A pertinent warning to anyone who has a horse fly bite. Please be wary of infection that can turn quickly into sepsis.
Two days ago a friend of ours ( aged 62) was bitten, it became infected, he ignored it and 12 hours later he was dead. Sepsis had set in.
This photo is of our younger daughter’s leg a month ago following a horse fly bite. She recovered but will make sure she sees a medic if affected by swelling in the future.
Louise
What a shock Louise to read your post,We have had horses all our lives but never been bitten.The odd time a horse was affected they certainly had huge swelling which we always treated with a good antiseptic or iodine usually.Was your friend MPN .? I find since taking Jakafi the mosquitoes we have in abundance don’t bite me any more.This year with such heat here there are many biting pests.,keep safe all of you.Hope the grand children are keeping you busy.xxxSally
Hi SallyChris was a healthy as anything. He was sailing with friends in Abersoch. A huge shock.
We nearly also lost a friend many years ago who got an infected knee from a rugby shin pad that infected a cut on his leg. Sepsis set in and he too almost died.
Sepsis is such a dangerous thing and not everyone is aware of it and how quickly it can set in.
Grandchildren fine thanks. They re about to move from Cambs to Cheshire so all hands to the wheel.
Would be nice to correspond with you occasionally by email. How can we do it I wonder? Not supposed to leave my email address or prattle non med stuff ion here…. Louise xx
I agreee about the chat,I think I have your e mail. I will check ,my pad is ancient now & has dementia.Hear so mush about sepsis,didn’t we used to call it blood infection or something similar.I remember a friend at art school having it from standing barefoot on an old nail in the floor boards ,she did not die but was hospitalised.Even my old Art School-is now called University,makes me really cross,in my day we did Art ,nothing else.xxEverything changes.
Hi Sally I so agree! I applaud the womens football team but do wish they could have accepted with humility and grace as the Olympians Commonweatlh games and Wimbledon champions do. I didn’t watch the euro match but caught the aftermath on the news with shirts off running round like madwomen and shrieking into the microphone. They don’t even teach cooking full time in schools here now - it’s lumped in with woodwork and something else. Result? No one can cook or identify food. Madness. X
Thanks for that Louise.
How devastating for your friend’s family. As someone who has had a few nasty reactions to insect bites it’s a timely reminder.
Hi Louise, yes had that experience and don’t want to repeat. I was luckier, I ended up on an antibiotic drip in hospital. I couldn’t keep my balance, the world was going round, I had severe vomiting and diarrhoea and was beginning to think that I wouldn’t recover. The area I was bitten, still remains super sensitive years later. Definitely not a bite to be relaxed about!
Kindest regards Aime xx😻🙀
Good to see a post from you Aime,but not the subject.Hope all is well with you.😻😻
Hi Sally, good to “see” you too. I’m getting there with my unusual bowel layout - my latest health surprise. They have identified gastritis which is not nice but very treatable. I’ve got a consult on Monday to hear the latest test results. It’s by phone, so I’m not anticipating anything nasty but, as usual, my list of questions has been written. After that, it’s trying to find the triggers for the gastritis and avoiding them. So I’m lucky again! I do take a regular amount of painkillers for my osteoarthritis which is running like wildfire at the moment, so I’m hoping they are not one of the triggers!
How are you? Hope you’re keeping as well as is possible. Away to get bloods checked tomorrow, so hopefully the tablets I’m taking for the gastritis, won’t have knocked any counts the wrong way!
Take care, kindest regards Aime xx😻😻
Will reply to you tomorrow,just falling in to bed,the dreadful heat here is killing me.Hope tomorrow goes well.xxxSally
You certainly get everything Aime,hope all is better news today.I seem to be getting one weird thing after the other,had dreadful depression with not coping in the heat,had to take anti depressants to get me going again,they are helping ,but I cannot go outside at all.I had dreadful skin rash caused with heat ,even tho I am inside with A C on.Good old P V one nasty after another.Like you my osteo arthrose is worse at the moment,I think because I am not able to have my normal walks with dogs etc,they stay in as well ,lie on the cool tiles& just pop out for necessary body functions!!
Hubby exercises them properly at crack of dawn,but even so dogs & master come back exhausted.The pool is is so warm just with the sun it is like a hot bath! Would be good for you.I just walk about in it I do not have the energy to swim,helps the pains. Really hope you are now improving with everything.Think I need to live in the North Pole !!
All the best Aime always.😻😻❤️ Sally
Had my bloods done today ,nurse comes to me thank goodness,they start early,here by 8 - 30. See Dr this afternoon,always stress I find in case something else shows up. Good Luck with yours.😍
Hi Sally, sorry to hear of your rash. I don’t know if it’s connected to too many red blood cells, but I always come out in a nasty heat rash if I’m abroad. I’m lucky living in north east of Scotland, the hottest we have had is about 28C and that’s too much for me.
It’s Pilates I do in the water. I agree it’s too hot to swim but I’m lucky to have a physio who takes the class and gives advice. The actual exercises may work for you too. When I don’t go at least twice a week, I can feel my knees and hips starting to burn and niggle.
Have a haem consult next week, so will see what my bloods are like. You look after yourself and you can always message me if you’re feeling low. I’m on sertraline and have been for years. It helps me cope and lifts my mood, so I can laugh at my variety of health issues, rather than cry.
Loads of huge E hugs, Aime xx😻😻
Thanks Aime for your water advice,I do try to exercise my bad hip & leg in the pool ,it does help certainly.Glad to know it’s not just me needing help with stress etc,I do feel better since Doc prescribed them but it has taken over a month to work.The rash was the heat,it made a lovely pattern with all my blue bruises that appear everywhere. Still using the spray & ointment from Dr ,it is slowly subsiding,actually our salt water pool eases the rash as well but honestly the effort to get down to there in the heat is too much for me,so we wait until it’s dark & down to about 28 for the night! I will message ,Will have to check how to do pm...I haven’t used my pad much lately,just started to take interest again in things since my spirits have lifted a bit..My consultant is next month at the hospital,a new one ,my lovely Dr DuPont that has cared for me for 12 yrs has retired.That really upset me .....we had become used to each other & I feel I have lost a friend almost.Good Luck with yours next weekxx😻😍
Thanks for the warning. I got 6 wasp stings (I accidentally backed in to their nest in some bushes) a few years ago. Hand went red and so swollen I couldn't bend it. Saw doc next day and had antibiotics and histamines. Red line across my arm. She said in 2 hours it would have been at arm pit and I'd be a blue light case. Yes, please don't ignore these bites.
Gosh a lot of swelling. Glad to hear all is ok. As for your friend, scary!
Hydroxyurea induced pneumonia 
Keep an eye on your feet!!
Stem Cell Transplant 
How long before you are diagnosed?
