Well, I didnt expect this.

[Thingy]

Now that the Woosies have had their fun, I thought, its my turn. Sunday, we were booked at Dornafield for three weeks. So Saturday morning I head for the workshop to start getting the kit together, awnings, pegs, carpet, barrels etc. On the way I thought, odd, my leg feels stiff. Kneeeling down in the workshop I felt an absolute blinding pain shoot right up my shin and on inspection, i have what appears to be a bruise at least 8 inches long and almost the whole way round my leg. Not having had a bang or anything madam whips me up to the local casualty, who send me home and tell me to take it easy. By midnight the pain is intense and we are off to the emergency clinic via 111. What a place that is after midnight, I feel so sorry for the staff. Anyway, Thingy winds up in hospital and another holiday cancelled. Cellulitus, gawd knows how i got that. Im home now but cant even put weight on it and I have enough antibiotics to keep a small country healthy. I have broken my leg more than once and the pain of this was far worse.
Looks like a November trip now for us.

 

[Dodger524]

Commiserations and wishes for a speedy return to good health.

Please promise to keep whatever it is to yourself it sound awful.

 

[Gabsgrandad]

Some folks 'll do owt to save taking their partner out!

 

[Thingy]

Some folks 'll do owt to save taking their partner out!

B) Normally I would hold my hands up and say fair cop. But new caravan and awning, I have been itching to get going with it, and now the only thing itching is this darn leg, but its too painful to scratch.

Apparently this is either the Staphylococcus and Streptococcus bacteria that you come into contact with and can enter the skin via a simple scratch. You just never know what is waiting to ambush you. never heard of this before but I now understand it can be serious if not caught early enough.

 

[otherclive]

Sorry to hear of your medical problem hope it clears up completely. On initial reading of your post I though "here come another one with DVT". Should you suffer one you will then take a detailed interest in locating lay-bys and service stops within a 2 hours drive or less. Your knowledge of the UK road network will increase exponentially. You will us cruise control more and delve into the next layer of autonomous controls. You will be encouraged to drink more fluids, and then find you are stopping every 1 hours as you cannot easily synchronise the needs of your legs and bladder. You will the invest in foul weather gear so that when you take the mandatory 10 minute leg exercise you don't succumb to hypothermia or pneumonia. Perhaps virtual reality caravanning could be the answer.
Happy travels

 

[Parksy]

I hope that this bout of cellulitis clears up Thingy, the bad news is that it's well nigh impossible to get rid of it completely.
You've probably been bitten by a nasty flying insect, a mosquito or a horse fly and the bacteria was transferred to you from it.
The antibiotics should clear it up but you'll need to be careful where flying insects are around in future, around ponds or lakes for instance.
I had a very bad bout a few years ago, I'd slept with the caravan windows open on a warm night and something had been feasting on my leg as I slept, it was covered in lumps that I didn't worry too much about at the time.
I spent a week in hospital because the infection turned to pneumonia, and my right leg became a terrible mess.
I also had a less severe bout this summer, the culprit was one of the thousands off horse flies around St Ives in June, so more antibiotics.
Be careful when wearing shorts Thingy, you never know when the wee beasties will strike again :woohoo:

 

[Thingy]

Its much better today, I can put a little weight on it. When I was first taken in, they werent sure whether it was Cellulitis or a clot, and so I had the scans, luckily no issue as far as a clot was concerned, so I think I have had the better of the two.
I still do the regular stops and wander about but its more for my knackered knees, they lock up completely if I dont give them a break on long journeys. Cruise control is a must and thankfully the autobox helps a lot.

 

[Dustydog]

That’s very bad luck Thingy. A double whammy losing your holiday as well as the bad leg. So pleased it wasn’t a DVT as described by OC.
Hopefully the antdiabolicals will kick in.
Get well soon.

 

[Thingy]

I hope that this bout of cellulitis clears up Thingy, the bad news is that it's well nigh impossible to get rid of it completely.
You've probably been bitten by a nasty flying insect, a mosquito or a horse fly and the bacteria was transferred to you from it.
The antibiotics should clear it up but you'll need to be careful where flying insects are around in future, around ponds or lakes for instance.
I had a very bad bout a few years ago, I'd slept with the caravan windows open on a warm night and something had been feasting on my leg as I slept, it was covered in lumps that I didn't worry too much about at the time.
I spent a week in hospital because the infection turned to pneumonia, and my right leg became a terrible mess.
I also had a less severe bout this summer, the culprit was one of the thousands off horse flies around St Ives in June, so more antibiotics.
Be careful when wearing shorts Thingy, you never know when the wee beasties will strike again

Sorry Parksy, missed your post, must have come in as I was replying to OC.
It looks very much like you and I have the same problem. With the forces, I travelled the world and have experience of the jungle in Belize where there are some real nasty beasties (anyone else remember the basher beatles at sundown?) but they never bothered me beyond the norm. Then some good few years back I was taking a load to Matasinhos in Portugal and had took a mate along for the ride. Unable to backload until the Monday we parked the unit on the beach with all the other trucks, cold misty November, salt water, windy, so should have been safe. My mate was a smoker and so I had the windows open a crack. Mel on the top bunk had no problems, I awoke with 200 plus mozzie bites on one side of my face which put me in hospital. Since then I have been really prone to problems with insect bites, and like you, particularly in Cornwall, horse flies love me and they make a proper mess. Two years back at St Mawes I was bitten by a tiny yellow fly on the wrist, by lunchtime I could see my veins reddening and it had reached my elbow. Royal Cornwall was a six hour wait so I went to a drop in centre at Redruth. Seen in twenty mins by an ex forces South African Doctor who sorted me out.
It happens every time I forget to use Skin So Soft and my wife mullahs me for it.

Dusty, we were concerned about the holiday as with Dornafield you pay upfront to get the low season deals, but they have very kindly moved it on to the same weeks next year. I have just booked 19 days at Hawes for November. Never been up there that late but I now have this vision of the Hawes pubs with a roaring fire on a cold wet windy night, and copious amounts of the foaming brew known as Theakstons Old Pec. I am beginning to think that its not such a bad thing after all. Maybe even a similar night up at Tan Hill :evil:
Arent I lucky Elaine doesnt drink

 

[SamandRose]

Glad to hear you appear to be on the mend Thingy. Sorry about the scuppered holiday plans but drinking beer in front of a roaring fire sounds good to me - maybe make it perfect by adding a good book. In fact can I come??

 

[Thingy]

In fact can I come??

Aye, why not, as long as you can keep up the pace.................this isnt the Woosie club you know

 

[ProfJohnL]

..., I'd slept with the caravan windows ....

I know being moderator can led to some desperate measures but..... :silly:

Seriously I hope Thingy's medical issues do clear up and kept under control.

 

[Thingy]

Thanks Prof, I am well on the way to recovery, but another 14 days on antibiotics.

 

[paws]

Good luck Thingy, and I hope the leg heals Ok ...

I had cellulitis (for the first time) last year, the doc's neded to try 3 different anti biotics before they hit on the one that did the job.

I wasn't terribly re-assured by the docs who informed that sometimes cellulitis proves fatal, the septacemia spreading throughout the body!

They did tell me that if it happened again I should not delay but go straight to A&E

I agree with you its terribly painful and the seat of the infection caused third degree burns on my poor old leg, let us hope that none of us gets a return visit from the dratted thing.

All best wishes for a good recovery and of course Happy Caravanning
paws

 

[Thingy]

I think I may have been quite lucky in the grander scheme of things. It flared up on Saturday, three days in hospital on a drip and then orally choked on antiBs the size of a small torpedo. There is just a very small shadow on my leg where it all appeared, but its still quite tender.

Having now done some research, it can make a real mess of you and i will always head straight for A&E in future. It seems too there are hot spots on the body where this thing is most likely to attack, regardless of where the infection entered the body, the lower leg being the most common site.