Fast Fiction

I don’t often share personal details on my blog. But that’s not really the point of this story:

It was about two weeks ago, after some rather inept weeding in my yard, I noticed a little blister on my palm. After hung around for a couple of days I decided that there was a pricker or thorn at the heart of the blister so I dug around in there with a needle and found nothing, so I washed my hands and thought nothing more of it.

Two days later, not only was the initial blister back, but suddenly it was bigger (about the size of a pea) and had two other, smaller friends.

This was not normal blister behavior. Either you get a blister from abrasion or from getting into something that you’re allergic to.

A week went by and they got bigger. I kept it clean, washed them often with very hot water and soap then either wiped them with an alcohol swab or slathered them in neosporin. It didn’t seem to help so I finally gave in on Friday and went to the doctor.

I stumped him.

He looked at them and we talked about all the things they could possibly be. They didn’t seem to be an infection because they weren’t red (just clear fluid filled blisters), my temp was normal and my glands weren’t swollen. If they were poison oak they either would have subsided by now or burst and probably would have itched more and of course would be red. Chiggers aren’t found often in Los Angeles, and if you do get them they like to burrow into the softer areas like between the fingers, not the callouses on the palms. If they were boils or cysts they would originate deeper in the skin ... if they were shingles they’d be painful. We could rule out all the causes within the realm of normal possibility.

So the doctor sent me away with a prescription for Keflex (cephlaxin) and to call him on Monday if it wasn’t better. The only thing he could do is treat me for what was the most likely cause, which was some sort of infection.

And I’ll be damned if they’re not better.

I’m still curious how I ended up with some sort of infection that didn’t behave like an infection or if it’s not, it’s just going away on its own, coincidental to the antibiotics. Whatever it is, I’m going to finish the rest of this foul smelling Keflex.

I mean, I like feeling unique and special; but when it comes to medical matters, I’d like things to be rather by the book. I want my heart in my chest and my kidneys to be found on either side in my abdomen, my small intestines small and my large intestines large and my brain in my skull. And if I have something wrong with me and I go to the doctor, I want him to know what it is and know that they have a verified treatment for it.

Unfortunately it really doesn’t work that way. Luckily flesh is rather resiliant, self-healing stuff.