Melissa Gilbert played the beloved character Laura Ingalls on NBC’s Little House on the Prairie for years.
Her performance in the series made her a TV icon, and it’s clear that the former child actress still has that pioneer spirit as she lives her best life in the Catskill mountains with her wonderful family.
Recently, though, she experienced a real health scare, and was rushed to a hospital in New York with a seriously swollen arm.
These days, former ‘Little House on the Prairie’ star Melissa Gilbert has left the glitz and glam behind in favor of a quieter, more peaceful life with her husband, Tim Busfield. Since 2018, the couple has resided in upstate New York after purchasing a 14-acre property in the Catskill mountains.
The 59-year-old actress keeps herself busy on her farm. She has plenty of work to do each morning – indeed, her routine looks straight out of a Little House rerun: Melissa keeps chickens, plants crops, and continues to do home renovation projects on the house.
Only recently, however, her peaceful and tranquil life was disturbed by a rather serious incident. Just days ago, Melissa updated her Instagram to announce that she had been taken to the hospital. The reason? A scary bug bite.
At first, Melissa ignored the bite, but when her arm swelled up significantly, she realized that something was wrong. After consulting he local doctor and her husband, they urged her to seek medical attention and she was admitted to Bon Secours hospital in Port Jervis, NY.
At the time of writing, no one really knows what ‘attacked’ her. According to Melissa, it wasn’t a ‘bee or wasp,’ but another flying insect.
”A Public Service Announcement: Well that was a fun night in the ER (she said with dripping sarcasm),” Gilbert captioned the post of her hand in an IV and a close-up shot of her swollen arm. “Two days ago a flying insect (not bee or wasp) bit my arm. By last night my arm was incredibly swollen, red and hot,” she wrote on Instagram.
”Called my [doctor and] he suggested we hightail it to the ER. I was gonna wait but [Timothy] said, ‘Absolutely not. We are going!’ After many tests I was diagnosed with an abscess and cellulitis.”
According tot Healthline, cellulitis is a common bacterial skin infection and ”can occur when bacteria enter your body because of a cut, scrape, or break in the skin, such as a bug bite.”
The medical team decided to act quickly and initiated treatment by administering an intravenous infusion of clindamycin, Benedryl, and acetaminophen. According to Melissa, it really helped and the treatment made the infected area feel much better.
”Still kept me up all night. Starting antibiotics, Benedryl and ibuprofen orally today,” she shared.
Melissa also took the opportunity to issue a warning to her 200,000 followers on Instagram, urging her fans to take bug bites seriously.
”The lesson-take bug bites seriously! If it swells up like crazy (my whole upper arm was swollen!), don’t wait to get treated, thinking ‘it’s just a little bite. How bad can it get?’ Go to your dr or urgent care or the ER. I’m serious!” she said.
”Back in the days of #lauraingallswilder, this would’ve meant death or amputation. There’s treatment available. So now I’m going to take my meds and rest like the good bunny I am. Stupid bug bite.”
It must have been a quite distressing experience for Melissa, but we’re relieved to know that she’s now on the path to recovery.
Sending you heartfelt wishes for a speedy and complete recovery!
