BACK TO MY STORY...

DAY 20-30 - POST-OP

 The Surgical team from the floor I was on definitely had a different idea for my care then the Infectious Disease team had and most of the time they weren't talking to each other.  Lucky for me I had a 2nd amazing nurse (Miss S) who kept the ID team in the loop so they could over ride the silly ideas the surgical team.  They figured that I was getting well enough to just pull the picc line and send me home with oral antibiotics...that was shot down by ID team in record time...lol. On day 20 they decided to sent me for yet another chest x-ray but this time they added a chest CT scan as well....that was enlightening. They discovered that my abscess was over 13cm & pancake shaped....very thin front to back and looked like a intricate beehive instead of one big sack.  They were thinking of trying to drain it but they weren't sure they could drain it even if they wanted to because of all its little pockets.  I had barely gotten back to my room when suddenly they were there to take me down to this fancy X-ray guided surgical room where they do all the tiny vein work so they could put a drain in my chest wall.  It was all hi-tech and sterile & kind of interesting in a "if it wasn't me on the table" sort of way.  Luckily I hadn't had a chance to eat anything before coming down because they can sedate you so they want your stomach empty.  I managed the entire thing with just some "happy juice" so I was awake and interacting with them.  WOW...did that drain work....it emptied out 125ml from the abscess within the first hour & has kept up a solid 50-70ml every 24hrs since.  Yup...I still have "Bubba" stitched into my chest wall (on the right) and "Petunia" the picc line stitched into my left bicep...which are so specifically placed, that the slightest change in position of either lines means a trip back to the hospital so they could be corrected.  SADLY...that means NO showers, NO stretching or reaching, NO med-heavy lifting....which leaves me with binge watching Netflix or reading a not too heavy book.  Oh ya...that hyper nerve glass sensation from elbow to elbow....still alive & kicking.  I guess you could say I am not a ton of fun to hang out with at the moment...but I jumped ahead again....  When I got back from the drain procedure I was sitting in my chair and all of a sudden I felt GREAT!!!  No deep burning in my chest or feeling like I had a cast iron pot sitting on me and I could take deep breaths without even thinking.  I had been on 3% oxygen for the last 3 days because I couldn't keep my sat levels up...suddenly they were back to normal & that boa constrictor around my ribcage was gone.  Who knew that all those issues were due to all this infection fluid in my chest cavity.  I was TOTALLY amazed!!!  Sadly...it only lasted about 4hrs then all the old symptoms began to return, not to the degree they had been but back none the less. I had a really rough night so they sent me for X-rays, ecg & blood work to rule out a cardiac event...yup it was that bad.  I sat up most of the night in some of the worst pain and strange sensations of this entire adventure.  But everything came back clear so I got to "blow that Popsicle stand" and finally go home.   

Here I sit day 31 and feel the same with the addition pain from my skin reacting to the bandaging they have to protect both the picc & the drain. Still no showers (I hate 1800 sponge baths....just sayin) & I have a next door "hairy god-mother" who comes and fixes my unruly mess of curls every few days & even takes me to her home salon for the most amazing hair washes and massages. The plan at this point is a follow up with ID in a few days to make sure the IV antibiotics are still doing their job and hopefully be done with the IV treatments (every 8hrs) by July 14th.  The tricky part is that my drain has to be below 30ml over a 3 day period before they will remove it and at this point I am WAY too far from that number.  VoR has me on "house arrest" & I am unable to drive anyway because of restrictions in my movement...and pain meds...so I am going a little stir crazy.  It has also been pouring rain for the last few days so I don't even get my outside strolls in.  Oh well....this too shall pass.

I am just extremely grateful for all my dear friends who have dropped their own lives to come to my aid & once again, having the Lord watch so closely over me and setting me back on the path toward healing.  This is a drag for sure but WAY better then the alternative!!!