is there a doctor in the house?

Weird things after fishing on Friday...

First, on Friday afternoon, I got a slight pain in my left elbow, which never happens. Through the evening, the pain got worse. It eventually got to the point where if I'd had the choice of that pain, or having an ice pick repeatedly jabbed into my elbow, it would have been a close call.

Then on Saturday the elbow turned more reddish, with slight swelling. Although the pain was not as consistently intense as Friday night, if anything touched it (even ever-so-slightly), it felt like someone had taken a propane torch to my skin. Saturday afternoon and evening, I had a slight fever and felt really rotten. I suppose the fever could be from a virus, but nobody else around here has been sick recently, and the fever only lasted about 8 to 10 hours, not the usual 24 to 48 hours.

Today, the elbow shows significant swelling, and it's kind of itchy, but not very painful. Other than that, I still feel generally lousy, likely the after-effects of the fever.

The only thing I can figure is that maybe I got poked by a fish spine, although I don't recall anything like that happening (certainly, no blood or anything dramatic). But, I've been poked in the hands by rockfish plenty of times--it's painful for a while, finger swells a little bit, then it's all gone in a few hours, or day at the most.

So, I'm baffled. Has anybody else ever had anything like this?

What kind of a surgery for that if you don’t mind me asking?

+1 to go see a Doctor and dont wait.  I got MRSA on my hand, pricked by a rose bush.  Swelling, redness, skin hot to the touch - in a short 3 days I could not lift my own arm.  Antibiotic shot and pills cleared it up, but nerve damage took 2 months to clear.

Doctor for sure.  Cheaper to haul butt and check it out now than let it progress and become a bigger issue.  A minor thing shouldn't progress too much like that in a hurry.

Go see a doctor to be safe. Hopefully you don't have MRSA (staph) but if you do you want to get on antibiotics quick. My brother caught staph in his foot and almost lost it.

So no experience with that, but if you’re worried enough to post about here then you should be posting this from the ER. It’s much easier to treat anything earlier than later. And this is coming from a guy who hates hospitals and doctors and never goes!

About 1 year ago I had the same area of pain, and I'm right-hand dominant. Had the doctor check it out and was diagnosed as bursitis.  He SHOULD have put me on a course of antibiotics immediately instead he recommended rest and icing.  I suffered for two weeks and then went in for another appt. with my primary care doc.  My primary care doc subscribed a 10-day course of anti-b's. It felt better in a day or so. 

A very close friend of mine had a few scrapes on his knee from dirt biking.  Regular surfcast session, he got infected by a marine bacteria.  the result was a bacterial infection that expressed as necrotizing fascitis.  He made it to the hospital just in time, and is still dealing with the open wound after surgery to remove dead tissue 3 weeks later.

He had swelling, redness, and a fever.  Probably not what you have but even a milder form of bacterial infection can become a big problem in a hurry.

I can't believe a guy as smart as you isn't already at the Doctor's Office.  Go right now.   No kidding.

Bushy

... And this is coming from a guy who hates hospitals and doctors and never goes!

Me too.

But, this thread has got my attention.... I've got a phone appointment with a doctor from Kaiser soon and hopefully will get this figured out.

I am hoping for a good, non-scary/quick recovery diagnosis my brother.

Bushy

Sownz like crabs - din't u soke pots last weke @ cowellz?

Seriously my bro, you post 2 the bored, get dun told 2 go get cheqt only 2 make a fone apptmnt? 
r u an antivaxr 2? 

fone doc won't risq malpractic, will lissun, but gun tel u hawl yo mangy but in.  Unles ur symptums improve or disappeer.

anyway, bes wishz bro

Hope you have seen the doctor and have figured out what's going on!

FWIW...a few years ago I woke up one morning and my knee was KILLING me and swollen and red...

First, they thought it was infection from urchin spines...treated me with antibiotics and didn't help...

Then thought maybe bursitis from hitting it on bottom while diving...treated it for inflammation and that didn't help...

Finally after an extended period of time and pain I was able to get an MRI and it showed I had a partial tear of the quadriceps where it hits the knee...

The night before the pain started I did take a misstep when walking down the hill from FM1's evil petting zoo and they said that could have been the final straw on a tendon that was worn out from running a bunch without proper training etc...

Fingers crossed they can figure out what is going on with your elbow and get it treated and taken care of quickly...

 

Sincerely,

Jim

I'm an RN.  Sounds like you might have a fairly serious infection.  Has the redness/swelling/fever gotten worse?  Do you have any small red lines travelling up your arm from the original site(elbow)?  If so I would advise going to the ER as soon as possible as this small infection may have progressed to sepsis.  Sepsis can happen when the bacteria from a local infection get into the bloodstream.  The treatment for which is typically intravenous (IV) antibiotics.

What to expect when you go to the ER/doc;
They will of course take your vitals (blood pressure, pulse, temperature), draw blood from your arm for regular labs and blood cultures.  The blood cultures will be taken from 2 different sites, so expect to be poked at least twice.  If the elbow has any kind of open wound, they will swab it and test for bacteria.  They will likely take an x-ray of the elbow, and possibly a CT scan or MRI to look at the tissue in more detail.  They will also start an IV to give you some fluids and antibiotics, and hopefully a little morphine .

Good luck!  Hope it's something simple and not too serious.

WE don't want to have to rename you.  "Nowhere Arm."


Bushy

The phone doc on Sunday night didn't think it was urgent, so finally got in to see a doctor this morning. It had definitely improved over the past couple of days, but I'm still feeling generally lousy, not to mention still a very tender elbow. The doctor says it's cellulitis and didn't think it necessary to draw any blood/fluids. He prescribed antibiotics, but said it would be reasonable to wait a day or 2 to see if it keeps improving.

So the bottom line is that once again, procrastination pays off! (ha ha)

Actually, if I had it do over, I'd go to the doctor right away, even if it meant some cutting and draining.