I've made it to the half way mark. Six weeks down and six more to go! Six weeks and I... and I hope I will never have to go through any of this again.
On May 4th I went for my post op appointment. The surgeon was amazing, as usual (it makes such a difference to have doctors that have good people skills!). He went over everything that had been done during surgery and said he thought he had gotten all the dead bone out and crammed everything full off antibiotic beads and sponges. He was very pleased because he though a lot more would have to come out. He said that I could ditch my trusty arch nemesis (my crutches), which was a huge relief because the bag with my IV pump was always getting in the way. I'm not allowed to do anything but walk until the next time I see him, but I don't have the energy to be running around anyways. The staples were taken out (only seventeen this time), steri strips were put on with a dressing over top and I was good to go. I was given orders to see a colleague of the surgeon two weeks after the IV antibiotics have been finished (my surgeon will be on paternity leave).
Saturday the 19th the weekend nurse decided I didn't need a dressing anymore, even though parts of the incision still hadn't healed, so on Monday 21st I asked the nurse to put a new dressing on. By noon the steri strips had turned a yellow orangey tinge. The incision had decided to leak fluid. We kept putting new dressings on until two 1/2 days ago, and everything looked healed up.
Life has been going pretty slowly over the last few weeks. Some days I have a noticeably larger amount of energy, and other days, like today, it is hard just to get out of bed. The last few days the incision site has really been bugging me. Late Monday evening it started to sting. I thought it might just go away so ignored it. Tuesday it didn't go away and when I looked at my leg I saw that the scar was pretty red and a pit puffy. Yesterday it really hurt and I could squeeze fluid out of the incision. Today it hurts a bit less and seems less swollen but I am nervous never the less. My mom keeps going on about "it looks a bit better", but that was the story with the infection for months and months before surgery. I am afraid that something is still going on. Surgery, antibiotics in my leg, and six weeks of IV antibiotics should not equal a draining incision. It feels like the skin is stretching, which happens when there is swelling. This isn't the swelling from surgery because that had started to go down, and never hurt. This time it definitely hurts and it is really red. I am going to call the ID tomorrow because I am not happy. On top of everything I feel like crap, am exhausted and have been battling a pretty bad headache over the last few days. I am exhausted.
Fingers crossed that everything is ok, but I am a pretty good judge about knowing if everything is doing as it should in my body.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
Awsome Omegle conversation
This is what happens when I am exhuasted but can't sleep. I end up on Omegle and having an awsome conversation. So awesome, that I am posting it below (as well ad Facebook). I am the person under "you", and the stranger is, well, obviously a stranger...
You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!
Stranger: hello
You: A wild unicorn appears!
... You: what do you do?
Stranger: I go to try and hug it!
You: It turns and walks away, indicating you should follow...
Stranger: I follow it, excited.
You: It speeds down a gravel road and leads you to an intersection with two paths. Which way do you go: to the left - following an imp into Mordor, or to the right, following the unicorn.
Stranger: To the right! I want to pet the unicorn and see if I can ride it :D
You: It leads you to candy mountain, where you meet Carl (hope you saw the YouTube clip), who automatically tries to eat you. In your desperate attempt to escape you mount the unicorn, but unfortunately loose your left arm and 4 toes in the process.
Stranger: (i've seen it. I can recite it in both English and German :3) I hold on to the unicorn, glad that I'm right handed.
You: The unicorn runs and runs, eventually arriving at a bridge. A wild troll appears. He says you must overcome his trap in order to cross. Do you accept the challenge or turn back?
Stranger: I accept.
You: He pulls out a tasty warm triple chocolate cake and holds it by your nose so you can bask in its chocolaty goodness. He asks "As tasty as this food may seem, why must you never accept a cake? (Hope you get the meme btw)
Stranger: (crap I don't) Umm... because the cake is a lie?
You: Hurrah! You have defeated the troll!
Stranger: Yay!
You: Sulking, he lets you and the unicorn over the bridge
Stranger: Sorry, troll, but I have places to go!
You: Shortly after you arrive at a fabulous castle. You are instantly approached by a knight who claims you to be the true king as you have crossed the impassable bridge
Stranger: But I'm a woman. Kingship is cool, though. I'll take it.
You: Do you stay in the kingdom to rule over your new people, prospering in gold and much much chocolate or do you return to the first path to take your chances in Mordor to possibly gain further glory. Answer wisely, as it will determine your fate.
You: (there is only one right answer)
Stranger: Hmm... I'll take mordor because it sounds fancy. And basking is boring.
You: I am sorry, that is incorrect. However, if you can tell me why it is incorrect you will be redeemed.
Stranger: ... I fail.
You: No guess?
Stranger: nope
You: Alright. It is because "One does not simply walk into Mordor."
Stranger: *facepalm*
You: For participating I award you 5 internets.
Stranger: YAY!
You: =)
Stranger: :)
You: I must go now, onwards to my next victim ahm...I meant, my next lucky participant
You: Yes, that is exactly what I meant.
Stranger: *giggle* Have fun.
You: You too! Have a good night.
Stranger: you too!
You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!
Stranger: hello
You: A wild unicorn appears!
... You: what do you do?
Stranger: I go to try and hug it!
You: It turns and walks away, indicating you should follow...
Stranger: I follow it, excited.
You: It speeds down a gravel road and leads you to an intersection with two paths. Which way do you go: to the left - following an imp into Mordor, or to the right, following the unicorn.
Stranger: To the right! I want to pet the unicorn and see if I can ride it :D
You: It leads you to candy mountain, where you meet Carl (hope you saw the YouTube clip), who automatically tries to eat you. In your desperate attempt to escape you mount the unicorn, but unfortunately loose your left arm and 4 toes in the process.
Stranger: (i've seen it. I can recite it in both English and German :3) I hold on to the unicorn, glad that I'm right handed.
You: The unicorn runs and runs, eventually arriving at a bridge. A wild troll appears. He says you must overcome his trap in order to cross. Do you accept the challenge or turn back?
Stranger: I accept.
You: He pulls out a tasty warm triple chocolate cake and holds it by your nose so you can bask in its chocolaty goodness. He asks "As tasty as this food may seem, why must you never accept a cake? (Hope you get the meme btw)
Stranger: (crap I don't) Umm... because the cake is a lie?
You: Hurrah! You have defeated the troll!
Stranger: Yay!
You: Sulking, he lets you and the unicorn over the bridge
Stranger: Sorry, troll, but I have places to go!
You: Shortly after you arrive at a fabulous castle. You are instantly approached by a knight who claims you to be the true king as you have crossed the impassable bridge
Stranger: But I'm a woman. Kingship is cool, though. I'll take it.
You: Do you stay in the kingdom to rule over your new people, prospering in gold and much much chocolate or do you return to the first path to take your chances in Mordor to possibly gain further glory. Answer wisely, as it will determine your fate.
You: (there is only one right answer)
Stranger: Hmm... I'll take mordor because it sounds fancy. And basking is boring.
You: I am sorry, that is incorrect. However, if you can tell me why it is incorrect you will be redeemed.
Stranger: ... I fail.
You: No guess?
Stranger: nope
You: Alright. It is because "One does not simply walk into Mordor."
Stranger: *facepalm*
You: For participating I award you 5 internets.
Stranger: YAY!
You: =)
Stranger: :)
You: I must go now, onwards to my next victim ahm...I meant, my next lucky participant
You: Yes, that is exactly what I meant.
Stranger: *giggle* Have fun.
You: You too! Have a good night.
Stranger: you too!
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
1000! Hurrah!
Yay! Sometime, over the course of last night or this morning, I got 1000 hits on my blog! I have to admit, that was a pretty big goal of mine. So let's celebrate! Hurray!
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
PICC Line Dressing Changed
The dressing change for the PICC line was this morning. It went, well, it went, and not uneventfully. Thankfully the dried blood came off easily, although there is still one tiny spot of scab that is sticking on for dear life. The insertion site also decided to bleed again. Today's home nurse said it is because there is still bruising around the insertion site. The damn thing won't stop bleeding 'till the bruising goes away... who would have thought almost three weeks later?
Half way through the dressing change I was struck with some pretty intense nausea and dizziness. I was so light headed I thought I would faint. I asked my mom for a bowl in case I threw up (thankfully I didn't). Only afterward did I realize how silly I must have looked, hunched over a bowl, trying not to hurl while wearing a mask, and with my harm stuck out waiting for the cleaning stuff to dry! When the line was put in, the PICC nurse at the hospital put the guide wire in before she numbed my arm. None of my home nurses understand why it was done in this order, as, which is a reasonable, the arm should have been numbed first to avoid any pain (it hurt, a lot). I think that because of the way it was put in, I have somehow, unconsciously, become afraid of the dressing changes. I can deal with it being in my arm, I am fine with the dressing changes on my leg and looking at the incision, and have a really high pain tolerance (I can be at 5 out of 10 without needing pain meds, and then my 5 is a 8 to some of my friends). I went unphased by the puss coming out of the incision from my surgery in 2008, and was fine with the abscess on my shin and the bone fragment that came out of it in early 2011, but for some unknown reason I can't deal with the PICC dressing change. But anyways, the dressing is changed and I have a glorious week before it has to happen again.
In other news, I feel pretty shitty. I think that the ten months of antibiotics have really fucked up my insides. I would ask you to pardon the swearing, but I want to blog exactly how I feel, and how I feel is fucked up. In other words, lets just say that the bathroom has been my best friend this past week. Thankfully I see my infectious disease specialist this Thursday, so I can ask her for some advice. My biggest concern with the antibiotics is that there have been several c-difficile outbreaks in the region over the last year. Chances are I don't have it, but because I have been on the antibiotics so long, and have been to several hospitals quite a lot for appointments, I want to make sure that everything down there is as fine as it can be at the moment.
I have also been insanely tired, increasingly so since surgery, which I attribute to all the antibiotics and the shock of surgery itself. I feel like I am back to where I was last summer e.g. sleeping ten hours, waking up, eating and then going right back to bed. Again, hopefully infectious disease has some way of helping me with this.
And lastly, health wise, I slipped a bit down the stairs today. I caught myself, but the muscles in my leg do hurt more than they did before. The outside of the dressing on my leg still looks good, so I am going to assume that everything is o.k. and will as the home nurse to look at it in the morning.
Today was a nice day when I ignore how I feel. My mom and I went to a plant center and we bought some purple/black petunias, and some yellow ones as well. Then we took a nice long drive in the country (the Niagara region is beautiful, even though everything has already blossomed), and found a very, very hidden but still used cemetery. We will go there for a picnic one day as it is right beside a small park/hiking trail. We cam home and had lasagna, hot dogs, and chips for dinner (yum!). And now I am here, typing this all out and about to go read in bed. Hopefully I feel better in the morning.
Half way through the dressing change I was struck with some pretty intense nausea and dizziness. I was so light headed I thought I would faint. I asked my mom for a bowl in case I threw up (thankfully I didn't). Only afterward did I realize how silly I must have looked, hunched over a bowl, trying not to hurl while wearing a mask, and with my harm stuck out waiting for the cleaning stuff to dry! When the line was put in, the PICC nurse at the hospital put the guide wire in before she numbed my arm. None of my home nurses understand why it was done in this order, as, which is a reasonable, the arm should have been numbed first to avoid any pain (it hurt, a lot). I think that because of the way it was put in, I have somehow, unconsciously, become afraid of the dressing changes. I can deal with it being in my arm, I am fine with the dressing changes on my leg and looking at the incision, and have a really high pain tolerance (I can be at 5 out of 10 without needing pain meds, and then my 5 is a 8 to some of my friends). I went unphased by the puss coming out of the incision from my surgery in 2008, and was fine with the abscess on my shin and the bone fragment that came out of it in early 2011, but for some unknown reason I can't deal with the PICC dressing change. But anyways, the dressing is changed and I have a glorious week before it has to happen again.
In other news, I feel pretty shitty. I think that the ten months of antibiotics have really fucked up my insides. I would ask you to pardon the swearing, but I want to blog exactly how I feel, and how I feel is fucked up. In other words, lets just say that the bathroom has been my best friend this past week. Thankfully I see my infectious disease specialist this Thursday, so I can ask her for some advice. My biggest concern with the antibiotics is that there have been several c-difficile outbreaks in the region over the last year. Chances are I don't have it, but because I have been on the antibiotics so long, and have been to several hospitals quite a lot for appointments, I want to make sure that everything down there is as fine as it can be at the moment.
I have also been insanely tired, increasingly so since surgery, which I attribute to all the antibiotics and the shock of surgery itself. I feel like I am back to where I was last summer e.g. sleeping ten hours, waking up, eating and then going right back to bed. Again, hopefully infectious disease has some way of helping me with this.
And lastly, health wise, I slipped a bit down the stairs today. I caught myself, but the muscles in my leg do hurt more than they did before. The outside of the dressing on my leg still looks good, so I am going to assume that everything is o.k. and will as the home nurse to look at it in the morning.
Today was a nice day when I ignore how I feel. My mom and I went to a plant center and we bought some purple/black petunias, and some yellow ones as well. Then we took a nice long drive in the country (the Niagara region is beautiful, even though everything has already blossomed), and found a very, very hidden but still used cemetery. We will go there for a picnic one day as it is right beside a small park/hiking trail. We cam home and had lasagna, hot dogs, and chips for dinner (yum!). And now I am here, typing this all out and about to go read in bed. Hopefully I feel better in the morning.
Labels:
antibiotics,
bone infection,
chronic bone infection,
chronic osteomyelitis,
dizzy,
dressing change,
incision,
IV antibiotics,
nauseous,
osteomyelitis,
PICC line,
stomach issues,
surgery
PICC Dressing Chnage Tomorrow
PICC line dressing change in the morning. That will not be fun... the non-alcoholic cleaning swabs did finally arrive last week, so the insertion site shouldn't sting when it is cleaned, but the site has decided to bleed on and off last over the last 6 days. The blood, now dried, is stuck to a scab that wouldn't come off last week. The nurse wouldn't pull it off then because it hurt too much, but it has to come off tomorrow. My biggest dilemma until then is whether or not to eat before the dressing change. Somehow I think it doesn't matter... I will be nauseous either way.
The dressing for the surgical incision was changed to day. There was still some blood (at least, I hope it was blood) coming from one spot, and everything is still really swollen and numb. Fingers crossed everything continues to heal well. I am still experiencing some bone pain so I am hopping everything is going the way it should, what ever that way may be =P.
The dressing for the surgical incision was changed to day. There was still some blood (at least, I hope it was blood) coming from one spot, and everything is still really swollen and numb. Fingers crossed everything continues to heal well. I am still experiencing some bone pain so I am hopping everything is going the way it should, what ever that way may be =P.
Friday, May 04, 2012
Puttering around
I haven't posted in a while. I haven't really felt like interacting with the world. Like an animal, injured by people on the hunt, I have retreated to lick my wounds (not literally of course!). But I can't stay in my house forever. I have to come face the world again. Both the awakening sunshine and the people who stare at me, at my crutches, at my PICC line, at my tubing and IV pump.
My post-op appointment is in the morning, at 11:45am. I would say this is a good thing because I usually get stuck with the dreaded 8:00am appointments, which really sucks when it takes an hour to get to the hospital (Yay! but not so much for waking up at 6:00am when you are ill), but I am up at 8:00 everyday for the home nurse anyways. I know, I know... 8:00am is a very reasonable time to get up, and many people have to crawl out of their cozy beds much earlier than that, but when you have had a bone infection for six years, did nine months of antibiotics, then had yet another surgery, and switched to IV antibiotics, 8:00am shouldn't even be an option on the alarm clock.
I won't lie about it. I have been a bit sad the last few days. I suppose sad isn't actually the right word to describe it. No, I have been realistic. Yesterday was the first day I voiced my concerns to one particular nurse. I am usually quite upbeat when the nurse arrives, but yesterday I really needed a day to vent. To just moop around and let my feelings out. Of course, that wasn't allowed by the nurse. She kept going on how I needed happy thoughts to get better because a lack of optimism decreases the likely hood of getting better. But that's the things. I am not not optimistic. I just see things as they are. I have had an infection for six years. So far my doctors still don't know the type of bacteria causing the infection, which makes it very hard to figure out the best medication with which to treat things. I just don't want to set my expectations to high.
The two weeks since surgery have been mostly agreeable. I went on a nice drive with my mom about a week ago, and than out to Niagara on the Lake for a quick, improvised picnic, e.g. go to the little super market there to buy some drinks, muffins, and a bag of chips, and then go to the park for a small stroll (is it strolling when you are on crutches?) and a scrumptiously simple feast! After tomorrows appointment my mom and I will take the scenic route home, and on Saturday my best friend Beth is coming over for a bit. Next week Thursday I have an appointment with my infectious disease specialist, and Beth is coming with my mom and I so we can go to IKEA together afterward, since it is on the route home. And then on Saturday my opa is arriving from the Netherlands for just over a week.
Physically I have been surviving. The incision site hardly hurt at all compared to the one of the previous surgery. Since I got home from the hospital I have only taken three percocets (really tried to stay away from those as they are so addictive, and they were given out like candy in the hospital) and a few Tylenol extra strengths. But the staples have been pinching like crazy. I will be very happy if they come out tomorrow (fingers crossed). The muscles in my leg are still fairly sore. I can walk on the leg unaided because the bone is strong enough, but the doctor said to stay on them, which is good because if I move a lot (still not a lot) or to quickly the muscles spasm and hurt. Sometimes they just hurt on their own! I have been really really exhausted (thanks a lot antibiotics! - sarcasm), more so than before surgery so that isn't fun. I will bring it up with my surgeon at post-op. The antibiotics make my my mouth taste really sweet, and make my dizzy and drowsy. And as one nurse said, "It is pretty much to get constipated while on Tazocin." I know, tmi, tmi, but my stomach is driving my crazy.
My PICC line thankfully turned out not to be infected. It just really likes to ooze, and since my latest dressing change on Tuesday it has decided to bleed quite a bit. The nurses blame it on using the crutches on the stairs, but it started to bleed right after the dressing change. I think it is just bound to bleed, no matter what. And it is so itchy under the dressing. It would be just my luck to be allergic to the tegaderm!
I am really tired now, so I should get to bed. 8:00am comes to soon... and if I stay up any longer I will be awake when the IV pump goes off for the next dose. It makes more noise at night because there is less fluid in the IV bag because it is the last dose before the bag is changed so the pump has to work harder...its a weird clicking noise that makes it hard to fall asleep. I will try to updates after post-op tomorrow. It will likely be sometime in the late afternoon/early evening as the wait times can be pretty long and I have some errands to run (haha the irony) once back from the hospital. I also have some other stuff I want to post about, so hopefully I will get to that in the next few days.
My post-op appointment is in the morning, at 11:45am. I would say this is a good thing because I usually get stuck with the dreaded 8:00am appointments, which really sucks when it takes an hour to get to the hospital (Yay! but not so much for waking up at 6:00am when you are ill), but I am up at 8:00 everyday for the home nurse anyways. I know, I know... 8:00am is a very reasonable time to get up, and many people have to crawl out of their cozy beds much earlier than that, but when you have had a bone infection for six years, did nine months of antibiotics, then had yet another surgery, and switched to IV antibiotics, 8:00am shouldn't even be an option on the alarm clock.
I won't lie about it. I have been a bit sad the last few days. I suppose sad isn't actually the right word to describe it. No, I have been realistic. Yesterday was the first day I voiced my concerns to one particular nurse. I am usually quite upbeat when the nurse arrives, but yesterday I really needed a day to vent. To just moop around and let my feelings out. Of course, that wasn't allowed by the nurse. She kept going on how I needed happy thoughts to get better because a lack of optimism decreases the likely hood of getting better. But that's the things. I am not not optimistic. I just see things as they are. I have had an infection for six years. So far my doctors still don't know the type of bacteria causing the infection, which makes it very hard to figure out the best medication with which to treat things. I just don't want to set my expectations to high.
The two weeks since surgery have been mostly agreeable. I went on a nice drive with my mom about a week ago, and than out to Niagara on the Lake for a quick, improvised picnic, e.g. go to the little super market there to buy some drinks, muffins, and a bag of chips, and then go to the park for a small stroll (is it strolling when you are on crutches?) and a scrumptiously simple feast! After tomorrows appointment my mom and I will take the scenic route home, and on Saturday my best friend Beth is coming over for a bit. Next week Thursday I have an appointment with my infectious disease specialist, and Beth is coming with my mom and I so we can go to IKEA together afterward, since it is on the route home. And then on Saturday my opa is arriving from the Netherlands for just over a week.
Physically I have been surviving. The incision site hardly hurt at all compared to the one of the previous surgery. Since I got home from the hospital I have only taken three percocets (really tried to stay away from those as they are so addictive, and they were given out like candy in the hospital) and a few Tylenol extra strengths. But the staples have been pinching like crazy. I will be very happy if they come out tomorrow (fingers crossed). The muscles in my leg are still fairly sore. I can walk on the leg unaided because the bone is strong enough, but the doctor said to stay on them, which is good because if I move a lot (still not a lot) or to quickly the muscles spasm and hurt. Sometimes they just hurt on their own! I have been really really exhausted (thanks a lot antibiotics! - sarcasm), more so than before surgery so that isn't fun. I will bring it up with my surgeon at post-op. The antibiotics make my my mouth taste really sweet, and make my dizzy and drowsy. And as one nurse said, "It is pretty much to get constipated while on Tazocin." I know, tmi, tmi, but my stomach is driving my crazy.
My PICC line thankfully turned out not to be infected. It just really likes to ooze, and since my latest dressing change on Tuesday it has decided to bleed quite a bit. The nurses blame it on using the crutches on the stairs, but it started to bleed right after the dressing change. I think it is just bound to bleed, no matter what. And it is so itchy under the dressing. It would be just my luck to be allergic to the tegaderm!
I am really tired now, so I should get to bed. 8:00am comes to soon... and if I stay up any longer I will be awake when the IV pump goes off for the next dose. It makes more noise at night because there is less fluid in the IV bag because it is the last dose before the bag is changed so the pump has to work harder...its a weird clicking noise that makes it hard to fall asleep. I will try to updates after post-op tomorrow. It will likely be sometime in the late afternoon/early evening as the wait times can be pretty long and I have some errands to run (haha the irony) once back from the hospital. I also have some other stuff I want to post about, so hopefully I will get to that in the next few days.
Labels:
bone infection,
chronic bone infection,
chronic osteomyelitis,
home nurse,
IV pump,
optimism,
osteomyelitis,
PICC line,
post op,
post-op,
realistic,
recovery,
surgery,
tazocin,
tegaderm
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