A couple of weeks ago, something woke me up, in the middle of Monday night. I felt a sort of pain at the bottom of my left thumb. I think I even might have yelped a bit. But then, I guess, I just went back to sleep.
When I woke up, on Tuesday morning, my thumb was a little bit itchy. And a little bit red. I think something might have bitten, or stung me, in the night.
I have a tube of Benadryl cream, and that morning, I put some on my thumb. It didn’t make things worse, but it didn’t really make it much better, either. However, all things considered, it didn’t seem all that bad.
Periodically, on Tuesday, I’d put some itch cream on the thumb. It wasn’t worse, but it wasn’t much better, either.
Wednesday is my day to go the elementary school close to church, where I spend time reading with a couple of girls at their lunch time. I read with a 4th grader at 11:50, and with a 5th grader at 12:20.
After those lunches, I’d meant to go home and join a video meeting in progress that I was supposed to attend. But, by then, my thumb was afire with itchiness! As soon as the last bit of reading was done, I hurried out to my car and headed straight for Express Care to see if I could get something for this itch!!
The Express Care clinic is affiliated with my physician’s medical network, so when I entered the clinic, all I needed to do was give them my name. They confirmed my birthdate and all the information they had on file, and I just needed to sit down and wait for my turn. And the wait was short.
The physician checked her computer, confirmed the medications I take, and asked what was today’s problem. I explained to her what had happened, or at least what I thought had happened (something bit or stung me), and how it had become so itchy. She looked at my swollen and reddened thumb, and agreed that there was some kind of injury, and she identified the place where the sting/bite happened. Then she called in a prescription to the pharmacy at Target. I thanked her and left and got into my car and drove straight to Target, where my Triamcinolone Acetonide Cream was waiting for me. And it is so much more effective than the over-the-counter itch medicine.
In a couple of days, the itch had abated. And, soon, the swelling went down, and I am grateful.
I’ve been doing yard work the past week, and I’m being liberal with the bug spray. And, it there’s another bug-bite incident, I still have quite a bit of Triamcinolone Acetonide Cream.