As many know by now, I got a nasty staph infection in my foot that required surgery to remove the necrotic tissue, massive doses of IV antibiotics, and 5 hours of hyperbaric oxygen therapy to get it under control. I was lucky in that it hadn't quite reached the tendons or the bone or major reconstructive surgery would have been in my future with the possible loss of the foot.
This is what the foot looked like the day I left the hospital.
The hole is about 4 cm long, 2 cm wide, and 2 cm deep and
went all the way to the tendon. This hole has caused absolutely
no pain because the infection destroyed the nerve and my back
pain masks it.
This is the foot just 10 days later. The healing process
was sped up significantly by the hyperbaric chamber.
This is the hyperbaric chamber where I had an hour
of oxygen therapy for 5 days.
This is how I picture a submarine to look.
This was home sweet home for 5 days. Apparently I
had the VIP suite because the doctor at the health unit
said none of the other rooms she had seen were this
nice.
Today I talked with one of the regional doctors. They have been puzzled as to why I could get a classic case of "Diabetic's Foot" when I'm not a diabetic. He said it was odd that I didn't feel any pain until it got that bad, but that does happen on rare occasions. I told him that my sciatic nerve pain pretty much masks any other pain in my body so I didn't feel the foot until it got worse than the back pain. That's when EVERYTHING made sense to him.
Apparently it's really bad when chronic pain masks all other pain in the body since that's the only way the body has to tell you something is wrong. So now it looks like I may get a free trip to London for consultations, nerve conduction testing, and possible back surgery. Isn't it great to be me?
This is what the foot looked like the day I left the hospital.
The hole is about 4 cm long, 2 cm wide, and 2 cm deep and
went all the way to the tendon. This hole has caused absolutely
no pain because the infection destroyed the nerve and my back
pain masks it.
was sped up significantly by the hyperbaric chamber.
of oxygen therapy for 5 days.
had the VIP suite because the doctor at the health unit
said none of the other rooms she had seen were this
nice.
Today I talked with one of the regional doctors. They have been puzzled as to why I could get a classic case of "Diabetic's Foot" when I'm not a diabetic. He said it was odd that I didn't feel any pain until it got that bad, but that does happen on rare occasions. I told him that my sciatic nerve pain pretty much masks any other pain in my body so I didn't feel the foot until it got worse than the back pain. That's when EVERYTHING made sense to him.
Apparently it's really bad when chronic pain masks all other pain in the body since that's the only way the body has to tell you something is wrong. So now it looks like I may get a free trip to London for consultations, nerve conduction testing, and possible back surgery. Isn't it great to be me?
2 comments:
Brent my whole body acks for you. Keep us poster on what is going on.
Holy Cow!!! I'm with mom, it just make me hurt! Did the hyperbaric treatments make you claustorphobic, cause that looks really closed in!!!! Yikes! You're in our prayers, as always!
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