I had all intentions of doing a better job of keeping up with my blog this year...obviously the year has not gotten off to a great start in that area!! After graduating in December I was so excited to be able to look for a "real" teaching job and get back to substitute teaching. I did apply for several jobs, went on an interview, and also did some substitute teaching up until Jan 13!! Things were going great.
I woke up on Saturday, Jan 14 not feeling the best, but I was also not able to put much weight on my right leg. I had this ankle fused about 2 years prior. It would bother me from time to time but the day before I had subbed first grade and had NO problems walking or getting around. By that evening, I could not out any weight on it and I was feeling awful!! We went to the ER where we sat for 4 hours with out even being called back to a room to wait!! Went home and took some pain meds and then went back to a different ER on Sunday. They did ultrasounds, xrays and lab work and said all was fine, no sign of infection or anything unusual. I had an appt with my orthodic dr that Monday so home we went again. I am also starting to run a fever at this point. Went to the ortho on Monday and they said I had the flu and sent me on my way! I did not have the flu!!! On Tuesday, I went to my family dr who said that I probably had a touch of cellulitis in my right ankle/leg. I had also started throwing up by this point too. was given meds and sent home and asked to get some lab work on Thursday and come in for a recheck on Friday. That evening, an abcess started forming on the back of my right heel, it was NASTY!! I called my family dr back on Thursday on they told me to go straight to the ER. This time when I showed up they finally decided that yep, I had a problem.
As a side note, Chuck was also out of the country at this time!! He was able to make it home before I went into surgery on Friday evening!! I stayed in the ER all day and my ortho finally called and said they were going to transfer me to another hospital because I would be needing the services of the infectious disease drs and they would be doing surgery on Friday to drain the abcess. After my surgery late Friday night, it was determined that I had a staph infection and it appeared to have gotten into my bone...not good.. I went back into surgery on Tuesday afternoon and they removed all of the hardware that was in my right ankle/leg/foot. Before the surgery they kept telling me that there was a very real possibility that I would lose my leg. Of course that sent me into panic mode and I started looking at other places where I could get a second opinion. After the surgery on Tuesday, it was decided that even though the infection had gotten into my bone, amputation was no longer on the front burner...huge relief.
Long story short, I spent 9 days in the hospital. I was sent home with a PICC line and IV antibiotics until March 7. As of now, my surgery to refuse my ankle is scheduled for March 6. I have a "hole" on the back of my heel where the abcess burst open that is still not healed yet but the area is not infected! We are doing wet/dry dressing changes twice a day and the area is healing so I am hopeful the surgery will take place as planned.
Stay tuned for updates!!!
