Tests & More Tests!!!

Yesterday I had yet another test. This one required me to get a shot of radioactive dye followed by an IV while I spent 1 1/2 hours laying in a machine with instructions to be perfectly still. It would be a pretty good form of torture! The results will be to the docs on Monday..... The pain has eased enough that I don't feel the need to go to ER but is still constantly present. It limits my ability to sleep, to move around, etc. The pain meds have little effect on it. Hope it continues to ease up. The last couple of weeks have been really difficult & I can only hope things will get better.

Duaine

Back Home

The doctors sent me home after ER handled my pain with an IV pain killer. This is maddening! I've had two surgeons look at CT Scans, Xrays, blood tests, etc. and both can find no reason for the intense pain. The latest guess is that it is a drug interaction problem. Therefore, they told me to stop all antibiotics and continue the pain meds. I'll see how this works & hope that they are right. And also hope that the infection is gone.

Duaine

Goodbye Recliner

As of this morning, Dad is back in the hospital. His blood pressure went up, and he was in a lot of pain, so Mom took him in this morning. He is only in a holding area in the ER right now. There has been discussion about a possible operation but nothing concrete yet. Let you know as soon as I do.

Erica

Hello Recliner

My hospital stay was short - Friday night until this afternoon. They could find nothing to explain the pain that I experienced although it was easier to manage in the hospital. They changed the antibiotic and the pain killer both and it worked much better than any other to date. Unfortunately, the antibiotic can only be administered by IV & the staff doctor refused to prescribe the pain killer..... He sent me home with instructions to resume the old antibiotics & pain killer except to double the dosage of the pain killer. I am very skeptical that this will work and fear that such a large dose could have some negative repercussions. So we'll be talking to the Internist tomorrow about other alternatives...... I suspect that the hospital needed the bed & the Doc believed that I was the best candidate for at-home care. On the other hand, maybe it will work. In any event, I'll know by tomorrow.

Duaine

Hospital

Dad's still in the hospital and will be until at least Monday. They have him very drugged for the pain, and he's on a heavy dose of IV antibiotics. At first they said he might need additional surgery, but nothing is scheduled as of today. The wound care doctor will be in tomorrow to give us more information.

Update

Mom called at 7:00 a.m. this morning to let us know that she took Dad to the hospital overnight due to pain. They drugged him, and when she left him (she went home to get some sleep after being up all night), he was sleeping peacefully. She said they are keeping him and might have to do surgery again. We'll keep you updated as soon as we hear anything.

Erica and Jeremy

Pain! Pain! Pain!!!

It turns out that the antibiotics required to fight this staph infection disrupt the absorption of my pain killer. Pain is greater than ever. What to do? ..... Doc prescribed a new pain killer (Percocet) which is highly controlled. It requires a special prescription and many pharmacies don't stock it. Connie found a pharmacy that stocks it & takes our insurance - whew! ....... It cuts the pain better but still not completely. And, it has side effects - sleepy, nausea, woozy, etc. So here's the new cycle - take a Percocet which takes about an hour to kick in, sleep 3 hours, wake up & suffer for 2 hours, start the 6 hour cycle over again. I'm starting day 4 of a 10 day course of treatment - long way to go! ..... So I sleep half the time and hurt half the time. Oh glorious sleep!

Went to wound care yesterday. The infection had caused a set back with every wound. Each had gotten deeper / larger as the infection ate away at them. Good news is that the wounds have started to show progress again. Will this never end!?

Duaine

Staph Infection!!!

I had an appt with my internist today. He said the infection is a strain of staph called MRSA. He has no idea where I might have gotten the infection, but the good news is that it is an old strain that normally responds well to the antibiotics that he prescribed. I have a 10 day course of the new antibiotics then he wants to culture it again to ensure that there is no further infection. Keeping my fingers crossed..... Woohoo! No doctors tomorrow..... It's back to the wound care center (which I now call the "pain infliction center") to see Dr "Pain" er Tran on Thursday. :-)

Duaine

Good News - Bad News

Since the doc cut into my abscess last Thursday, things have improved. The wound care center did the cleaning, packing, dressing on Friday and this morning. They arranged home health care to send nurses to do it over the weekend. The nurse this morning said it is healing nicely and the other wounds look really good.....The bad news? The Internist cultured the infection last week and got the lab results back this morning. His office called and it turns out that the antibiotic that I am taking is not the best for that type of infection. So, I have two new antibiotics to take starting tomorrow morning. They said the new antibiotics are targeted to treat the type of infection which they said is very aggressive..... I guess I'm lucky that my immune system has been strong enough to fight it off with minimal help from the existing meds. If these new meds work as expected, it should really accelerate the recovery from the infection. Man - it would be so great to feel better & regain my energy!

Duaine

Doc Was Right!!!!

My Internist was right. I went to the wound care doctor today and, thanks to the ctscan, they had pinpointed an abscess in the abdominal wall a few inches below the bottom wound around my navel. Unfortunately, the treatment involved cutting. Using a local anesthetic the doctor cut into the abscess and scraped it out, vigorously. Holy @#%& that hurt. I can't imagine how painful it would be without an anesthetic. And, he left the cut open so that it can drain! ..... It now means we go back to home health care as a professional nurse is required to "pack" the abscess & dress the wounds. (Connie doesn't seem to be disappointed at losing her daily job)..... Doc did say that any further advance in the infection will require a hospital stay since stronger antibiotics can only be given intravenously..... Just another bump on the road to recovery - a big one, and I hope the last one..... But, it is good to feel better & not have fever, sweats, etc. Keeping my fingers crossed that I get over this hurdle with no more "events"..... I'm sure it would also help if the Rangers could get on a winning streak.

Duaine

Setback

The last several days my condition has begun to change in multiple ways. For example, loss of appetite, loss of energy, tenderness in the abdomen, etc. It culminated yesterday and last night with an afternoon bout of chills followed around 10:00PM with fever and night sweats. Still had the fever this morning, so my doctor wanted me to come in. He suspects an abdominal abscess (infection). So he gave me a shot of antibiotics along with a prescription. They took a culture from the wound nearest the tender spot on the abdomen and scheduled me for a catscan this afternoon. When the lab & scan results come back, he should know what it is and be able to treat it. I just hope the treatment doesn't involve any cutting on me.

Duaine

Easter Weekend

The weekend started with a Saturday drive to Alvarado (about 40 miles each way) for my grandson's first birthday party. We stayed about two hours and I paid the price with pain later. (Didn't get much sleep Saturday night thanks to the pain.) Was it the ride, sitting upright too long, or the grandkids climbing in my lap? Don't know but it was worth the pain..... Sunday Shawn and Jeremy (2 of our 3 sons) brought their families (that's a tally of 4 grandkids) over for a backyard Easter egg hunt. Again, lots of fun followed by pain. It looks like sitting upright might be a major cause of pain..... I think I'm learning more about pain management. I need to push myself enough to condition the body to increased activity level and just enough so that the pain isn't too great. Thank God for pain killers! ..... I feel like my recovery is trending in the right direction as long as I don't push so hard as to cause a set back. I'm looking forward to seeing the wound care doctor on Thursday & hope that the wounds are continuing to heal.

Duaine

Another Visit to the Wound Care Doctor

I had my weekly appointment with the wound care specialist today. Nothing new & that's good. The open spots on the incision are continuing to heal & show no signs of infection. He debraded the "wounds" which means he scraped out the dead skin cells and any discharge from the wounds. Thankfully they deaden the wounds so there is no pain. Connie is doing a great job of cleaning and dressing the wounds daily. Prognosis hasn't changed so I will continue the weekly visits for the next few weeks until healed..... On the other hand, the pain is back under control by going back to the hydrochodone based pain meds. So I'm back to my routine living in my recliner.

Duaine

Oh my God!!!

Switched to my new pain medication this morning. It's a once a day pill that the doctor prescribed. He also prescribed Darvocet as a back up in case it didn't work well enough. I took a Darvocet at noon since the morning pill didn't work. Oh my God!!! The Darvocet didn't work either. I was in too much pain to eat or sleep. It hurt to breathe! Worst pain that I have experienced. I was just sitting in my recliner in a semi-fetal position trying not to cry from the pain. Connie called the doctor and I went back to the old pain pills (hydrochodone) at 3:00PM (I'll take the undesirable side effects). Started to feel the effects in 20-25 minutes and got quite a bit of relief in about 1 1/2 hours. The pain is now almost back to normal - tolerable.

Duaine

Good Day

I think today was my best day since the accident. I slept better and longer last night than usual and followed that with a morning walk where I stretched the distance to about twice my previous longest. Walked about 2 blocks. It felt good even though I was pooped when I got home....... Followed that with a visit to the doctor (the internist, not the wound care specialist) where it was all good news. My blood test was good. All that transfused blood was disease free. He also tapered the heart medicene off some more and said that we could stop it altogether (assuming no problems) in 7 - 10 days..... My pain medicene has had some undesirable side effects so he is changing to a different medication and expects no side effects. Really good news! ..... And the best news of all, he cleared me to drive if I feel like it and to be able to pick up moderate weight. So I can pick up my grandbabies again (the little ones) and hold all the grandkids (including the 3 year olds) in my lap...... It's good to finally feel that I am on the mend & that I might actually reach a normal lifestyle again some day. Keeping my fingers crossed that the visit to the wound care dude (Thursday) brings more good news.

Duaine