“Little House on the Prairie” actress Melissa Gilbert urges fans not to disregard the serious nature of bug bites.
There is so much beauty in the great outdoors. Magnificent, breathtaking scenery and landscapes are plentiful. Mountains, oceans and sunsets are wondrous sights to behold. But like with anything else, there are downsides to spending time in nature, specifically the presence of bugs, insects and other pests.
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Actress Melissa Gilbert knows the dangers that come with bug bites. She’s now advising and pushing people to take them seriously after she ended up in the hospital.
Melissa posted a photo of her reddened and swollen hand with an IV inserted. In the shocking photo's caption, Melissa detailed the ordeal that landed her in the emergency room.
The actress writes that a flying insect had bitten her, which she adds was not a bee or a wasp. A day or so later, Melissa noticed something was not right.
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“By last night my arm was incredibly swollen, red and hot,” she posted.
Melissa called a doctor about the shocking state of her arm. The doctor told her to head to an emergency room to be check out. Instead of immediately following the medical professional’s advice, Melissa considered simply toughening it out.
Instead of waiting as Melissa was going to do, her husband told her, “Absolutely not. We are going!”
After several tests, doctors diagnosed Melissa "with an abscess and cellulitis.” According to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention(CDC), those are two kinds of skin infections.
The CDC describes cellulitis as a “common type of skin infection that causes redness, swelling, and pain in the infected area of the skin.” The government health agency says a skin abscess is “a collection of pus under the skin.”
Thankfully, Melissa also reports that she immediately started doing much better after “starting antibiotics, Benedryl and ibuprofen.”
Melissa told her followers on Instagram to “take bug bites seriously” and “don’t wait to get treated.”
At the end of her post, Melissa injected some humor and even mentions Laura Ingalls Wilder, the woman who wrote “The Little House on the Prairie” book series.
“Back in the days of #Lauraingallswilder, this would’ve meant death or amputation. There’s treatment available.”
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“My loved one, it is my prayer that you may do well in all things, and be healthy, even as your soul does well.” - 3 John 1:2
h/t: LA Times, CDC, Instagram.com/MelissaGilbertOfficial
Featured Image Credit:Instagram.com/MelissaGilbertOfficial