Ankle Saga Part V

On to September. It took a long time for the wound to heal. After stitches were removed I had to pack his wound with gauze strips. This picture was when things were really starting to look better and I don't think I was having to pack the wound anymore. Finally a breath of relief again. We were done with that and things were going pretty well. For then at least.

We began to notice that the swelling in Jay's leg was getting a lot worse. He was working a temp job and he would come home and his leg literally looked like a tree trunk. It was just swollen and big from the foot to the knee. It was awful and he was pretty uncomfortable. The advice was to just keep it up as much as possible. That helped a tiny bit but it really didn't do too much to relieve things.

We worked our way through a good portion of October and his leg just wasn't getting better. Then, to top it off, he developed another wound on his same incision site. We knew this wasn't a good sign so we got in to see the surgeon right away. We were there for a good hour to hour and a half while the doctor thought and we thought. The final decision was to go back in for surgery again. The last resort was to get the hardware out of his leg. Though there was no infection found last time, I think we were just out of options. We didn't know what was going on. We took the time the following day to consult with our primary care doctor and got the second opinion we needed to feel ok about another surgery. He confirmed for us that there was no doubt this was what needed to be done.

October 23 brought Jay to the operating room for the 3rd time in just less than 6 months. 

At this point we were just rolling with things. That was all we could do.

Let me tell you, at this point we were putting on the happy faces. We were just going with the swing of things, expressing to people that we were hanging in there and what was there we could do about it. But inside we were both spent. We were exhausted, I think in every way possible. When was this nightmare going to end? Not yet. . .

Our primary care doctor called his friend, an infectious disease doctor, to get involved in the matter. When the surgery was done the doctor came out to be the bearer of bad news. They were able to find significant infection under the plate and had discovered the infection was indeed in his bone. They couldn't find it the previous surgery because it was under the plate. It was horrible news. We had been told through all this that we didn't want it to be in the bone. That there was relief it wasn't there because that is when things get bad. Well, they did get bad. It was awful. I was a wreck. It meant some serious antibiotics and a couple days stay in the hospital. He couldn't leave until the infectious disease doctor new exactly what kind of infection it was and they figured out his meds.

The results came back and it was for sure a staph infection but thankfully not MRSA. A blessing amid all the crap we had experienced thus far. The course of meds was determined. They installed a PICC line so Jay could receive IV antibiotics at home. For anyone who doesn't know what a PICC line is, it is a tube that goes into a vein in your arm and then goes to your heart. It looks something like this.

He got that put in and on October 26 he got to go home. That is when we learned how things were going to go with this IV antibiotic thing. A home health care nurse came over and she taught us how to do it. Yes, indeed, we did have to do it on our own. I was so freaked out by that at first. Especially because they tell you over and over how important it is to be super clean and sterile. Because of course, if you get an infection in the line that infection goes straight to your heart. And that right there is a recipe for some serious trouble and very likely death. Ok, thanks guys, no pressure. 

 The nurse actually didn't even do it for Jay. She taught him how to do it himself. This nurse was the first of 4 very nice nurses that we had in our home. I really wish I had a picture of us with Fiona. She is the nurse who ended up coming the most. We probably saw her a couple times a week for a few weeks. She was so nice and so laid back. She was also very assertive about dealing with the issues with Jay's line site. If it wasn't for her he may not have ended up at the hospital and discovering he had the clot. She really pushed the issue and we are thankful for that. She was truly a bright spot amid all the darkness of the situation. She is a good, good woman and we are glad we were able to get to meet her and have her as a part of our lives for just a little bit.

This is what just one week of meds looked like. I believe the dosage and the frequency was a good indication of the seriousness of the infection. I think his dosage was on the higher end. Three times a day we had to do it. It certainly became a part of our daily life. Just another part of our routine. 

 This is what was required for just one of the three treatments every day. Hand sanitizer first, always first. An alcohol wipe, a saline flush, an alcohol wipe, antibiotics, alcohol wipe, heparin, alcohol wipe, saline flush, done. The heparin went away early on but the rest stayed part of the routine the entire time.

So thus became our lives. It certainly was not the end of it all. It only took a few weeks and the site where Jay had his line get irritated. It just started out being red and itchy. Sometimes it looked worse than others. He suffered through it though. It happens and the nurses didn't see a real need for concern. So the hardware was gone from Jay's leg, the IV antibiotic regimen was in play, and we were on the road to resolution and recovery. Or so we thought. . .