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I had a vacation last week. I came home with a slightly sore throat and mild cough. When I woke up this morning, I felt like something the cat dragged in and didn't want, so I called in sick.
As it happens, before leaving on vacation, I found a weird bump on the back of my left leg. I went to the doctor immediately after work. This was a Wednesday. The doctor referred me to an outpatient surgical clinic. The doctor at the clinic looked at the bump and told me that it was not, as I had thought, an infected insect or spider bite, but a lipoma. She couldn't remove it then, she said, because it was inflamed. She put ointment on it and told me to come back Friday.
"I'm leaving for vacation on Friday," I told her.
"Come back tomorrow," she said.
The next day, another doctor saw me. More ointment, come back tomorrow. This repeated on Friday. He told me to come in after returning from vacation.
So. Since I planned to go to my GP anyway to make sure I didn't have anything requiring antibiotics, I went to the surgical clinic first.
Oh joy! I was right. Well, half-right. It wasn't a lipoma; it was an infection. The doctor this morning was one I hadn't seen, and he didn't speak English, but I understood what he was telling me. It was an infected hair follicle. He drained it, then inserted a small drain, and told me to come back Wednesday morning.
I went to my GP and told her that I was sick and that I'd just had minor surgery and wanted to make sure I had understood everything the first doctor told me. She examined my throat and told me I had a virus, and looked at the surgical report. She then told me not to sit more than a few minutes at a time.
I told her that I sit all day at my job. She asked me - in all seriousness - if I could type while lying on my abdomen.
I left the clinic with notes excusing me from work for today, tomorrow, and Wednesday. I called my manager to let him know what was going on, and went home after picking up some groceries.
Typing standing up isn't easy.
As it happens, before leaving on vacation, I found a weird bump on the back of my left leg. I went to the doctor immediately after work. This was a Wednesday. The doctor referred me to an outpatient surgical clinic. The doctor at the clinic looked at the bump and told me that it was not, as I had thought, an infected insect or spider bite, but a lipoma. She couldn't remove it then, she said, because it was inflamed. She put ointment on it and told me to come back Friday.
"I'm leaving for vacation on Friday," I told her.
"Come back tomorrow," she said.
The next day, another doctor saw me. More ointment, come back tomorrow. This repeated on Friday. He told me to come in after returning from vacation.
So. Since I planned to go to my GP anyway to make sure I didn't have anything requiring antibiotics, I went to the surgical clinic first.
Oh joy! I was right. Well, half-right. It wasn't a lipoma; it was an infection. The doctor this morning was one I hadn't seen, and he didn't speak English, but I understood what he was telling me. It was an infected hair follicle. He drained it, then inserted a small drain, and told me to come back Wednesday morning.
I went to my GP and told her that I was sick and that I'd just had minor surgery and wanted to make sure I had understood everything the first doctor told me. She examined my throat and told me I had a virus, and looked at the surgical report. She then told me not to sit more than a few minutes at a time.
I told her that I sit all day at my job. She asked me - in all seriousness - if I could type while lying on my abdomen.
I left the clinic with notes excusing me from work for today, tomorrow, and Wednesday. I called my manager to let him know what was going on, and went home after picking up some groceries.
Typing standing up isn't easy.
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