If you read my blog, you may also read my lovely wife’s blog, too. If so, you’ll know that we took a vacation last week to San Francisco and Lake Tahoe. If not, you can read about it HERE and HERE. Go ahead and read her recount because it’s better than anything I could retell.
Things started out great. Last Friday I got to see Rush in concert and they put on a wonderful show. My friend Matt and I have been fans of the group since high school, so seeing the band play is one of those rare male bonding things we take part in (Attending the occasional Raiders game is another).
I was feeling pretty great after the show, but also kind of tired because my body clock was telling me that 11:30pm means I should be in a coma since I usually get up at 4am for work. Anyway, I was just pretty hyped up from the show, so I decided to unwind with some Scotchy Scotch and TV. Finally around 12:30am I was feeling suitably sleepy so I dashed upstairs to shower and climb into bed.
In the morning, my ears were still ringing from the concert, and I noticed a red bump on my leg that looked like a mosquito bite or something. Not really worried about it, I got ready for our vacation to San Francisco (We stayed at the hotel Julie used to work at when we lived in The City a lifetime ago). That night at the hotel, I thought I was getting a bit of a fever, but kind of ignored it. Sunday, I woke up to see that one red bump at multiplied into several. I commented to Julie that it looked like I really got eaten by a “something,” she agreed but that was about it. I started to repeat throughout the day that I thought I was poisoned (because of the bites), but I was just saying it as a joke.
Some joke…
Monday, I woke up with the most amazing pain in my leg. And those bites? They had morphed into huge swollen pillow of poison. Julie said that I needed to call my doctor and I did. I got an appointment and once I was finally seen (4:00pm appointment really means 4:45pm and when you’re in pain, that’s an eternity) the doctor said that it looked like my leg was bitten by a “bug” but she was more concerned that my leg was infected. She took a culture and wrote a prescription for an antibiotic.
We stayed home on Tuesday so I could recover and see if the antibiotics worked. Thankfully they did and we were able to drive up to Tahoe. On Friday, Julie was checking our phone messages and the doctor’s office called to let me know that I had a staph infection and to keep taking the antibiotics since it was right one to treat the infection.
Because I wasn’t feeling 100% (as you could probably guess), I wasn’t up for much in terms of outdoorsy stuff like hiking, swimming, biking and the like – which frustrated me because I really wanted to do those things. So, for the most part, we just kind of sat around and relaxed, read, or watched TV. We did go boating a couple of times (which was fun), but again, I started to feel really out of it after too much activity, so I just kind of puttered out.
So while our vacation was relaxing, it wasn’t the kind of vacation where I came back feeling really relaxed and energized. Instead, I felt as though I had a week off from work because I was sick. 🙁
So kids, the moral of this story is: don’t get a staph infection on the eve of your vacation because it really sucks.
–PK
10 thoughts on “Semi-cation”
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Muh. Being sick on company time is MUCH better than being sick on vacation time. I’m glad you caught the infection before it got ugly, though. Staph infections can SUCK.
Think of all of those spiders we maligned in vein…
Oh man, staph infections can be very nasty indeed.
Ok, maybe I’m slow, but do you know HOW you got the infection? Was it from a bite that got infected?
It’s late and I’m confused… 😉
Very scary! I’m glad you got it taken care of and you’re on the road to recovery.
Gina: After spending too much time on the Internet looking at causes of staph, it seems that staph is everywhere and you can get an infection from just a minor cut. There are environmental conditions that make it more likely to get a staph infection, and one is heat. It was 102 at the Rush concert I attended and I wore jeans. The sweat, combinded with the fact that these jeans were kind of tight, may have ripped out a few leg hairs as I was dancing throughout the night. So the combo of heat, sweat, staph, and a small open wound = infection — at least that’s my take on what happened.
Bummer, being sick on vacation. Staph infection is nothing to take lightly. I am glad the meds kicked in. Hope you are back to your normal self.
That sucks that you weren’t feeling too great on your vacation. Scary about the bite though! I’m glad you were able to see a doctor before the infection became much, much worse!
Dude, that blows, Py.
You’d have thought that the blazing white hot sound of Alex’s guitar, the intense wind caused by the speed of Neil’s wrists and the piercing sound of Geddy’s vocals would have destroyed any bacteria at the concert!
Glad you’re feeling better.
I’m telling you PY, you gotta watch out for the TIGHT PANTS! haha
Although the vacation wasn’t exactly how you’d planned, it’s still nice to be with the ones you love away from the day to day.
Gross, those little bubbles that you pictured looks so cute, but they are deadly. Gald you are healing well.
Deardle Heart,
I’m so sorry that you got sick at all, and then that it was on vacation time just makes it worse.
And I’m so glac that you and Julie have the good sense to get to a doctor and don’t decide to stiff lip it out.
And best of all is that you are feeling better. Thank goodness for antibiotics.