Boil Aventures...

I always have something exciting happening in the health arena and this week has been no different. On Thursday or Friday I noticed a red spot that was starting to grow and spread, but I didn't really think much about it. I worked out on Saturday as normal, enjoyed my weekend, and prepared for Monday.

See...not too bad, right?

So, then on Monday morning I woke up and noticed that my hand was very sore and growing. It looked like this:

I had a meeting after school and some of the teachers were a bit worried, so I thought maybe I should call the dermatologist and see if they could work me into the schedule. It is very difficult to get into Dr. Anadkat, so I didn't think I had a chance. When I have had these before, they are usually already down, so he doesn't get a chance to see them in action. However, when I called this morning, the office had a cancellation at 1:45 p.m., so I left work an hour early and headed to the CAM (Center for Advanced Medicine) for my appointment.

Dr. Milan Anadkat

I seriously have a huge crush on this doctor. He is personable, friendly, affectionate, and kind. It helps that he is also a cutie and possibly around my age. Today he held my hand as he examined it and didn't coil in disgust like everyone else. I was hoping that he was just going to tell me that it would go down in a few days, but no such luck. He recommended that we lance it, clean it out, and bandage it. 

prior to lancing

the office

The office at the CAM is quite impressive and could almost be mistaken for a surgical room. I knew as soon as they booked me in this room that they anticipated some sort of procedure. The procedure began with the resident shooting my hand up with lidocaine, which turned the skin around the area white. It hurt like hell, but I would rather have my hand numb when the doctor cuts into it, since I could hardly handle pricking myself with a needle.

Then, the doctor worked on opening the boil. First, he cut an X and then the liquid started flowing out. I watched the whole thing because I was so fascinated. Normally there is clear liquid, blood, and pus, but this time there was very little pus. Dr. Anadkat said that it was thicker than he expected and that maybe there was a small cyst too, but he will culture it to let me know what's going on. 

Although my hand looks a little more traumatized, I was assured that it will feel better soon. The resident bandaged me up along with some vaseline and sent me on my way. No more boils...well, at least for now.