ARC,
Over the years I have read a variety of posts on the ARC stressing the importance of wearing gloves when working in your tank/ handling live rock. Last Saturday, I scratched my forearm on a piece on a piece of LR while moving my tank to the new house.... this "scratch" has turned out to be one of the most hellish experiences of my life.
I sustained the scratch on Saturday afternoon and did not think anything of it. I have nicked my hands probably a hundred times in this hobby and never had any negative consequences. On Sunday morning, at about 7 am, I woke up in severe pain. My forearm was EXTREMELY swollen and I clearly had a fever/ chills. Now, I don't normally go to the doctor unless I am about to die, but in this instance I immediately asked my wife to take me to the ER.
At the hospital, I was put on an IV and given about 5 different medications to help with the pain, swelling, and infection. I felt a little bit better after the meds and was sent home on Sunday afternoon.
Pic from the ER
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On Monday, the scratched area still hurt, but there was no swelling or fever. Around noon, I noticed that the red area around the scratch had begun to spread all over my forearm. I made an appointment with my family practice doctor, and by the time I got to his office, a read streak had run from up forearm up my bicep. My doctor took one look at the infection and instructed me to go back to the hospital.
Pic Monday afternoon
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I was admitted to the hospital on Monday afternoon and was seen by an Infectious Disease doctor. I received infusions for approx 40 hours, and was given a mix of 3 different antibiotics. Blood cultures came back as negative, so the infection was considered to be localized and not systemic. Despite this news, I was scared to death... no one really knew what kind of bacteria was causing the infection and I saw no real improvement for the first 24 hours.
As of this morning, the redness has finally stopped spreading and has regressed slightly... I am finally getting to go home! I am going to take oral antibiotics from home and will hopefully not have to go back to the hospital for any more infusions.
Leaving the hospital
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This experience has been scary as hell... I am just praying that this terrible event is almost over.
Over the years I have read a variety of posts on the ARC stressing the importance of wearing gloves when working in your tank/ handling live rock. Last Saturday, I scratched my forearm on a piece on a piece of LR while moving my tank to the new house.... this "scratch" has turned out to be one of the most hellish experiences of my life.
I sustained the scratch on Saturday afternoon and did not think anything of it. I have nicked my hands probably a hundred times in this hobby and never had any negative consequences. On Sunday morning, at about 7 am, I woke up in severe pain. My forearm was EXTREMELY swollen and I clearly had a fever/ chills. Now, I don't normally go to the doctor unless I am about to die, but in this instance I immediately asked my wife to take me to the ER.
At the hospital, I was put on an IV and given about 5 different medications to help with the pain, swelling, and infection. I felt a little bit better after the meds and was sent home on Sunday afternoon.
Pic from the ER
On Monday, the scratched area still hurt, but there was no swelling or fever. Around noon, I noticed that the red area around the scratch had begun to spread all over my forearm. I made an appointment with my family practice doctor, and by the time I got to his office, a read streak had run from up forearm up my bicep. My doctor took one look at the infection and instructed me to go back to the hospital.
Pic Monday afternoon
I was admitted to the hospital on Monday afternoon and was seen by an Infectious Disease doctor. I received infusions for approx 40 hours, and was given a mix of 3 different antibiotics. Blood cultures came back as negative, so the infection was considered to be localized and not systemic. Despite this news, I was scared to death... no one really knew what kind of bacteria was causing the infection and I saw no real improvement for the first 24 hours.
As of this morning, the redness has finally stopped spreading and has regressed slightly... I am finally getting to go home! I am going to take oral antibiotics from home and will hopefully not have to go back to the hospital for any more infusions.
Leaving the hospital
This experience has been scary as hell... I am just praying that this terrible event is almost over.
