a little sepsis here, a little sepsis there...

hey, all.

fred gently got me into our dear ruby, the honda crv, and whisked me home from the hospital this evening.

i was pretty darned sick last weekend, worse on monday, but knew i had the weekly infectious disease appointment, so i figured i'd whiteknuckle it until then -- 1 pm, tuesday.

tuesday, my temp was 99.6 when i woke, but i was feeling clunky as all get out.  i did the morning routines, including infusing the i.v. antibiotic.  an hour or so later, it was 103.5 and i ran some clothes through the dryer  so that i could pile them on me and get warm.  you surely felt the world shaking about then.

but i could make it to 1 pm.

we got there, me with quilts, and involuntary tears, fred just tired of it all.

the receptionist informed me my appointment was at 11:45.  i told her i was sorry and that i was really, really, really sick.

so they found this very nice PA with whom i had never worked and he said "whoa, girl, you're sck."  i said, "sniff...  i know... sniff."  he got the head dude, who looked me over from a safe distance, and said, "man, you must feel like crap." he then outlined my two options:

1.  check in across the street at Hotel Hospital, OR
2.  while i was in his office's infusion center, i could let them "juice me up" with some i.v. fluids while they did labs, changed dressing, etc.

oh, and since clearly there was some new infection in play, i could also receive the first infusion of the new drug he was adding.

i opted for getting juiced up.   it sounded like the closest thing to sex that i'd been offered in... a while.

but as i settled in back in the infusion center, things got harder, then easier, then harder and harder.  as the last of the juice ran in, i went crazy.  the pain was beyond belief.  i couldn't breathe, everything and something was very wrong.  "call 911," i finally yelled and did curly-q thingies with my wheelchair.

the staff at id-dood's place is wonderful but i am quite sure i frealed everyone out.

and blah blah -- i was taken across the street to the ER by stupid ambulance.  can't wait for that bill.

at one point, we had three abx running.

but my temp came down a degree every 8 hours or so.

for the second time in a few weeks, i got culture results:   blood culture results came back positive. nothing like a little sepsis to make life interesting.

anyway, i am home again.

Good morning. This is God.

Hopefully, I will play "catch up" today and get some things posted -- some newly published CRPS research comes most to mind.  My hands and feet have been undergoing drastic CRPS-related changes and while I enjoyed a brief respite from spasticity, my jerks and massive spasms are back and... well, getting me deeply down. 

I'm fighting back, though.  It may not be obvious, but I am.  I am grimly cheerful.  I am cooking up a storm, despite many close calls with knives in these clumsy hands, and near catastrophes with rippling oils in very hot pans.  I am reading with wild abandon, hours at a time. Dobby and Uncle Kitty Big Balls have been subjected to training sessions worthy of the smartest border collie, the most ingenious of poodles.  (Sadly, but predictably, Miss Marmy Fluffy Butt proved resistant to training, at least *group* training.  She will show off in private.)  Then, of course, there are all the seasonal tasks inherent to Manor maintenance and the many requirements of keeping a large domestic staff working hard and free of revolutionary sentiment.  An insurrection is all I need right now.

So I celebrated my birthday yesterday!

A good part of it was spent sleeping, as I started the third round of antibiotics on Saturday, and for some reason, the stuff exhausts me.  Last week, my body decided to engage in some irrational weirdness involving the bones and joints of my hands -- trying to match the grim state of my lower extremities.  Though I suppose it's likely coincidence, my hands have steadily improved since I started Round 3, and that has been a huge relief.  Meaning that -- even though I snoozed through some of it -- I had a fine b'day! 

(This go-round of abx will last a month... Why we are doing a month instead of the usual two weeks, I dunno.  I ain't the doctor.  I just take the pills.  Maybe because, beyond a beneficial effect on blood sugars
-- that are elevated by infection -- my blood work reflecting the infection and inflammation from osteomyelitis was unaffected by the first two treatments, even as it was unaffected by seven orthopedic surgeries.  Yeah, duh, that might be why we've doubled the treatment duration, eh?  It shows a little bit that we are winging it based on some vague suggestions from the Infectious Disease consult back in... when?  October?  My go-to-guy MDVIP Dood is so intent on finding me some relief from daily fevers, weakness, bone pain, and sweats that I am almost ready to lie to him.  I know, I know, that is some messed up thinking.  I just tire of... well, you know.  Blah blah blah!  I'm sure you're tired of it, too!)

I wanted to share with you one of Fred's cards * .  Technically not of the birthday card genre and pretty silly, it made me laugh and want to hug and kiss the guy.  Which I promptly did.

* The card was based on a series of magnets by Claire Vohman.  You can see her cards, shirts, painted windows, magnets, and prints at her website, HERE.