Gory medical details
Yep, Zachary is still in the picture and a lot has been going on. Let's start with my birthday:
Zachary asked me out for my birthday--well, the day after my birthday. That morning, Saturday 7/3, I woke up with a small lump near the base of my penis and a red lump/insect bite-looking thing on my leg. I didn't know what the lump was, thought it might be an ingrown hair, so I plucked a few hairs in the area to get rid of any ingrown hairs. (Not a good idea!) I went to work and didn't think much about the lump.
After work, Zachary was to meet me at my apartment. When he arrived he could tell I was distracted about something. Yeah, I was distracted! I'd been looking forward to going out with Zachary and then having him spend the night. He can be a bit of a germaphobe, so I knew the lump was going screw things up. (little did I know how much it would screw things up!) Anyway, he arrived and I took him into the bedroom to show him the lump. He was concerned and offered to take me to the ER. No Fuckin' way! I was suppose to have a date and we were going out!! lol. We went to a decent restaurant in Time Square and had a nice long, enjoyable dinner.
After dinner, I went to the bathroom and noticed that the lump had quadrupled in size, was painful in the lymph area and I was feeling kind of hot. I still figured I was just sleep it off. Fortunately, Zachary, insisted we go to the ER!
We arrived about midnight at the ER. I had a fever of 102! The doctor examined me and took a lot of tests and blood. Finally, he came in and said they were going to discharge me with a Rx for Cipro. About that time I noticed that the lump had grown about an inch up the shaft of my penis. I pointed this out to the Doctor, who appeared abit unnerved by the fast growth. He decided to get a urology consult (at 3am--you know I was popular with the on-call urologist!) They gave me an IV and started giving me intravenous antibiotics.
The resident urologist examines me and says, "Well the good news is that this isn't a fast growing form of gangrene(!!!) If it was we would have to take you into surgery and start removing tissue!! (NO! NO removing ANYTHING in that area!!!!!!!!) Instead, we think it is an aggressive form of cellulitis. It could have come from shaving or an insect bite or--have you received fellatio recently?"
"ummmm, yeah. two days ago, zachary performed 'fellatio' on me and nicked me with his teeth."
"Oh, it probably came from that. The human mouth has worse bacteria than even the anus! " says the Urologist. "Well, we are going to admit you for a few days and give you lots and lots of antibiotics intravenously."
Five days later (Thursday), I am discharged from the hospital. Zachary came to visit me everyday! He would massage me while I laid in bed. He also wiped me down with a cool towel, when I was feverish. Most times he just sat there and held my hand.
Others also came to visit. Verna came everyday and kept me company. She played cards with me until Zachary showed up and then she would leave. Also, Dave looked out for me while I was there. He stopped by a couple of times and check on me. He also talked with the Resident about a virulent strain of Staph that is floating around. The Doc actually changed my meds to reflect Dave's warning! (Yeah for Dave!)
Anyway, The saturday morning after I was discharge, I awoke to find that a couple of the swollen areas had burst--blood, pus, tissue all over my leg and the bed. UGH! I got up and cleaned everything; but the wound kept oozing pus. I called the Doctor. He said it was a good sign and told me to 'massage the area' to help the process.
I spent all day Saturday massaging the pus and fluids out of the area. UGH!
I am taking lots of oral antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory. Things are slowly returning to normal. I missed an entire week of work! I have no medical coverage! And I now have $9 in my bank account. OUCH!!!!!! Surprisingly I am not getting too depressed; although, it does suck to be me right now. I do trust the universe that things will pick up. I was able to work on Wednesday and today. Despite the drugs making me fatigued, I am able to work and give good massage!
Zachary has stuck with me thru it all. He has been very supportive. I keep telling him not to feel guilty; but he still does.
Ironically, he went to the ER last night for a cut on his figure that turned out to be cellulitis. We are both taking drugs!
Oh, BTW, while in the Hospital, I had an AIDS test. I was negative. Yeah for me!
Zachary asked me out for my birthday--well, the day after my birthday. That morning, Saturday 7/3, I woke up with a small lump near the base of my penis and a red lump/insect bite-looking thing on my leg. I didn't know what the lump was, thought it might be an ingrown hair, so I plucked a few hairs in the area to get rid of any ingrown hairs. (Not a good idea!) I went to work and didn't think much about the lump.
After work, Zachary was to meet me at my apartment. When he arrived he could tell I was distracted about something. Yeah, I was distracted! I'd been looking forward to going out with Zachary and then having him spend the night. He can be a bit of a germaphobe, so I knew the lump was going screw things up. (little did I know how much it would screw things up!) Anyway, he arrived and I took him into the bedroom to show him the lump. He was concerned and offered to take me to the ER. No Fuckin' way! I was suppose to have a date and we were going out!! lol. We went to a decent restaurant in Time Square and had a nice long, enjoyable dinner.
After dinner, I went to the bathroom and noticed that the lump had quadrupled in size, was painful in the lymph area and I was feeling kind of hot. I still figured I was just sleep it off. Fortunately, Zachary, insisted we go to the ER!
We arrived about midnight at the ER. I had a fever of 102! The doctor examined me and took a lot of tests and blood. Finally, he came in and said they were going to discharge me with a Rx for Cipro. About that time I noticed that the lump had grown about an inch up the shaft of my penis. I pointed this out to the Doctor, who appeared abit unnerved by the fast growth. He decided to get a urology consult (at 3am--you know I was popular with the on-call urologist!) They gave me an IV and started giving me intravenous antibiotics.
The resident urologist examines me and says, "Well the good news is that this isn't a fast growing form of gangrene(!!!) If it was we would have to take you into surgery and start removing tissue!! (NO! NO removing ANYTHING in that area!!!!!!!!) Instead, we think it is an aggressive form of cellulitis. It could have come from shaving or an insect bite or--have you received fellatio recently?"
"ummmm, yeah. two days ago, zachary performed 'fellatio' on me and nicked me with his teeth."
"Oh, it probably came from that. The human mouth has worse bacteria than even the anus! " says the Urologist. "Well, we are going to admit you for a few days and give you lots and lots of antibiotics intravenously."
Five days later (Thursday), I am discharged from the hospital. Zachary came to visit me everyday! He would massage me while I laid in bed. He also wiped me down with a cool towel, when I was feverish. Most times he just sat there and held my hand.
Others also came to visit. Verna came everyday and kept me company. She played cards with me until Zachary showed up and then she would leave. Also, Dave looked out for me while I was there. He stopped by a couple of times and check on me. He also talked with the Resident about a virulent strain of Staph that is floating around. The Doc actually changed my meds to reflect Dave's warning! (Yeah for Dave!)
Anyway, The saturday morning after I was discharge, I awoke to find that a couple of the swollen areas had burst--blood, pus, tissue all over my leg and the bed. UGH! I got up and cleaned everything; but the wound kept oozing pus. I called the Doctor. He said it was a good sign and told me to 'massage the area' to help the process.
I spent all day Saturday massaging the pus and fluids out of the area. UGH!
I am taking lots of oral antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory. Things are slowly returning to normal. I missed an entire week of work! I have no medical coverage! And I now have $9 in my bank account. OUCH!!!!!! Surprisingly I am not getting too depressed; although, it does suck to be me right now. I do trust the universe that things will pick up. I was able to work on Wednesday and today. Despite the drugs making me fatigued, I am able to work and give good massage!
Zachary has stuck with me thru it all. He has been very supportive. I keep telling him not to feel guilty; but he still does.
Ironically, he went to the ER last night for a cut on his figure that turned out to be cellulitis. We are both taking drugs!
Oh, BTW, while in the Hospital, I had an AIDS test. I was negative. Yeah for me!