Medical question update

mstang67chic

Going Green
husband just called from the doctor's office. The doctor is sending him to the ER to have more tests ran. He doesn't seem to think it's anything really serious but he's concerned (according to husband) about the size of some of the blood vessels involved and is worried about a possible blockage. husband of course isn't happy because this is how he got admitted the last time. LOL

From what I could get out of husband though, the doctor thinks it's some kind of cellulitis (???) or infection. He thinks husband could have scratched his leg and in a freak occurance, some sort of bacteria got in. husband also told me (because I haven't seen it today) that the redness was even further down his leg now and is hurting more. Good thing he already planned on going to the doctor since it would have been worse had I had to beat him into unconsciousness and drag him in. :tongue:
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
That's what I mentioned in passing, but was afraid of. Hope it can be managed with oral or IV antiobiotics and that no surgical treatment is needed.

It's a rotten place to have surgery, BUT if surgery is called for, it needs to be done soonest so that they only have to remove a minimal amt of tissue.
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
Tell that man to wash his hands and cut his fingernails, for crying out loud! :p I did that once on a bug bite on my calf and the red line was heading up my thigh within the day. A good dose of antibiotics and I was fine, but what a bother!
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Cellulitis is nothing to mess with. Glad doctor is on top of things even if husband isn't so happy about it.

Keep us updated.

Hugs
 

mstang67chic

Going Green
husband called me again. Something (he doesn't know what :slap: ) came back elevated on his blood work so they are sending him for an ultrasound. I'm going to head up there myself and find out what's going on. I'm supposed to go to a football game with friends (my old high school made it to semi-state!) but I want to know what's going on before (or even if) I go. They want to make sure there's not a blood clot on his leg.

My concern is that a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) isn't the only thing he had going on last time and whatever it is has caused whatever this is.

He still feels fine and doesn't have a fever so I'm guessing that it's not his white count that's elevated. Although...I suppose it's possible so I will wait and see.

If I can, I'll update again later, otherwise I'll do it sometime tomorrow.

Thank you all for the concern and good wishes.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
Please keep us updated. Last Jan was when I had cellulitis.

Make SURE that you take a sharpie and draw around the edge of the red. ALL the way around. It will be the only way they can really tell if it is spreading or getting worse.

Try to get them to admit him until it is gone. Not fun, no one needs the bills, but this NEEDS supervision.

My doctor was floored when the results of the culture of my infection got back. Not MRSA but still necrotizing fascititis and another flesh eating bacteria - TWO of them!!!

The culture will tell them what antibiotics to use. They MUST culture!

I hope he gets better ASAP. Just don't fool around with this. I took over 30 rounds of IV antibiotics AND two courses of keflex and levaquin to kill it all.

Praying for y'all!
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
Cellulitis can be an evil illness.

husband got it in his twenties. He whacked and scraped his elbow while helping unload a truck.

He washed the wound and put some ointment on it and thought nothing more of it. He was more POd at having torn his uniform tunic than anything else.

That night he said his arm had started hurting more and that his elbow was going stiff.

Took a look and the joint was swollen and reddened. He put ice on it and took some aspirin for the pain and swelling.

By the next PM his elbow had swollen to the size of a melon, his arm had gone totally stiff, and he had swollen glands in the armpit.

That little scrape and bruise (you can get cellulitis in bruises. They are stll wounds, just haven't broken through the outer layers of skin) turned into three weeks in the hospital being treated with IV antibiotics. He narrowly avoided having to have a goodly amount of dead tissue removed from the arm.

Once healed, it took PT to really get the arm working again. Not only that, the skin at the back of the elbow joint was left discolored.

This was before all the flesh eating bacteria and MRSA. I can only imagine what could've happened today.

Even then he was in danger of losing his arm to the infection.
 

klmno

Active Member
Geeez....I had no idea how serious this could be! I'm glad he got himself to a dr when he did. Keep us updated- I'm keeping fingers crossed that they get it cured quickly.
 

mstang67chic

Going Green
They did an ultrasound to make sure there wasn't a clot and that was all clear. The doctor said it's early cellulites, rx'd antibiotics and pain pills and said that if it got worse to come in immediately.

I will be keeping an eye on this because I know that while husband will also, he won't be as concerned because he doesn't want to be admitted. :slap:

Thanks again for the help!!!
 

susiestar

Roll With It
Glad they caught it early. If the doctor didn't draw around the outer edge I highly suggest that you do it. Seems strange but it really is the only way to tell if it is getting better or worse.

Hope it goes away ASAP!
 

rlsnights

New Member
Veteran of 6 hospitalizations for cellulitis here. My advice is:

1) Take the antibiotics. Set an alarm or do what you have to do but do not miss a dose and try to space the doses out the way they're prescribed. If it means taking a dose at midnight and at 6 am try to do so.

2) Keep that leg elevated above the level of the heart all the time for the first day or two and as much as possible after that until it is well healed. That pretty much means lying in bed with his feet up on multiple pillows or folded blankets with pillows on top. Above the level of the heart is the important part.

It makes a HUGE difference and will get him up and moving much more quickly compared to just sitting around with it on a stool or leaning back in a recliner. Yes I know it's boring but much less boring than being in the hospital or losing your leg.

3) No ice on it in case they didn't tell him. Cool compresses are OK but no ice packs. He will not want to get in a hot shower or expose it to hot water for at least several days. It's a bit like having a burn - hot things will make it hurt like the devil.

4) Fluids - drink lots. And I don't mean coffee or tea.

5) Take your vitamins. With doctor's approval I would pump up the B complex, C and D3 and take Flax Seed oil or similar source of high quality Omega 3's.

6) Draw around the edge as someone else suggested. Check it often - every hour is a good idea until it's obvious that he's getting better. If the redness expands once he's started antibiotics or pain gets worse, back to ER you go. Do not wait - it can get much worse in as little as an hour. At ER tell them he needs to keep the leg elevated and can he wait on a gurney in case they want him to sit in the waiting room for 5 hours.

If it hasn't begun to visibly improve within 36 -48 hours of starting antibiotics, call the doctor. They probably need to switch to something else or add a second one. Or follow doctors directions if he says to call sooner.

7) Probiotics - he should be either taking these by mouth (get the kind that's refrigerated and broad-spectrum) or eating the good yogurt that really does have active cultures (most of the brands you can buy don't really) preferably one low in sugars or that only uses real sugar - no corn syrup. He does not want to get a c-diff infection on top of the cellulitis.

8) If he starts to have significant diarrhea you need to call the doctor that day. If it's copious (like 3 times his intake over a matter of 2 or 3 hours ) and he has severe abdominal pain go to ER. DO NOT STOP AT GO TO COLLECT $200. IT MAY BE THE LAST $200 DOLLARS HE EVER COLLECTS. Or he may just lose his colon.

9) Excellent hygiene by all household members is important to avoid secondary intestinal infections like c-diff. Handwashing with soap and warm water is the only way to really get rid of c-diff spores. And I would wash all produce, especially lettuce, several times. Preferably remove skins from fruit, cook vegies, skip the salad for now and avoid eating out.

Right, that's about it.

Should he continue to be stubborn, inform him that cellulitis can go septic if it isn't gotten under control promptly. Does he really want to be in ICU on the brink of major organ failure because it was inconvenient to stay off his feet for a few days? Thought not. And I am only exaggerating a tiny bit.

Good luck
 
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GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
RLS is right (good grief...you've swiped my actual initials, LoL). In less than 48 hours husband's infection had progressed to close to systemic--it's a short hop from the armpit to the chest cavity.

They did draw around the area and yes, we had to keep checking it frequently to check progress.

At the hospital they splinted husband's arm and attached it to one of those overhead things like they do with fracture patients.

I don't know if the infection had spread into the actual bone, but husband had a permanent bony bump on the elbow after that.

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to stay on top of this. husband's kidney numbers were already abnormal when he was admitted to the hospital and he was a young, healthy, and very physically fit man when this happened.

Like I said, this was a very minor injury. He caught his elbow on a protruding bolt, bruised it, and just scraped off a little bit of skin.
 

rlsnights

New Member
Oh yeah - any shortness of breath or chest pain merits a trip to ER by ambulance. I would not take him in the car.

You don't want him to stop breathing while you're en route.

They checked him for clots for a reason. Could still happen secondary to the cellulitis and pulmonary embolisms (clots in lungs) are no fun. been there done that.

Just when you thought it was safe to cross the street...
 

Fran

Former desparate mom
Sheesh mustang, after reading all the warnings, typing to have fun watching his dangly things seems a little frivolous.
Of course it's serious. Hope he feels better soon.
 
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