I think it was a week ago. We {my sweety and I} were taking advantage of the rain we had gotten. There was a break for a day or two, and Paul wanted to throw fertilizer on the lawn. With the projection of more rain, we were counting on our grass thriving.
Bursting out of the sand.
Who would have thought days later; we would be battling an unwelcome germ.
Paul can't recall what happened, but my Aunt Linda remembers when she asked what happened to his arm {because he had a small band-aide on his right forearm} he replied "I cut myself working outside the other day". The only day I remember working outside, was the two days it didn't rain that week.
One day last week, Paul asked me to look at his arm. He would change out the band-aide when he showered, so I hadn't gotten a good look at it. There was a cut and what looked like an ant bite, next to it. The itching at this point was enough to drive him nuts. So, I instructed him to pick up triple antibiotic ointment, an anti-itch cream, and bigger band-aids.
The repeated "Stop Scratching!!!" echoed throughout our place.
It seemed like overnight, his arm was reddish purple, and the small ant bite looking place {pictured above} was the size of a small mountain. On Monday, I insisted we take a trip to the emergency room. Paul would rather do anything in his life, than take a trip to the hospital. Not as a patient anyway.
A very poor bandage job in my opinion. We were informed by the physician that a culture would reveal the type of infection that attacked the arm. In fact, the second she looked at his arm, MRSA came out of her mouth. The next two days that we will wait, because that is how long the culture will take, would tell us if her suspicions were correct. Words like "Serious Infection", Critical Situation", and "Highly Contiguous" were tossed at us. Strict instructions were given to Paul, matter of fact instructions. Not touch the infected area and touch any part of his body. Her exact words were "You wouldn't want something like this on your family jewels". Paul's eyes became very big, and I think he might have blended in with the white sheets for a minute or two.
Before we left the ER, he was given a tetanus shot, 3 Cipro pills = 750 mg, one Bactrim pill, prescriptions for both antibiotics and a pain medication. I was to bring him back to the ER in two days to have the packing removed. Until then, I would have to change the bandage on Tuesday. The high dose of the medication he was given at the hospital, he was told, would make him very tired shortly. Our plan was to have Publix fill the medication {Cipro and Bactrim are free medications at Publix}, pick up the gauze I was going to need to change the bandage, and a few antibacterial supplies I knew was needed. My biggest worry, outside of my Loves injury, was if the bandage would last throughout the night. I knew, deep within, it wouldn't hold up.
I made a quick dinner, because the antibiotics were already upsetting Paul's stomach, and when he was finished eating; handed him a pain pill. I knew a long night was in stored for us. Because of my bandage gut feeling, Paul and I slept in the living room. Him in the recliner {in hopes of keeping his arm still}, and me on the sofa. When my sweety handed me his cleaned plate, I notice two red bumps just past the bandage. Two bumps that weren't there before.
Once the pain pill took effect, Paul fell asleep for a little while. Worry and the words of the physician rang in his head; it was a very restless night for the both of us. In between his short sleeping spells, the dressing moved. The packing came out of the wound. And blood started showing through the bandage.
I watched carefully as he slept. When he woke from his short slumber, I changed out the dressing covering the wound, and added a gauze bandage. Needless to say, we went through a whole box of gauze and 4x4's just that night. I was also watching his elbow, I noticed it was swelling. Not wanting to alarm him, I kept it to my self until he woke up at about 2am. The pain medication had worn off, and the wound was now burning and stinging; from the removal of the inner packing. It was at this time, I told him about the swelling in his elbow. I made it clear that if the swelling did not go down on its own, we would be traveling back to the hospital before dawn, and he agreed.
When we both woke, at 7amish, I dressed the wound and replaced the bandage. The swelling in the elbow, was all but a bad memory. I made breakfast so Paul could take his antibiotics and pain pill. Told him we were headed back to the hospital to see if the wound needed to be repacked, and inquire about better bandages. We both dressed, and headed back to the hospital.
Seeing my sweety in pain... just hurt me all over. I waited 30 plus years to be with the love of my life, and I am not about to let a Germ bring him down.
No comments:
Post a Comment