Has Anybody Here Seen Our Old Friend Catherine? Can You Tell Me Where She's Goooooone?

OK, I'm warning you now that this post has nothing but pictures of a sick, ugly leg. 

That weird shaded part of my leg is an area of compromised circulation I've dealt with, with medication and compression socks for years.

Over several days there was increased redness and tenderness and more fevers. I visited doctors, had ultrasounds to check for deep blood clots, started on oral antibiotics. Nothing worked. The redness and swelling got worse and worse until late Friday night, my husband carted me over to the hospital ER. My lab values were totally out of whack, kidney function was down, liver tests were up and every infectious marker was through the roof. They were sufficiently concerning, that I earned a 3 AM ultrasound of my liver.

I was strapped into IV antibiotics and repeated lab draws. Then there was the MRI to see if infection was in the deep tissue and/or bone. Thankfully, it wasn't, and that's what was the final checkmark to get me released on Monday evening. 

Meanwhile, the weird area on the front of the leg started to weep, dry out, and crack. So basically my leg looks like Freddy Krueger's face. It's still very tender and swollen. In fact when I get up to walk somewhere different, it feels like hot pitchforks stabbing my foot. So now I'm home on 2 different kinds of oral antibiotics, which have already been changed out once because of extreme nausea. Home Health has been here doing wound care and drawing more labs.  Basically, I'm sitting around with my leg in the air, listening to people tell me it's going to be "a long process." And hey, I'm pretty sure I've met my insurance deductible for the year.

Comments

[Eye guy]

Love you mom

[Carolyn F]

Oof! Hope you are on the mend quickly.

[Elisa Allan]

“Long process” sounds so much simpler than the day to day painful reality. Sorry you are going through this, Mama. We love you and are praying for you. 🙏🏻❤️

[Pam]

That is one bad looking leg! I am so sorry you are having to deal with this misery.
Hopefully you will get it under control and feel better soon.

[AP Man]

what a bummer, Ma! Hope it clears up real soon!

[Andrea]

I’ve been trying to catch up on so many missed posts. Sending healing vibes your way! Take care!!