Infection

I reckon I would be dead now if I had not done what the doctor told me to do.  The few minutes you spend reading this would have been non-existent, and you would have had to find something else to do.  Still, I do not think you would have had any trouble doing that.
I had a leg infection.  I have seen them before, and I have dealt with them before.  Normally I would apply cream to the area, and it would go away.  No biggy.  Inconvenient yes.  Life threatening, no.
This time was different though.  I had applied all the cream but to no avail.  The thing looked like it was spreading.  I showed the Doc.  He could not treat it and sent me to emergency.
Fair dinkum.  Sometimes I wonder if health cover is worth it.  To be admitted was going to cost me a pretty penny even with the cover.  Still this thing was not going away, so it was better it was dealt with if possible.
I got admitted.  I’ll never forget being rolled down the corridor.  Of course, it was the weekend.  Doctors have the week end off.  I would need to wait until the Monday to see the specialist.
On the Monday a gaggle of Doctors and wanna be doctors came to the end of my bed.  They were treating me like I was a patient or something!  The specialist took a sample.  All I could do then was wait.  Never had I looked as forward to breakfast and morning tea and lunch etc.  They were like the highlight of my day.
Turns out the infection I had was viral rather than bacterial.  Bacterial infections are mostly easier to deal with.  Hence what I was doing was not working because the infection was of a different nature.  I am pleased to say the Doctor recognised it and set me on the right course and the thing went away.
It never ceases to astound me that someone who knows the right thing to do can solve a problem that can leave others baffled.  In this case it involved my life.  That is pretty important to me anyway.
To me, I can afford to get some things wrong.  Live and learn as they say.  There are other things though that being wrong is really costly.  It is true I could say “I learned from that one.”  Except I would not because I would be dead.  It seems that in most things I can afford to make a mistake.  In other things I cannot.
There is no doubt going to hospital is inconvenient – especially when I have other things I would rather be doing.  But personally, I would rather suffer that then forgo the inconvenience and end up dead.
I am fond of saying, “some things matter, most things don’t.”  I hold to that.  But the things that matter really matter.