I knew the abscess in the crook of my left elbow was getting bad when it became the size of a lemon and I woke up one morning having trouble extending, rotating and flexing my arm. Even in my heroin-addled, 21-year-old mind, I was like, "Oh, shit, maybe I should get this looked at."The skin covering the abscess had taken on a yellow hue and felt spongy, kind of like a zit ready to be popped. I was young and stupid, but something got through, like, "Dude, take this seriously.