Short story, my mother's cat bit me and infected me with Pasteurella. It wasn't really her fault; the poor thing was put into a bad situation and I told my mother it wasn't a good idea to keep her with me, and when I had to get her into her kennel, she went into full attack model
However, I went into the ER pretty early on and got it flushed out of my hand after it started swelling up, though I did put it off for about 2-3 days, unsure if the swelling was going to go down, only to learn once I got to the hospital that the bacteria was probably already in my blood. So thankfully I went in when I did, as even now, I can reliably bend my finger again and all that's left to do is get the stitches removed in a few weeks.
If I put this off for a full week like I originally intended, there could have been some serious problems. Likely losing this index finger of mine, either in terms of motion or physically.
If nothing else, this was the first time I've ever had surgery. Took me 29 years! I had no intention of it; I just thought I broke my finger and I had to get a stint, only to suddenly be getting IV drips and then a gown and a mask and suddenly knocked out, and then stuck in a hospital bed for 2 days until I got discharged earlier. Wasn't too terribly fun being so restricted, just stewing in my sweaty bed with a stiff neck against an uncomfortable bed and nurses that sometimes flat out ignored requests and calls.
Outside of some critically high blood pressure that I can get down with medication (already did this once, which is why I foolishly stopped in the first place), I got a completely clean bill of health. One reason I tend to get hospital anxiety is because of the idea that they do blood work or X-rays and say "we found some cancerous mass," yet here I learn that everything's optimal and nothing's suspicious other than some high cholesterol causing high blood pressure (which, I'm from southern Louisiana, we eat grease for breakfast and I'm only barely exaggerating, that's not exactly uncommon around for these parts)
If anything, I did have some thoughts about it all, about how the constant health monitoring and ability to request some help/receive food regularly made me think that this could be a norm for anyone with access to decently modern technology in a few years. Just imagining a mildly invasive monitor that can keep track of things like blood glucose, cholesterol, heart rate, liver enzymes, etc. and immediately give you a report 24/7, while robotic servants of all shapes and capabilities serve you at home
(Anyone remember those robotic chef arms? Apparently something's actually coming of those, and it wasn't vaporware: https://www.ft.com/content/fa707da3-886 ... 500c4f9dbf)
