weekend recap

Last week was a weird week, starting with having to say good-bye to Scout on Monday. Scott had minor surgery on Wednesday. Sutton had a high fever starting Wednesday afternoon so she was home on Thursday and Friday. We also caught the kitchen on fire last Sunday (a pot holder) so we spent that day fumigating the house while watching the poor dog decline further --not a great way to spend the one day a year that has an extra hour in it.

On top of all of that, I have been dealing with skeeter syndrome. I had no idea such a thing existed but AI really did save me a trip to urgent care here. 

Almost two weeks ago, we were out for a walk and the mosquitoes were really bad but I didn't notice myself getting bit. The next day I had a very itchy spot on my leg. I couldn't really see a bite but within 48 hours, a welt appeared and then went away. The itchiness did not go away. I tried every lotion and potion I could find here and nothing worked. It burned. My leg ached. I couldn't sleep. It was warm to the touch. Then it started to resolve and I felt better for a few days. Then it came back with a vengeance on Thursday. I told Scott I was going to urgent care on Friday after school if it wasn't better--and maybe Sutton would be joining me for that fever if it didn't go away (her fever did go away, PTL).

I finally did some digging: AI told me it was either cellulitis or skeeter syndrome. I narrowed it down. This was itchy. Like painfully itchy and if I scratched, it hurt worse. 

Turns out, even after the bite resolves, the nerve endings are damaged and take time to heal. So anything touching it irritates it. I mean, anything. A sock, water, blankets, clothing, open-air, a breeze. 

AI told me to put corticosteroids on it and cover it with gauze to prevent irritation. I was pretty thrilled to discover this worked after a week of struggling. And then menthol anti-itch lotions help to numb the nerve endings so I'm using that too. 

It's definitely getting better at this point and not worse so I'm thinking I can avoid the doctor's office, thanks to water-guzzling data centers. 

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