Kicking and screaming

Here's what I learned about cellulitis, staph infections and men who make terrible patients. Number one: cellulitis. Not something to mess around with. Cellulitis is a streptococcus infection that kills skin cells, leading to painful inflammation of the skin, and general malaise...body aches, high fever, headache. It usually occurs in the face or lower leg. It is easy to diagnose because you can see it. There is a clear demarcation between where the cellulitis is and where the skin is normal. The doctor said it can be caused my a staph or strep infection that can get into the tiniest lesion in the skin. It could be as a result of a spider bite or from seemingly nothing at all. Staph and strep infections are everywhere. My friend told me that her doctor told her (is that hearsay, your Honor?) that staph/strep are usually found in the cleanest houses. Houses where they use a lot of antibacterial cleansers which kill, 97% of these bacteria, which means those 3% left become very strong....since they have nothing to compete with. So, bottom line is this...if you, or someone you care about, comes down with something like this, take them to the doctor right now. It is a serious condition that can lead to even more serious systemic infection that can lead to, gasp, "very bad things."

The other thing I learned, well, reaffirmed, is that men make terrible patients. They just can't accept the fact that they are sick. "Oh, let me just sleep it off," was what my "man patient" told his son when his son was trying to get him to the doctor. Luckily the son threatened the man with the worst threat of all....wasteful spending,( i.e. an ambulance ride) and the man complied. Oh so reluctantly. Then the whole time at the hospital (2 days in all, most of that time hooked up to intravenous antibiotics) he perceived the hospital staff to be the enemy. I had to remind this man a couple times that these people probably saved his life. Then the moment he felt better he wanted OUT. NOW. I've seen criminals convicted of lengthy sentences who took it better than this man who had to "do one more night in lockup."
Lucky for him he had a girlfriend with perfect reasoning skills and infinite common sense who helped him make the right decision.

So my point is this: if someone you love has these symptoms get him or her to the doc ASAP. It doesn't matter if they want to go or not. They won't be kicking and screaming very hard..because they won't feel well enough to put up a decent fight.