Ok. sensational title notwithstanding, I felt my weeks tribulations were worth sharing. Started off with a mildly swelling elbow.
Of course Dr internet led me to believe it was a simple case of bursitis
But, by Tuesday it was expanding to my forearm and lower bicep. I never had bursitis, and really knew nothing about it and shrugged it off as most stubborn men do. The internet said bursitis is usually not anything really serious so I heeded this info. "I'm sure they will just send me home if I actually go to the Dr" I thought. No point in that. Right? Unless.......
By yesterday (wednesday). My left arm looked like Popeye and I definitely felt weird. All day. Just not quite right. Something's off. So like I said, the internet seems to think bursitis is generally not a huge concern, unless......the area was warm. And boy was it warm. Hot really. I had my wife and kids confirm by touch, and even got out the laser thermometer I use to measure water temps. Right elbow, about 86 degrees. Left elbow all of 99-100.
So I went in. And here's whew it gets kind of cool, maybe. Depends on how you look at it I suppose. But I mentioned to the nurse what I did for a living, and while intrigued, his tone shifted just away from a little bit chatty, too concerned enough for me to notice. And when the Dr. finally came in she did not hesitate for a second to pinpoint the infection to some sort of bacteria, from the saltwater. I was a little shocked but her explanation checked out to me. I had a minor wound on my elbow that was the point of entry and the timeline made perfect sense to me. She had actually mentioned she had experience with this sort of thing and other odd aquarium related maladies before. We talked briefly about palytoxin and vibiro bacteria and touched on aquabiomics testing even.
Anyway, she wasted no time in prescribing Doxycycline monohydrate and a strong anti-inflammatory. The good new is, today I woke up and it's definitely not getting bigger, so I think I made the right call going in, and that really is the moral of this story.
And, I'll confess a bit of an eye opener for me. Because, in over 20+ years of having my hands in the aquarium nearly every day, this is the first time I've had an issue that could have been serious and would probably not have gone away on its own.
Now, whether it was 100% aquarium related, We'll never know. I'm guessing there are tests they could have done to confirm, but there was no doubt that it was infected beyond what she said typical cellulitis would be. So there you have it.
The lesson for me is to be a little more careful in general over all. Use gloves at all times and be very mindful of any cuts or scrapes I may have that get near the water. And, ultimately realize that there are "things" in our aquariums we can't see and would otherwise be very ambivalent about, that are all too easy to underestimate the very real and potential dangers of.
One to grow on I suppose.
However, I know there are a lot of smart cookies on this forum and I'd be very interested to hear any thoughts or insights or shared experiences on this subject for sure. You think the Doc was right in her assumption?
Here's me and my gushy jel-bow lol. Swellings has gone down a little bit at least since yesterday. I think.
Of course Dr internet led me to believe it was a simple case of bursitis
But, by Tuesday it was expanding to my forearm and lower bicep. I never had bursitis, and really knew nothing about it and shrugged it off as most stubborn men do. The internet said bursitis is usually not anything really serious so I heeded this info. "I'm sure they will just send me home if I actually go to the Dr" I thought. No point in that. Right? Unless.......
By yesterday (wednesday). My left arm looked like Popeye and I definitely felt weird. All day. Just not quite right. Something's off. So like I said, the internet seems to think bursitis is generally not a huge concern, unless......the area was warm. And boy was it warm. Hot really. I had my wife and kids confirm by touch, and even got out the laser thermometer I use to measure water temps. Right elbow, about 86 degrees. Left elbow all of 99-100.
So I went in. And here's whew it gets kind of cool, maybe. Depends on how you look at it I suppose. But I mentioned to the nurse what I did for a living, and while intrigued, his tone shifted just away from a little bit chatty, too concerned enough for me to notice. And when the Dr. finally came in she did not hesitate for a second to pinpoint the infection to some sort of bacteria, from the saltwater. I was a little shocked but her explanation checked out to me. I had a minor wound on my elbow that was the point of entry and the timeline made perfect sense to me. She had actually mentioned she had experience with this sort of thing and other odd aquarium related maladies before. We talked briefly about palytoxin and vibiro bacteria and touched on aquabiomics testing even.
Anyway, she wasted no time in prescribing Doxycycline monohydrate and a strong anti-inflammatory. The good new is, today I woke up and it's definitely not getting bigger, so I think I made the right call going in, and that really is the moral of this story.
And, I'll confess a bit of an eye opener for me. Because, in over 20+ years of having my hands in the aquarium nearly every day, this is the first time I've had an issue that could have been serious and would probably not have gone away on its own.
Now, whether it was 100% aquarium related, We'll never know. I'm guessing there are tests they could have done to confirm, but there was no doubt that it was infected beyond what she said typical cellulitis would be. So there you have it.
The lesson for me is to be a little more careful in general over all. Use gloves at all times and be very mindful of any cuts or scrapes I may have that get near the water. And, ultimately realize that there are "things" in our aquariums we can't see and would otherwise be very ambivalent about, that are all too easy to underestimate the very real and potential dangers of.
One to grow on I suppose.
However, I know there are a lot of smart cookies on this forum and I'd be very interested to hear any thoughts or insights or shared experiences on this subject for sure. You think the Doc was right in her assumption?
Here's me and my gushy jel-bow lol. Swellings has gone down a little bit at least since yesterday. I think.
