Re: Trying not to die - seriously.
Hi Damian~Originally Posted by damian_steele
I dont know you yet . I am a member here for years but was absent til recently and now am back selling again. Sorry to hear of your leg infection. I had one in 2001 and didnt know where it came from and attributed it to a fall a few months prior but it swelled for months and then turned red when I came home from vacation and went to doctors, got 3 types of antibiotics every other day til the 5th day my leg exploded and I was in the operating room at the hospital signing papers before the anesthesia and was told they were going to amputate to save my life that I had developed gangrene.
Going through those life altering moments seeing them pen the dots on my leg above my knee I freaked out and said NO~!
They said they had to BUT I said NO again and revoked consent,they said they would have my 14 year old daughter sign once I was in surgery and I told them point blank I would sue them if they did as she was a minor and there was no adult within 400 miles to give consent to take off my leg. They told me that they would 'debride' removing dead tissue but doubted there would be much left as the infection was so deep and far between all the bones and most likely I would not have sufficient blood flow and would have to be back in the OR in 48 hours.
I told them that gave me 48 hours to think about it.
Well when I woke from the surgery I looked down and saw both feet and every 2 hours they had to come in and clean the wound area. That was hell BUT having had nurses training in wound care I insisted on doing it myself under their supervision as I could stop and go when it hurt too much and was able to do it. There was plenty of morphine and additional pain meds I was on along with intravenous antibiotics - a combo of five - that literally burned out my veins and kept popping so I had 80 new IV sites over the ensuing 4 weeks in Isolation at the hospital. It was a battle and I was afraid to die as they told me the gangrene spread all over my body so I was at a point that I had to fight and persevere and just stayed awake in my bed fearing sleep as I thought I would die. One nurse told me "Not on my watch" and promised if the alarms sounded that she would do everything possible to help me. I still had underage children at home so didnt want to leave them.
After 4 weeks I was transferred to a nursing facility still getting IV antibiotics and 6 wks later had a skin graft and 2 weeks after that was able to return home with both legs~!
While it would have been easier for the doctors and possibly for me to have allowed the amputation - I figured it was worth trying to save my leg because once gone its a done deal and I knew amputees with phantom pains so amputation was no guarantee of pain relief.
my health slowly improved. I do use a cane and I have had several more bouts with Cellulitis since then. Apparently whenever I fall or bang my leg - either of them now - I am prone to Cellulitis and it requires immediate antibiotic treatments and 2 times since the original ordeal I had to be hospitalized for 10 day I V treatments. The other times as soon as I see that dreaded red and swelling I immediately get a prescription for a high dose of encephalexon and take it til I am healed again.,
I did well the passed several years only have slight infections that were caught in time and medicated so they cleared up quickly.
Last week however I fell very hard in my house and hit both legs equally, both arms belly & side of my head hit a wooden side of a chair so a bump there as well. It took a while to get up and both legs seemed equally hurt but no tell tale infection redness the next day so felt lucky initially. the rest of me hurt more and did get some terrrible bruising on my chest and the infection this time started in my ribs on the right and then the legs swelled up and turned that deep mushy red so I called the doctor and went yesterday and began medications again for Cellulitis.
If it gets worse I will again need to go in for IV treatments but so far its not getting any worse although the chills from the fever come and go and I have temperature of my house turned up and have bundled up.
I was not intending on sharing my story to take away from anything you are going through, rather to offer as encouragement to persevere and continue on the best you can and to take all your meds and to tell you no matter how dire it may appear that you can fight it and dont have to give into the doctors should they suggest amputation~ While eveyr case is different there are some similarities and as long as you have bloodflow in your leg even if diminished, then they should make every attempt to save it. For doctors its often their preference to just amputate as it was for dentists to pull a decayed tooth rather than give it a root canal and filling. it may require a bit more work and effort but doing whatever it takes to save your body and body parts is up to you and no one else can tell you what to do with your life other than trying to help you to save yourself~!
I wish you all the best in your battle and recovery and while it feels like hell now, it does improve and later becomes a memory or story to share that you survived~!
God bless you and help you to heal sooner.
Ave
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