Schuckman: Put on the shelf by a royal pain in the leg

Cellulitis. The clinical definition for it is “inflammation of subcutaneous connective tissue.” My description of it is a royal pain in the leg.

The bacterial infection causing cellulitis got the better of me again last weekend, and I ended up spending four nights in Blessing Hospital with IVs attached to both arms. For those who have never experienced cellulitis, here’s what happens.

The tissue below the skin becomes inflamed, swollen and red. It radiates heat and is extremely tender to the touch. It requires strong antibiotics to control it and send it back into hiding until the day it decides to surprise you with an unexpected visit.

That’s the way it works with chronic recurring cellulitis, if such a medical term even exists. That seems to be what I have.

I’ve battled this since a spider bite in 1998 caused the first reaction. At the time, I was working in Columbia, Mo., and spent the day fishing at the August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area in St. Louis to do a story on a regional angler trying to promote his invention for catfish bait.

On the drive home along I-70, I started feeling ill. By the next morning, I was in Boone Hospital with this thing called cellulitis I had never heard of and doctors trying to figure out where it came from. A year later, I was living in Quincy when I headed to Minneapolis to be a groomsman in my college buddy’s wedding. The morning of the wedding I ended up in the ER in the Twin Cities.

There have been six hospital stays since, and each one of those has included being diagnosed with sepsis, which means the infection got into the bloodstream. Longer hospital stay, more powerful antibiotics, longer recovery time. Sounds fun, doesn’t it?

Each time, it’s put me on the shelf from two to five weeks, depending on the reaction to the antibiotics and the rate of the decrease of the swelling. I’m hoping to be back to action by this time next week.

That depends on my doctor and Mr. Cellulitis. Right now, Mr. Cellulitis isn’t cooperating with my leg swollen from ankle to mid-thigh as we reach the end of Week One.

Thankfully, my Muddy River buddies have filled in admirably and allowed me to concern myself with healing while they covered events. It’s a blessing to be a part of a phenomenal team.

Having endured a pandemic in which more games became livestreamed and afforded everyone the ability to watch from afar, many of those elements have remained in place. So I’ll watch from home while I recuperate, write the stories I can and make sure we continue to provide you the best coverage possible.