So I got an infection (but at least it's not cancer)
On Thursday, I woke up with weird, kind of scaly red spots on my neck and, out of all places, on my left arm, just below the armpit.
I had an assignment out in the burbs that morning, so I didn't really have time to worry about it too much. And I had another assignment in the evening, so I stayed in the burbs. I figured that, if the spots don't go away on Friday, I would go to my primary care provider and get it looked at.
Aside from spots, I didn't have any other symptoms, and there weren't any weird lumps, so I figured that it wasn't anything too urgent.
On Friday, the spots seemed to have faded some, and I thought that maybe this whole thing would take care of itself on its own.
But this morning, I woke up to find that not only did the redness return and the spots seemed to grow in some places, but there were more of them right above my stomach.
The primary care provider's offices were closed, so I decided to go to a MinuteClinic at my local CVS pharmacy. If this was something that could be treated with simple antibiotics, I'd get it taken care of right then in there. If not, I'd go there first thing in the morning.
The MinuteClinic nurse's diagnosis was pretty quick. I have a ringworm, which is a fungal infection that causes rash that apparently gets larger and more dramatic than what I had if left untreated. Apparently, it gets spread by cats, and last time I came in contract with a cat was when I was at alliancesjr and tweelore's place... back in November 2014.
Go figure.
The nurse was happy to prescribe me the meds... except for one thing. Turned out that they don't accept CountyCare. Which was weird, since I did an article on MinuteClinics early last year and I was specifically told that they accept Medicaid. And CountyCare is a Medicaid program (it has higher income limits than Illinois Medicaid, and a few other things are different, but for legal pruposes, it is a type of Medicaid).
Apparently, it was different enough that CVS couldn't accept it. So, if I wanted to get a prescription, I had to pay for it out of my own pocket. Which I could do, in theory - but it would take a decent chunk out of my reserves, and I've been saving those for when I have to pay taxes.
The nurse felt bad about the whole thing, and she told me that Lotrimin, a cream normally used to treat athlete's foot. It won't cure it, but it would treat it - and at least something would be done until I can see my Primary Care Provider and get a prescription.
I'm going over there tomorrow morning. They have been saying they do same-day appoints. I guess we'll see whether or not that's true.
Still... if nothing else, at least it's not skin cancer.
I had an assignment out in the burbs that morning, so I didn't really have time to worry about it too much. And I had another assignment in the evening, so I stayed in the burbs. I figured that, if the spots don't go away on Friday, I would go to my primary care provider and get it looked at.
Aside from spots, I didn't have any other symptoms, and there weren't any weird lumps, so I figured that it wasn't anything too urgent.
On Friday, the spots seemed to have faded some, and I thought that maybe this whole thing would take care of itself on its own.
But this morning, I woke up to find that not only did the redness return and the spots seemed to grow in some places, but there were more of them right above my stomach.
The primary care provider's offices were closed, so I decided to go to a MinuteClinic at my local CVS pharmacy. If this was something that could be treated with simple antibiotics, I'd get it taken care of right then in there. If not, I'd go there first thing in the morning.
The MinuteClinic nurse's diagnosis was pretty quick. I have a ringworm, which is a fungal infection that causes rash that apparently gets larger and more dramatic than what I had if left untreated. Apparently, it gets spread by cats, and last time I came in contract with a cat was when I was at alliancesjr and tweelore's place... back in November 2014.
Go figure.
The nurse was happy to prescribe me the meds... except for one thing. Turned out that they don't accept CountyCare. Which was weird, since I did an article on MinuteClinics early last year and I was specifically told that they accept Medicaid. And CountyCare is a Medicaid program (it has higher income limits than Illinois Medicaid, and a few other things are different, but for legal pruposes, it is a type of Medicaid).
Apparently, it was different enough that CVS couldn't accept it. So, if I wanted to get a prescription, I had to pay for it out of my own pocket. Which I could do, in theory - but it would take a decent chunk out of my reserves, and I've been saving those for when I have to pay taxes.
The nurse felt bad about the whole thing, and she told me that Lotrimin, a cream normally used to treat athlete's foot. It won't cure it, but it would treat it - and at least something would be done until I can see my Primary Care Provider and get a prescription.
I'm going over there tomorrow morning. They have been saying they do same-day appoints. I guess we'll see whether or not that's true.
Still... if nothing else, at least it's not skin cancer.