Monday I Fucked Up
20So I was working on my car Monday, ended up at the ER.
Car didn’t fall on me!
Was repairing a broken door handle, when my hand slipped. I busted through the front door alerting “coming through; blood.” Ended up going into shock. My dad went full military training and made a tourniquet out of a bamboo spoon and string.
Five hours later, I got three stitches. Also had to get the dreaded tetanus shot. So, two days later I’m running a 102 fever and my injection site is super swollen.
I don’t remember being in so much pain after one when I was a kid.
What a way to spend my birthday. At least I’m still alive.
/giphy Frankenstein
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Yikes! I’m glad it wasn’t even more serious though I’m sorry it’s so painful. That must have been scary! I’m guessing you’ve got pain meds and antibiotics. Can you take Benadryl for the site reaction?
@MzSooze Better birthday to you!
@KDemo thank you so much.
Some day they will invent a tetanus shot that doesn’t have to go in the butt. I dread going in when I get a ding or a cut and the doctor pulls up my record and says … it’s been a few years since your last shot- about seven, and so I come out hurting in two different places. You have my sympathy. You need to try again on that birthday celebration, because it went off the rails.
@OldCatLady They already have, both the DTaP and DT are given in the deltoid muscle. I have never received it anywhere else nor have I heard it being administered elsewhere.
@OldCatLady yep, I got it in the arm. Which makes it worse because I keep grazing it on door frames and hitting it as soon as a lie down.
@Raider In 20 years in the Army, all shots and boosters (including such fun things as the plague and hepatitis series) were given in the arm. The first time I needed a tetanus booster after retiring from the Army, the civilian nurse wanted to use a butt shot. After my “Oh, way the hell, NO!” she grumbled and warned me it would cause my arm to be sore. Really? Because a sore ass is better? What do people do - stand up for 3-4 days so as not to put pressure on the shot area? (Dealing with civilian doctors/nurses and Medicare has given me a greater appreciation of military medical.)
Did you ask anyone to hold your beer first?
@cranky1950 shit, I wish there was alcohol involved. I was totally sober.
Oh, wow! Has your fever dropped yet? That’s scary.
@lisaviolet it’s a roller coaster, between 99 and 102. So as long as it doesn’t get higher I’ll be good. Advil helps a lot.
You should not be running a fever. Especially not that high. See your doc tomorrow and if it keeps going up, back to the ER with you
@Cerridwyn That’s exactly what I was going to say. I got one recently and had no pain whatsoever and definitely no fever. Take care of yourself! Happy belated birthday!
@cerridwyn @mehbee I guess some side effects list mild fever, called my dr and was told if it gets to 104° to go back to the ER.
@MzSooze Interesting read here:
http://www.healthpages.org/health-a-z/fever-adults/
“Although it may not be comfortable, a temperature of up to 102°F is generally good for you. Most healthy adults can tolerate a fever as high as 103°F to 104°F for short periods of time without having problems.”
It does say that 102 for 2 days could be an issue but since your temp is fluctuating seems if you do reach 104 then go to the ER… I might hit the ER if it stayed at 102 for 24 hrs…
@fjp999 @MzSooze 102 is not mild. Sorry. After 30+ years in health care I can say that with confidence.
Look for other symptoms. Related mostly to the injured area. But the injection site as well. While a reaction to the injection is a concern, my number 1 concern is a wound infection.
@Cerridwyn Thank you for letting me know 102 isn’t mild, I have no idea what I was thinking (I knew that). Overnight my temp wasn’t higher than 99°.
The wound area is fine. No additional pain, no oozing, no swelling, and no signs of infection. I kept it covered the first 48 hours, with clean loose bandages and neosporin. Last night I uncovered it. My doctor’s office is booked for the next three weeks, so I have to call them to squeeze me in for stitches removal.
All in all, I feel way better today.
Please call your doctor to be seen as soon as you can or head for the nearest ER or acute-care office. Following treatment of any kind, a fever of 100.4 (that’s NOT 104 !) needs to be assessed by a clinician. And while reactions at injection sites vary, what you’re describing is very concerning. Generally the worst you should feel is a tender spot, similar to a bruise, when you bump it or sit on it. Please help us get unworried by talking to a clinician somewhere, okay?
@magic_cave I called my doctor’s office and was told to keep watch of the injection site and fever. To keep taking my fever reducer and if it gets to 104°, go back to ER.
Sorry to worry everyone.
I do feel tons better when the fever subsides and I’m not in any other pain, except the injection site.
“Common side effects of the tetanus booster include pain, redness, warmth, swelling, itching, hives, and rash near the injection site; fever, headache, tiredness, stomach upset, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle aches and pains, or swollen glands.”
That’s what was in my little print out. So I have expected some, just not so many. Birthday festivities are definitely getting a reset button.
Keep an eye on the redness. You might even want to outline the area with a marker. If the red creeps beyond the border (at the injection or wound site) , listen to these wise folks and get your arse immediately back to the ER.
Infections are a scary thing especially if you’ve developed allergies to several antibiotics. I ended up in the ER & eventually on three different courses of antibiotics to kill a nasty infection I had gotten from a rose thorn stuck into the knuckle of my little finger. The redness kept marching down the back of my hand. Stayed away from the garden for a year afterwards. Stupid rose bushes.
@LaVikinga oh no! That’s horrible.
@MzSooze I got off easy. My poor brother picked up a very nasty infection in his thumb that same summer. He had a tiny nick on the first joint of his thumb. Didn’t think anything about it and swam all that weekend the warm inter-coastal waters of NW Florida. By mid-week he had been admitted to the hospital, put on IV antibiotics and before it was over they had to go into the joint to debride the necrotic tissue.
My take away was to remember to never shave my legs the same days I was going swimming in the Gulf of Mexico.
I love this site. I come here for the great deals, and stay for the free crowd sourced medical advice…
@mehdaf It’s more fun playing “Doctor” now that we’re older.
Pfft… My 16-year-old daughter slipped during a creek crossing in a cross country race and gashed her knee on a rock. Finished the race with blood streaming down her leg, then went to urgent care and got 10 staples. Went running 4 days later.
@macromeh Wow. Good for her. That’s pretty amazing. I couldn’t do that. I will admit I am a big baby.
@MzSooze Yeah, she got the “Tough As Nails” award at the end of the season.
@macromeh Run through the pain because it eventually stops sometime during the run! Yeah, I used to be one of those people. My husband use to say I had an addiction to the endorphin rush from running.
@LaVikinga - As addictions go, if you have a choice, that’s the one to choose!
@LaVikinga that’s a really good tip. Thanks!!
@MzSooze Actually, it’s the worst thing one can do if it’s a muscle or bone injury because it just makes it worse. I was one of those runners who always pushed recovery too fast and sometimes is caused even more problems. Pain is the body’s way of saying “HEY, IDIOT! STAHP!”
@LaVikinga Hmm, well, maybe as long as the injury isn’t in the leg region I’ll do it. I wouldn’t want to aggravate a leg injury.
Update:
Got an appointment for today!! I think I harassed them enough.
Thanks @Cerridwyn @mehbee @magic_cave and @LaVikinga for you feedback, knowledge, and advice!!
@MzSooze Good, glad you’re going to get it looked at!!
@MzSooze We mother hen you because we care. Bacteria is a monster. We’re growing some pretty ugly germs which are rapidly becoming drug-resistant. Update us, please?
…admit it, you were playing Pokemon Go
@ticklescratch lmao nope, but I have played it.
Just got here, will post an update asap.
Getting antibiotics. Doc says reaction is in the “grey area” or what they like to see, so it’s precautionary.
Hoping to get out of here soon.
@MzSooze Take everything they give you (per prescription instructions, of course). Kill that bug! Hospitals are producing enough of the really nasty ones already
@compunaut I am and will.
Nuke it (from orbit) with antibiotics; it’s the only way to be sure.
My dr hates to give me shots because he is terrified of the reaction. He says the only way he will give me the flu shot ever again is if he has the allergist on hand with whatever is akin to an epi pen, but grand scale. sigh… I think the design of a body is amazing, just wish I hadn’t gotten one with so many glitches!!!
Hope you feel better soon !!!
@mikibell That’s so sad. By the way, I am feeling WAY better. No fever at all today. Woohoo!! Red area around the injection site has gotten smaller. Still a little bit of pain, but not where what I was experiencing.
Thanks again for the mehdical advise, guys and gals!!
@MzSooze That’s great news!
/giphy happy happy joy joy