Although my face had mostly seemed to be healing, a day before the appointment something frightening happened: my nose became very red and painfully swollen.
The doctor diagnosed folliculitis, which is usually a kind of staph infection. This is in fact what I had been diagnosed with, and treated for, last month in America when I had a large swollen infected area under my left eyebrow. Although I'd taken a full course of antibiotics and had been without symptoms for several weeks, the doctor thought it likely that what I have now is caused by the same bacteria.So, I've been prescribed another round of oral antibiotics and a topical antibiotic. Hopefully my symptoms will start to abate in a few days. I have a follow-up appointment with the dermatologist next Wednesday.
I've spent a lot more time in Korean hospitals than I ever imagined would be the case. I now have two Korean student ID cards and two Korean hospital ID cards.
(As it turns out, my tuition at the language school provides insurance and entitles me to use the university health clinic, but it seems better for now to see a doctor who has been personally recommended. Because I am not a Korean citizen and have no general health insurance, I had to pay about US $35 for my visit. Expensive by local standards, this seems pretty cheap from an American point of view. The cost of my prescriptions medications was about $13.)
I think it's clear the cause of this is voodoo. You should make a list of your enemies and their grievances and make sure all of them have been atoned.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it could be caused by an angry God.
Gosh, I am glad that you saw a doctor! A few years ago I had a very bad experience with a semi-latent infection that went nuclear--I ended up in the hospital for three days on IV antibiotics. (And just like yours, it started as an infection that seemed to respond to a full dose of oral abx--but evidently some of the bugs lived to fight another day.)
ReplyDeleteBeen out of contact with the blog--sorry--I'll be catching up soon--but Tina told me about the staph. Yipes! Glad you're getting it seen to now. Some bad stuff there.
ReplyDeleteI'm still worried that the same thing might happen to me, Tina. What I'm wondering is if there is any way to determine for sure whether the bugs have been fully eradicated or not. I assume anything left alive after successive rounds of antibiotics has got to be pretty mean and recalcitrant. One thing for sure -- the next time I get the slightest symptom, I'm going immediately to the doctor.
ReplyDelete