Posted on October 2nd, 2009 by mentalplanet
When the Wound Vac was initially attached I was a skeptic. Now, with less than a week of sucking, my wound, which was about the size of a nickle and equal in depth, is virtually closed!
I see the doctor today for an official determination but from my seat I am thrilled. This has been a long process. My first physician was not as present as I needed her to be. Since the switch on September 18th I have turned the corner.
Two months of dealing with an infection is way too long. My wound should have been cultured much sooner. My outcome is not typical by a long shot. I am more of a cautionary tale.
Not healing is not just a missed stitch or as my doctor thought, a rush to get walking too soon. Make sure any goo is cultured right away. Treatment should be with the best antibiotic for the specific bacteria.
I am now taking some other advice from this blog and starting on a high protein diet. My muscles are just too slurpy at this point. I want to be back to my normally active life. I would imagine my favorite bar stools are missing me!
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Posted on September 25th, 2009 by mentalplanet
I am a dog walker for pleasure, I have two Newfoundland Mix breed dogs of my own. Professionally, I manage a large dog walking company in Chicago.
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I was walking 3 sweet little pups, LucyFur, Madison and Oscar. It was a beautiful day. I deposited a bag of poop to a City of Chicago receptacle a few doors from LucyFur’s house. Madison and Oscar were visiting. The lid closed and with my next step I stumbled, stumbled, stumbled and SNAP! A POTHOLE! SERIOUSLY! I thought I had broken my leg. The initial pain was horrific. That soon gave way to a numbing sensation.
The dogs added a little comic relief. They are all dear friends of mine. Each of their little personalities came through. Both Madison and Oscar came to my side. With as much concern as their petite canine hearts could muster, gave comfort. LucyFur, diva that she is, pretty much moved away as if I had just ruined the entire walk with my dramatics.
Fortunately LucyFur’s neighbor witnessed my plight while caring for her planters on their third floor deck. She came to my side ready with a cell phone in case EMS would be needed.
She was happy to help get the pups home. No way for me to climb to the third floor apartment. I was amazed that I was able to stand. Once certain that I could very deliberately, gingerly take a step, one by one I managed to get to the rear door a few garages east. She tossed me the keys to my vehicle and I made my way back to my office.
I was thinking I had a pretty bad sprain. Nothing some rest, ice and elevation couldn’t take care of. It was almost the weekend. I could work from home on Friday and see how it goes.
Friday morning came and the swelling was getting worse and pain increasing. I decided that I would head to the ER and see if perhaps I was broken. It was the beginning of the Memorial Day Holiday and I wanted to get help before there would be a crowd of food poisonings and Swine Flu cases all huddled together sharing symptoms.
The ER doc referred me to a podiatrist on Tuesday. Wrapped me in an Ace and sent me home on crutches. The Ace compression gave a certain relief and stability. I took the Motrin and rested.
After an exam the podiatry specialist sent me for an MRI. All signs pointed to an ATR. An acronym I learned on this site when I Googled her suspected diagnosis.
The MRI confirmed it and I was quickly scheduled for surgery. My last surgery was my tonsils in 1980. SURGERY!
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Posted on September 25th, 2009 by mentalplanet
Following my injury back in May of this year and throughout the process this site has kept me hopeful and informed.
I read the posts but hadn’t really felt like my story was any different from any other. I didn’t think about how helpful all of the stories had been to my mind. The time line to keeping me on track. When there were pains that the doctor would kind of shrug off I would find a kindred here.
There was one pain in particular that only happened very occasionally and just seemed indescribable. It was a burning sensation that was very intense and only at night. What ever that’s about. Well, in the posts as I was scrolling through I saw “Burning sensation…” I read the question that described the pain, exactly. There were no responses. Perhaps no one else had that sensation. Just to know that even one other person, with the same injury was having a similar experience was comforting beyond words.
That person’s injury had long since healed but I knew that I was within some normal parameter. I knew that this “community” was medicine for my mind and heart. It is full of fact and fiction. I knew that some where in between is the truth of the human experience of this healing process.
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