Friday night, I was bitten on the arm by a spider. As it woke me up, I could not tell from his remains what kind it was. I washed it off and went back to bed. The next morning, I had a knot on my forearm about the size of a pecan. I started treating it with some antibiotic salve that we had at the house. Over the next couple of days, it became inflamed and started to hurt. Unfortunately, I waited until the redness was covering from my elbow to my wrist. When the swelling started pressing against my arm nerves, I knew I had to get to a doctor. I made the decision about 10 PM on Monday night to go to this new ER.
Parking was easy as this used to be a grocery store parking lot. I walked in and found a totally empty waiting room and reception area. I looked around for some way to contact the folks, but everything was closed. In a few minutes a nurse came out to see who had entered, and finding me with a swollen red arm, took me straight back to a treatment room.
After taking a medical history, discussion of what happened, and getting my vitals, she had me lie down and went to get a doctor. Upon returning, she asked if I had my phone with me, and finding I did, said I would receive a text and that I needed to follow the directions in the text. I did that, and it amounted to completing all the paperwork that needed to be completed. This was so much better than having to fill out all the paperwork myself.
The doctor came in, went over all the same stuff the nurse had done, and indicated that they were going to start me on a very strong antibiotic then, and would write me a prescription for 10 days of the same antibiotic. I was advised not to miss any of the medication (taken 3 times per day) for 10 days. I was also advised to go to my PCP by the end of the week for follow up. He also said that if it got worse, before I got in to see my PCP that I should return to him.
So here I am a week after the bite. The medicine has really made a difference in the arm. He warned me that the antibiotic may give me stomach trouble, and he was right. So he has been accurate on all that he said.
Will I return? Hopefully I will not need to come back, but if I do need the ER, I definitely will come back here. They did everything I needed. read more