Ouch (possible NSFW pictures of my rear to follow)
Discussion
More issues this last weekend. We have another infection in the duff leg. 
As great as the NHS is at the point of crisis, it’s sometimes less great when different bits need to join up, outside the normal “rules of engagement”. Very long and frustratingly complex story slightly short, I came into A&E at my local hospital on Sunday afternoon. They liaised with the Registrar on call at the regional limb reconstruction centre, on Sunday, someone I’ve never seen. He was at a different hospital, albeit part of the same trust. I cannot simply just tip up at this hospital, despite them being part of the actual trust who are treating me, with not only an A&E, but access to my clinical history...
I was admitted (locally) via A&E for “close observations”, but no antibiotics prescribed. “Close observations” means having my temperature taken at 0500, yesterday morning... 38.2° C and climbing. We peaked just under 40° C, a couple of hours later, despite IV paracetamol. Still no antibiotics.
Local A&E were pretty keen for me to be someone else’s problem so I was transferred (on paper) at 11am, yesterday morning. It’s 12 miles away from where I am now. I was collected at 5.30pm, because I wasn’t an urgent priority.
I got to the hospital where I’ve had the latest round of surgery, about 5.30pm, saw the doctor about 7pm and then finally got plugged into some industrial strength IV antibiotics about 7.30pm last night - Teicoplanin - and oral Ciprofloxacin.
Now my duff leg is spasming like billy-o. This smarts. It really smarts. A very lot. My temperature is hovering around 39° C. They are going to keep me on the antibiotics for now and hopefully we can avoid a surgical washout. Time will tell. My duff leg is not playing ball at the moment.
I’m tired, grumpy, in pain, with a tender, swollen leg that is oozing “gunge” at a fairly impressive rate. Things are finally settling down a little bit.
As ever, the A&E staff and orthopaedic staff have been top notch.
Have some gunge, from Saturday night while I was still at home:
Have some gunge from tonight, less than 48 hours later...
As great as the NHS is at the point of crisis, it’s sometimes less great when different bits need to join up, outside the normal “rules of engagement”. Very long and frustratingly complex story slightly short, I came into A&E at my local hospital on Sunday afternoon. They liaised with the Registrar on call at the regional limb reconstruction centre, on Sunday, someone I’ve never seen. He was at a different hospital, albeit part of the same trust. I cannot simply just tip up at this hospital, despite them being part of the actual trust who are treating me, with not only an A&E, but access to my clinical history...
I was admitted (locally) via A&E for “close observations”, but no antibiotics prescribed. “Close observations” means having my temperature taken at 0500, yesterday morning... 38.2° C and climbing. We peaked just under 40° C, a couple of hours later, despite IV paracetamol. Still no antibiotics.
Local A&E were pretty keen for me to be someone else’s problem so I was transferred (on paper) at 11am, yesterday morning. It’s 12 miles away from where I am now. I was collected at 5.30pm, because I wasn’t an urgent priority.
I got to the hospital where I’ve had the latest round of surgery, about 5.30pm, saw the doctor about 7pm and then finally got plugged into some industrial strength IV antibiotics about 7.30pm last night - Teicoplanin - and oral Ciprofloxacin.
Now my duff leg is spasming like billy-o. This smarts. It really smarts. A very lot. My temperature is hovering around 39° C. They are going to keep me on the antibiotics for now and hopefully we can avoid a surgical washout. Time will tell. My duff leg is not playing ball at the moment.
I’m tired, grumpy, in pain, with a tender, swollen leg that is oozing “gunge” at a fairly impressive rate. Things are finally settling down a little bit.
As ever, the A&E staff and orthopaedic staff have been top notch.
Have some gunge, from Saturday night while I was still at home:
Have some gunge from tonight, less than 48 hours later...
You guys keep my spirits up!
Seen the orthopaedic consultant today, who liaised with the regsitrar by text (while she was in the middle of another surgery at another of the trust’s hospitals.
They’re hoping to whizz me into theatre here this afternoon to slice me open and drain all the gunge out. They’re just trying to jiggle the theatre list so I can get in but no one else gets bumped. If they can’t, I’ll be getting washed out first thing tomorrow, but their preferenc is to do it today.
Had the transfer happened a bit quicker yesterday, I’d have been on this mornings theatre list. The good news is that the infection is just in the soft tissue, not the actual bone, so it’s a relatively quick procedure to slice me open, wash all the gunge out and stitch me back up! Takes longer to type it than do it... apart from a slight “hold”, where I can’t do any bone lengthening, this won’t delay things too much.
It’s sore right now, so I’ll gladly get rid of it this afternoon!
Cheers again for all your positive thoughts and messages of support. I do really appreciate them and I’m grateful for your time contributing to the thread.
This is the leg this morning. You can see how swollen it is...
Seen the orthopaedic consultant today, who liaised with the regsitrar by text (while she was in the middle of another surgery at another of the trust’s hospitals.
They’re hoping to whizz me into theatre here this afternoon to slice me open and drain all the gunge out. They’re just trying to jiggle the theatre list so I can get in but no one else gets bumped. If they can’t, I’ll be getting washed out first thing tomorrow, but their preferenc is to do it today.
Had the transfer happened a bit quicker yesterday, I’d have been on this mornings theatre list. The good news is that the infection is just in the soft tissue, not the actual bone, so it’s a relatively quick procedure to slice me open, wash all the gunge out and stitch me back up! Takes longer to type it than do it... apart from a slight “hold”, where I can’t do any bone lengthening, this won’t delay things too much.
It’s sore right now, so I’ll gladly get rid of it this afternoon!
Cheers again for all your positive thoughts and messages of support. I do really appreciate them and I’m grateful for your time contributing to the thread.
This is the leg this morning. You can see how swollen it is...
Like others here I have been a silent reader until now. Have to admire your strength and determination - I can't begin to imagine how tough and frustrating this has been and continues to be. I think you mentioned it before but it certainly seems like a zip for easy access would help a lot!
I appreciate we don't know each other but I wish you all the best in your recovery (and must make a note not to always drop in just after
!!!!)
I appreciate we don't know each other but I wish you all the best in your recovery (and must make a note not to always drop in just after
!!!!)Edited by Huffy on Tuesday 10th July 16:35
Best wishes Dibble, I've been a lurker on your thread for some time. I had a bad car crash (was thrown out the rear window and ended halfway up the embankment) just over thirty years ago. For various reasons spent nearly two weeks on life support and had a long journey to regain full fitness. As others have said, it takes time but you will get there. Perhaps you need to get your consultant on speed dial to cut through the bureaucracy in future. Good luck with the pizza ingredients business!
Another lurker and long term thread follower here. You'll see from my profile I don't post often (20 odd in 122 months I think). I had my own accident, albeit skiing, in February whilst in Canada. I managed to break my tibia into 8 pieces and also break my fibula too.
I wanted to thank you for helping to keep me sane, although the fact you are my "there's always someone worse off than you" won't be of any comfort to you, but it works for me.
Like you I hope to be able to get back on a bike once things have repaired and I've done all the necessary rehab and physio.
I wish you all the very best with your recovery and keep posting the updates - you have more support than you realise, even if sometimes some of your pictures are a little choice!
I wanted to thank you for helping to keep me sane, although the fact you are my "there's always someone worse off than you" won't be of any comfort to you, but it works for me.
Like you I hope to be able to get back on a bike once things have repaired and I've done all the necessary rehab and physio.
I wish you all the very best with your recovery and keep posting the updates - you have more support than you realise, even if sometimes some of your pictures are a little choice!
Well the surgery went well and the6 drained about 350 millilitres of “gunk” from inside my leg. It’s looking more like a soft tissue infection than a bone infection (good news) but they’re still scratching their heads about what the infection actually is (less good news, but will hopefully be made clearer after some lab tests) and they’re still really unsure what’s causing it (bad news).
The pain and swelling is much reduced today, which is great. I’m feeling pretty well and much less groggy. I think when the pain/illness is constantly, gradually increasing, you get a bit used to it, so consequently it doesn’t feel quite as bad as it “should”. It becomes the new normal and you just get on with it. It’s only really when you get back to normal “quickly” that you actually do realise just how grim it was.
The pain and swelling is much reduced today, which is great. I’m feeling pretty well and much less groggy. I think when the pain/illness is constantly, gradually increasing, you get a bit used to it, so consequently it doesn’t feel quite as bad as it “should”. It becomes the new normal and you just get on with it. It’s only really when you get back to normal “quickly” that you actually do realise just how grim it was.
And thanks again for all the good wishes since yesterday’s update. As always, I really appreciate them and welcome to the lurkers. I’m sorry if I’ve “outed” you.
Gizmo750, I’ve no problem being your go-to for “I’m glad that’s not me”! At least I’m providing some sort of useful function.
Thanks again.
Gizmo750, I’ve no problem being your go-to for “I’m glad that’s not me”! At least I’m providing some sort of useful function.
Thanks again.
bloody nora! It doesn't rain but it pours eh dibble? (pun intended)
Hope you get it all sorted soon, sadly the NHS isn't great but it is certainly fantastic for the price you pay.
As gory as it is it's nice to see the updates even if it isn't necessarily progress. Best wishes all around!
Hope you get it all sorted soon, sadly the NHS isn't great but it is certainly fantastic for the price you pay.
As gory as it is it's nice to see the updates even if it isn't necessarily progress. Best wishes all around!
As it was a temporary fix, I went with non-braided lines, front and rear:
Leg drain
Leg drain close up
Leg drain close up right before it was pulled out
. There was a good 10 to 15cm of tube inside my leg. I really wouldn’t recommend it. Other than for draining gunge, that is. Then, it’s pretty useful.
I “did” some physio today, which consisted of the physio taking the weight of my leg over the edge of the bed and bending it at the knee to about 40° while I winced, sweated, huffed and puffed a bit and tried to think happy thoughts. I then slept solidly for three hours.
I also “walked” to the toilet this morning and after about 45 minutes of straining, “produced” something the size and consistency of a rolling pin. Actually, the diameter was probably about 50% more, but the length and consistency were about spot on. It was, as they say, “better out than in”. It was certainly better out than actually getting it out...
Leg drain
Leg drain close up
Leg drain close up right before it was pulled out
. There was a good 10 to 15cm of tube inside my leg. I really wouldn’t recommend it. Other than for draining gunge, that is. Then, it’s pretty useful. I “did” some physio today, which consisted of the physio taking the weight of my leg over the edge of the bed and bending it at the knee to about 40° while I winced, sweated, huffed and puffed a bit and tried to think happy thoughts. I then slept solidly for three hours.
I also “walked” to the toilet this morning and after about 45 minutes of straining, “produced” something the size and consistency of a rolling pin. Actually, the diameter was probably about 50% more, but the length and consistency were about spot on. It was, as they say, “better out than in”. It was certainly better out than actually getting it out...
Edited by Dibble on Thursday 12th July 20:44
Dibble said:
I also “walked” to the toilet this morning and after about 45 minutes of straining, “produced” something the size and consistency of a rolling pin. Actually, the diameter was probably about 50% more, but the length and consistency were about spot on. It was, as they say, “better out than in”. It was certainly better out than actually getting it out...
Ah -the ortho ward splash 
(Sharoe Green ward, 6 blokes - 5 knee replacements, 1 ACL reconstruction - some interesting descriptions and noises from the toilets. Even better was the unofficial log kept by the nurses....Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff