Most of you know, or have seen some little snippets here and there, that I am in the hospital. It has been such a weird oncoming issue, that up until now, it was hard to tell people what was going on. Because we (me, doctors, etc) really didn't know what was going on ourselves. There were too many variables in the beginning stages that as soon as I told my friends what was up or how I felt... it would change 4 hours later. Make sense? No? Didn't think so.
So, here is what happened. Sunday, 3/24, I had some major pain in my leg.
By Tuesday, I had found (touched) a large, hard mass underneath the skin. Dr. Weber, a general surgeon, saw me in her office that morning. She said that it was an abscess caused by an infection (most likely bacterial...and we find out later that it is). The hard mass I was feeling was actually soft tissue that had become inflammed and hardened surrounding the infection. After receiving a local anesthetic, she preformed an I & D (incision and drain).
As Dr. Weber had suspected, the abscess was still in early stages and was too hardened to allow any infection (puss) to drain there in the office. The only thing she could do, at that time, was to send me home with pain pills and antibiotics. With the medicine and continually taking sitz baths, we hoped that it would break up the hard tissue, allowing the area to drain on its own. THIS IS IN THE PERFECT WORLD. And of course this did not happen....
Days went by and there was absolutely no drainage, only buildup of pressure and pain. 4:30 Saturday morning, I woke up in pain that could no longer be ignored. Amy picked me up and we were at the ER by 4:45am.
Once back in one of the ER rooms, the ER Dr immediately gave me a shot of morphine. (whew, relief for a bit) Amy stayed by my side the whole time. The ER Dr decided to perform another I & D. This time being on a larger scale. Fortunately, he decided to knock me out before he did the I & D.
**insert traumatic experience** (may give full details at a later time)
I am then admitted into the hospital, given percocets and the abscess finally starts to drain. yay, right?
Weeellll... not all the way...
..
Monday morning, Dr Weber is back in the office. She comes over to look at the area and is not satisfied with how slow it's taking to drain/heal. So off to get a CT scan I go. Apparently the Dr did not like what she saw in the CT scan either and rushed to get me into surgery.
Monday afternoon I had surgery to open up a deeper part of the infection that was not softening up.
All 3 times that I had a procedure they did a culture on it. And every time, the cultures only grew skin flora.
Skin Flora is the "good" bacteria that everyone should have in their bodies.
Two doctors from infectious diseases took a look at the area as well, to make sure that we were on the right treatment path.
The first part of yesterday was the most painful thing I had ever been through. Soreness from the surgery and a dressing change led to a couple of mini meltdowns. (I will spare you the gory details of the packing change) Fortunately, my nurses have been wicked awesome and very patient with me.
Yesterday afternoon was met with significant relief. I actually got around 6 hours of sleep last night.
Today, my Dr AND the infectious disease doctors say that it is looking ALOT better and that we truly are on the way to recovery. Dr Weber is hoping to release me on Friday. There is going to be even more home after-care. Daily dressing changes, multiple sitz baths, antibiotics,etc for the next couple of weeks.
So, I am on the RIGHT road to recovery. All prayers are welcomed and highly appreciated.
xo
~B
