Melissa Gilbert, 59, spent the night in the ER, cellulitis diagnosis

2023-05-26

Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert, 59, reveals she had to spend a night in the ER after suffering from agonizing ‘INSECT bite’ that caused an abscess – five years after she ditched Hollywood for remote Catskills cabin

Melissa and her husband Timothy Busfield moved to a cabin in the Catskill Mountains back in 2018 after giving up their life in Hollywood
The pair purchased the remote 14-acre property for $98,000 and have been living there together ever since
Although Melissa has spoken about her love of the ‘simple life’, her remote lifestyle took a turn for the scary this week when she was bitten by an insect
READ MORE: Little House star Melissa ditches Hollywood for mountain life

Melissa Gilbert of Little House On the Prairie fame spent the night in the emergency room in New York on Thursday after suffering from an insect bite that left her with an abscess and cellulitis.

The 59-year-old actress, who famously quit the bright lights of Hollywood in order to move to a remote cabin in upstate New York back in 2018, took to Instagram to post a photo of her hand with an IV in it, as well as an image of the swollen bite.

In the accompanying caption, Melissa revealed that she had been bitten by an unknown ‘flying insect’ – although she noted it was not a wasp or a bee – two days ago and that her arm immediately began swelling up, prompting her doctor and husband, Timothy Busfield, to urge her to rush to the ER.

‘A Public Service Announcement: Well that was a fun night in the ER (she said with dripping sarcasm),’ Melissa began her post. ‘Two days ago a flying insect (not bee or wasp) bit my arm. By last night my arm was incredibly swollen, red and hot.

‘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.’

Ouch: Melissa Gilbert of Little House On the Prairie fame spent the night in the emergency room in New York on Thursday evening, she revealed. The 59-year-old actress took to Instagram to pose a photo of her hand with an IV in it as she wore a hospital gown in her bed. Seen in 2020

ER time: The wife of actor Timothy Busfield then said she had a ‘Public Service Announcement’ for her Instagram followers about how bug bites should be taken seriously. ‘Well that was a fun night in the ER (she said with dripping sarcasm),’ began the actress. ‘Two days ago a flying insect (not bee or wasp) but my arm,’ she continued

Dated: The area was circled and dated May 25, 2023. ‘By last night my arm was incredibly swollen, red and hot. Called my dr @skincarelab he suggested we hightail it to the ER. I was gonna wait but @timbusfield said “absolutely not. We are going!”’

An abscess is a painful collection of pus, usually caused by a bacterial infection. Abscesses can develop anywhere in the body. This article focuses on 2 types of abscess: skin abscesses – which develop under the skin. internal abscesses – which develop inside the body, in an organ or in the spaces between organs, according to NHS.

Cellulitis is a common, potentially serious bacterial skin infection, according to the Mayo Clinic.

The affected skin is swollen and inflamed and is typically painful and warm to the touch. Cellulitis usually affects the lower legs, but it can occur on the face, arms and other areas.

In Melissa’s case, doctors treated her with an ‘IV of clindamycin, Benedryl and acetaminophen’ – which she said ‘immediately’ started to heal the painful bite.

Clindamycin in an antibiotic. Benadryl is an antihistamine. It can treat pain and itching caused by insect bites, minor cuts, burns, poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac when applied topically. And Acetaminophen is an analgesic that treats minor aches and pains, and reduces fever.

‘It immediately started to get better. Still kept me up all night. Starting antibiotics, Benedryl and ibuprofen orally today,’ noted the star.

Melissa went on to issue a warning to her followers about the importance of treating these kinds of injuries with serious caution, harking back to the

‘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 then 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.

Throwback: Melissa rose to fame as a child star on the TV show Little House On The Prairie, which enjoyed a long run from 1974 to 1982; pictured in 1978

Gilbert and her husband Timothy Busfield ditched the dazzling lights of Hollywood for the Catskills after buying a 14-acre property in the mountains for $98,000 in 2018

Gilbert swapped her $1.19 million LA home (pictured) which featured a traditional celebrity feel with a large backyard pool – for the modest cottage in the Catskills

Duo: Melissa, who married her third husband, actor Timothy (left), in 2013, credited him with urging her to go straight to the ER when her arm swelled

GILBERT’S DIAGNOSIS

WHAT SHE HAD

ABSCESS

An abscess is a painful collection of pus, usually caused by a bacterial infection, according to NHS.

Abscesses can develop anywhere in the body. This article focuses on 2 types of abscess: skin abscesses – which develop under the skin. internal abscesses – which develop inside the body, in an organ or in the spaces between organs.

CELLULITIS

Cellulitis is a common, potentially serious bacterial skin infection, according to the Mayo Clinic.

The affected skin is swollen and inflamed and is typically painful and warm to the touch. Cellulitis usually affects the lower legs, but it can occur on the face, arms and other areas.

Left untreated, the infection can spread to the lymph nodes and bloodstream and rapidly become life-threatening. It isn’t usually spread from person to person.

WHAT SHE TOOK

She got an IV of Clindamycin, Benadryl and Acetaminophen.

Clindamycin in an antibiotic. Benadryl is an antihistamine; It can treat pain and itching caused by insect bites, minor cuts, burns, poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac when applied topically. And Acetaminophen is an analgesic that treats minor aches and pains, and reduces fever.

Gilbert gave a ‘special shoutout to @bonsecours hospital in Port Jervis, NY.’

‘Going back to bed now. #bugbite #infectedbugbite #celulitis #celulitisfrombugbite #ouch #ER #emergencyroom #onlyme #itsnotevensummeryet #wtf #somethingbitme #runforrestrun #lovemyhubby @officialmodernprairie.’

In 2022, Gilbert revealed she has ‘quit’ struggling to retain her youth.

She used to fall back on such measures as plastic surgery, Botox and fillers.

However as she advanced into middle age she realized: ‘I look like a carrot top, and I’m not happy,’ so she relaxed into aging gracefully, she told People.

Melissa, whose adoptive parents were both actors, entered showbiz when she was just a little girl and got her big break at the age of nine.

From then she began starring on the TV show Little House On The Prairie, which enjoyed a long run from 1974 to 1982.

After the show ended during her teen years, she continued acting but never landed a project that hit to the same degree as Little House On The Prairie.

She reflected: ‘I grew up in an industry that values the outside considerably more than the inside, and I was caught in that wheel of trying to stay young.’

Cosmetic procedures followed, as did fillers and Botox, until eventually in the mid-2010s she reevaluated her circumstances.

Melissa married her third husband, thirtysomething actor Timothy Busfield, in 2013 and moved with him to the small Michigan city of Howell.

Two years after the wedding, she had her breast implants removed, and then in 2016 she took the additional step of swearing off Botox.

‘I finally woke up and went: “What am I doing? I look like a carrot top, and I’m not happy,”‘ she told People recently of her midlife change.

‘My mindset was: “You have to stay thin. You have to be seen in the right places, wear the right shoes and drive the right car,”‘ she explained. ‘That was so drilled into me by all the outside forces. But it never sat right.’

She enjoyed a ‘reawakened love of the outdoors’ and ‘cut off all my hair and quit doing Botox and all that stuff.’

Before having her breast implants taken out in 2015, Melissa wrote a candid blog post lifting the curtain back on her reasons for doing so.

The way she was: Melissa had her breast implants removed in 2015 and gave up Botox shortly thereafter; she is pictured on 2014 swinging by Watch What Happens Live

Ensemble: Melissa (left) is pictured with her Little House On The Prairie co-stars Michael Landon, Karen Grassle and Melissa Sue Anderson and Lindsay or Sydney Greenbush

She spent her early life with ‘perfect A cups’ as a ‘proud, card-carrying member of the Itty Bitty T**** Committee’ with ‘no desire to have a Jessica Rabbitesque figure.’

However there was external pressure, including on the final seasons of Little House On The Prairie on which she claimed ‘I was made to wear a padded bra.’

After she welcomed her first son Dakota in 1989 and finished nursing him, her first husband Bo Brinkman allegedly described her breasts as ‘Socks full of marbles with knots at the top,’ she wrote in the blog post.

Although the marriage ended, her insecurities stayed with her, and after years of wearing padded bras all the time she eventually plumped for surgery.

Her perspective evolved as time went by and it was brought to her attention that she ought to have the implants ‘replaced every 10-15 years.’

She realized: ‘It was possible that at 80 years old I might have to get new implants!’ and eventually decided to have them removed altogether.

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