Hey guys, just thought I would give an update (if any of you are interested).
On Friday I saw my PCP about
a lump that just popped up about
1/4 in way from the vagina. He said he thought it was just a swollen gland, but he gave me some antibiotics anyway just in case it was a small abscess. I had just finished two weeks of extremely strong antibiotics (from the mastitis, which was caused by the combination of the systemic thrush and then influenza). I was pretty sure it was an abscess, but he was pretty sure it wasn't and he's the one with the medical license.
By the time Friday night it, I was in so much pain I could barely walk. He had said to keep a heating pad on it, but it almost made it worse when I took the heat off. It also had gotten larger. My husband and baby were exhausted, so I let them sleep while I just laid in bed practically crying all night from the pain.
The next morning (Saturday) we made a quick stop to our church's Christmas activity so my daughter could get a pic with Santa for her first Christmas, and then we went straight to the ER. That pic was also part of the reason I didn't want to go in Fri night - I am determined to not let this dd control me or ruin special moments.
Isn't she a cutie?
VIEW IMAGEAnyway, the ER doc took one look and said, "Yep, that's definitely an abscess. We will get you admitted and to a room while I call the surgeon." In the OR they lanced it and were surprised by how much pus was in there for the size of the lump.
We were hoping it would all be good and that I could be released Sunday afternoon. But I started feeling kind of crummy, and next thing we knew I had a fever of 103! It last all day and wouldn't even go down with Tylenol. The infection had gotten into my bloodstream (which I think is the definition of sepsis?). They just started pumping me with tons of IV antibiotics to help clear it up.
The fever finally broke Sunday night, but they aren't quite sure where to go from here. It wasn't a staph infection, but they can't seem to figure out what bacteria caused it so they can treat it with the right antibiotics. The one they had me on for the mastitis was some really powerful stuff. They've been trying Vanco and Flagyl (to also help avoid getting c. diff. again), but those aren't helping much either.
In the meantime we are also going to run a blood test to see how much Remicade is in me, since I'm completely flaring in spite of prednisone (it's now eased up a tiny bit - still lots of D but only a few streaks of blood). If it shows there's not any in my system, we might just do an infusion now instead of in 3 weeks when it's due. And talk about
upping the dose and/or frequency.
There are just too many specialists getting involved in all of this! (Too many cooks in the kitchen). They all have different ideas on how to approach this and they contradict themselves. But they do it through me - I can't seem to make them understand that they need to sit down with EACH OTHER to talk about
this, and not expect the sick girl on dilaudid to accurately remember and portray everything!
So I'm just chilling at the hospital, missing my baby like crazy. My mom is coming down tomorrow from Denver to help out, which will be nice. Then I can relax without having to worry too much. I just want to hold my little girl. My arms literally ache, as does my heart.
But I'm glad I came in when I did on Saturday - who knows what could have happened if I'd just put it off.