then were worse now plus a third had developed from not a problem at all to yes a problem, I called the office and they were able to get me in to see my regular nurse practitioner that afternoon. She listened to me, looked at my spots, and shared my concerns. She also shared that there were no results from the sample taken on Monday as the lab said it was not usable when they got it. She offered the option of lancing the sores to see if that would help them drain better and reduce the painful swelling, and I accepted. Getting numbed with like six shots of lidocane was the worst part. She gave me prescriptions for a different oral antibiotic and a topical antibiotic and asked me to come back Wednesday. When I finally got home from town after stops at the store for more wound care supplies and the pharmacy, I pulled into my driveway and got out to open the garage door and this doggo trotted up from somewhere. She accepted head scritches, looked in my car, looked in my garage, and and seemed like she might join me upstairs if I’d invited her in. Not sure where she belonged, and her collar had no tag, but there were a few cars at the condo just down the hill and she trotted off in that direction when it became clear I was going inside without her.
Saturday, October 7: What a difference the right drugs make. I woke up feeling better than I had all week. Still not healed, of course, but I had less fatigue and less pain and felt both relieved that it seemed I was finally getting better and frustrated that I’d wasted nearly a week before getting to this point. Forgot to take a picture until the day was waning, but the fall colors still looked nice out the front window when I remembered.
Sunday, October 8: Another day of feeling and seeing improvements.
On this date in 2022: A Week in Photos: 2022, Part 38
2011 to 2021: No entries
2010: Report Card Monday 10.10
2006 to 2009: No entries
2005: Laundry List
2002 to 2004: No entries