Sorry, been rather out of it lately
Aug. 19th, 2009 08:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janewilliams20And while I've managed the odd Facebook status update, I haven't been up to writing anything longer, so LJ gets missed. OK. Today, for now, I seem to be awake enough to Google Big Medical Words (by my standards: I have a blockage on the subject) and find out more details of what's been (and still is) wrong.
"Cellulitis".
Otherwise known as "why is my leg going red?" "why is the red spreading from ankle to knee?" "should it really be going grey?" and "why aren't the tablets doing anything?"
Google led me straight to Wikipedia, and the article there tells me everything I wanted to know, and confirms what I think I've already been told by assorted doctors, nurses, and the hospital.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulitis
The picture, incidentally, is of a MUCH milder case than mine.
A few relevant quotes....
" Lymphedema, which causes swelling on the arms and/or legs, can also put an individual at risk." Yes. Got that.
"This reddened skin or rash may signal a deeper, more serious infection of the inner layers of skin. Once below the skin, the bacteria can spread rapidly, entering the lymph nodes and the bloodstream and spreading throughout the body. In rare cases, the infection can spread to the deep layer of tissue called the fascial lining. Necrotizing fasciitis, also called by the media "flesh-eating bacteria," is an example of a deep-layer infection. It represents an extreme medical emergency." Oh, lovely...
"...can result in severe debility or even death if untreated." Or, presumably, if the treatment doesn't work, which it didn't, for quite a while.
Well, from the look of the length of time I'd had it, the state it was in (grey/purple area covering half the lower leg, and going numb), they were quite right to send me off to hospital for IV antibiotics. Wikipedia says that's done in "severe cases". No pain, which would definitely say "necrotising fasciitis", and since the treatment for that is emergency surgery, it sounds as if I was about half a day away from getting large chunks of leg removed.
Ah well, on the mend now. Been very doped out from several days of IV antibiotics, and high dosage tablets after that, but this morning, I seem to be a bit more awake. I'd quite like to get back to work for next Monday, but we'll see. I'd probably better take this seriously, since apparently if it isn't fully cured, it comes back.
"Cellulitis".
Otherwise known as "why is my leg going red?" "why is the red spreading from ankle to knee?" "should it really be going grey?" and "why aren't the tablets doing anything?"
Google led me straight to Wikipedia, and the article there tells me everything I wanted to know, and confirms what I think I've already been told by assorted doctors, nurses, and the hospital.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulitis
The picture, incidentally, is of a MUCH milder case than mine.
A few relevant quotes....
" Lymphedema, which causes swelling on the arms and/or legs, can also put an individual at risk." Yes. Got that.
"This reddened skin or rash may signal a deeper, more serious infection of the inner layers of skin. Once below the skin, the bacteria can spread rapidly, entering the lymph nodes and the bloodstream and spreading throughout the body. In rare cases, the infection can spread to the deep layer of tissue called the fascial lining. Necrotizing fasciitis, also called by the media "flesh-eating bacteria," is an example of a deep-layer infection. It represents an extreme medical emergency." Oh, lovely...
"...can result in severe debility or even death if untreated." Or, presumably, if the treatment doesn't work, which it didn't, for quite a while.
Well, from the look of the length of time I'd had it, the state it was in (grey/purple area covering half the lower leg, and going numb), they were quite right to send me off to hospital for IV antibiotics. Wikipedia says that's done in "severe cases". No pain, which would definitely say "necrotising fasciitis", and since the treatment for that is emergency surgery, it sounds as if I was about half a day away from getting large chunks of leg removed.
Ah well, on the mend now. Been very doped out from several days of IV antibiotics, and high dosage tablets after that, but this morning, I seem to be a bit more awake. I'd quite like to get back to work for next Monday, but we'll see. I'd probably better take this seriously, since apparently if it isn't fully cured, it comes back.
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no subject
Date: 2009-08-19 09:46 am (UTC)