Seven days ago I was itching what appeared to be a bug bite on my leg. I did not think much of it at the time. A few hours later I looked at it again. It was a little more swollen, red and itchy. I figured I should head down to Shanghai East Hospital clinic and get it checked out and make sure I did not have some crazy east Asian skin disease.
I managed to get an appointment with a doctor from Norway. He took a quick look at it and told me it was a “Strep” infection of the skin. He then handed me a prescription for some antibiotics and sent me home.
The next day I looked at my leg and my “bug bite” had gotten a lot bigger. I called the doctor and he told me to come in and get some antibiotics through an IV. I received one dose that afternoon, and another on Tuesday afternoon.
By using a ball point pen I was able to mark the progress of the infection up my leg and down my foot. Much to my surprise my bite kept getting bigger. It was red, itchy, and starting to swell.
On Tuesday evening I called the doctor and told him it was looking much worse. In only 2 days it had gone from a small bug bite to a huge mess that was about 12 inches long. He told me to come in and check into the hospital.
That night they loaded me up with all sorts of IV antibiotics, creams and even some magnesium for good measure. On Wednesday morning things did not look much better, but they also did not look much worse. My infection had managed to stay in my ball point pen lines.
Thursday morning brought me some relief when the infection started to get smaller. My blood tests were getting back down toward normal levels. They let me check out that afternoon and told me to come back for some more IV drugs the next two days.
On Friday and Saturday I had two more IV sessions. Luckily I don’t have to go back anymore. Only 6 more days of oral antibiotics and I will be done. The doctor told me it might stay red for a while, but that everything is OK. He also told me about a guy that came in with the same thing on his face the week before.
This was a much easier “stint” in the hospital because I knew what to expect. Some of the nurses remembered me from my last stay. They were probably relieved that they did not have to look at my butt cheeks anymore. 
Yesterday they gave me a “membership card” to the hospital. Now I can have speedy check in’s because all they have to do is scan the card. Hopefully I won’t have to go again.
When I went back on Saturday I came in a different entrance than I normally do. I went in a door where the local Chinese have to go. It was amazing to see the numbers of sick people there. One large room had at least 50 people sitting in chairs getting IV medication of some sort. It is a stark contrast from the “foreigner’s waiting room.”
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