cat scratch fever

E true hollywood story: i am recently recovered from an infected cat bite, which is not the same as cat scratch fever. but since ted nugent did not see fit to sing about cat bites, this was the best title i could muster. oddly enough, i am also a victim of cat scratch fever (and have a big lymph node to prove it), and it wasn't nearly as painful/embarrassing as this.

easter weekend, we are at the in-laws. as i make my way from the bed to the kitchen, i stopped to say hi to stanley the cat. the big, orange, bipolar, hyper-aggressive cat. he did not want to be disturbed and punctured and scratched my arm to make his point. i grew up with cats. my own beloved cookie cat used to tear me to shreds, then sleep at my feet. cat attacks are not new to me. i took a shower and went on with it, even though the m-i-l tried to make a fuss over me and it was really starting to throb. the law student always says the difference between cats and dogs is this: if cats were as big as you, they'd eat you.

by the time the law student, the f-i-l and i got to church (about an hour later), my arm hurt. by the time we left church, my right arm was swollen at the bite (about 2 inches above the wrist) and really hurt. but in atypical kissey fashion, i continued to dismiss it as a mere cat bite, instead of hyperventilating and googling "cat bite" until i was paralyzed with fear. throughout easter lunch my arm moved from painful to throbbing.

by monday morning, the arm was visibly swollen and red all the way up to my elbow. i couldn't tear tape off of the tape dispenser or generally move my wrist to the right to do all those little things you never think about doing. so i called the doctor and the doctor said, "man, he really got you good." really? i felt like the biggest dweeb. i had to get an antibiotic and a tetanus shot (which was about as awesome as the cat bite and gave me a nasty bruise and further impaired my range of motion) and endure endless jokes to be fully healed. the bruises, fever, swelling and redness are gone, but the scars and snickers are not. damn cat. but at least my (future) babies will be immunized against tetanus and whooping cough. apparently that's a package deal.

actually, infected cat bites are quite common: up to 40% of bites become infected. i know this because (lame joke alert) stanley also infected me with knowledge. no, i eventually googled it, you know, just to make sure. as if redness, swelling, pain and heat were not indicative enough of infection. cats carry tons of pathogens and bacteria in their saliva. cat scratch fever, on the other hand/paw, is contracted by bite, scratch, or just petting the fuzzy thing. you end up with a fever, chills, etc., and swollen lymph nodes. i had to get the one under my arm drained. it's still bigger than the left one today.

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new topic.

i am the proud sister of TWO employed younger sisters! boo boo got a job teaching in the MS public school system, and baby sister is moving to DALLAS as a permanent sub for emotionally and behaviorally disturbed children. i mistakenly called them ED children. whoops.

and now it's time for the office. it can't get any better than last week. i'm done here.