blood clotts

[EeFall]

Ouch. Damn man, with the "eh" at the end of your message are you from Canada? If that is the state of the hospital I can see why you wouldn't want to go there. Probably the number one good thing about it is that they gave you antibiotics. You probably would have been better off to have gotten prescription for that and gotten the hell out of there - sounds like a mad house. I got a little less than 3 hours sleep last night and fell asleep for a minute reading this (not cause it is boring - lol) but I was holding the coffee cup against my stomach while reading on my laptop. Woke up when I had tilted the coffee cup enough to drench the front of my shirt can't give you any advice but maybe a good laugh. Take care of that wound man, or should I say Dr. rthom I presume?

[Polar Bear]

Pretty severe to expect you to tolerate a doctor working at the wound without a local anaesthetic ....
Can't understand why they would do this..... except to cut back on cost.
Good luck and I hope your pain relief is working today.

[debbluebird]

Oh wow, what a mess. Now it is really important for it to heal from the inside out. I can't believe they sent you home like that, but at the same time I'm not surprised. Can you see your regular doctor in his office on Monday? I'm glad they gave you IV antibiotics at least. What he tried to do was clean it out. You are at risk for it to heal over the top and leaving a hole inside. That isn't good. Around here (Colorado/New Mexcio) we use what's called a Wound Vac, which helps with proper healing. I used to do them. You put what looks like a sponge inside the wound, it connects to a tube and from there to a machine. The macine sucks out the blood. Kind of creates a pressure and promotes very fast healing. It has to be changed every Mon, Wed and Fri, only by a nurse, or wound person etc. It doesn't hurt much, at least that's what they would tell me. Especially after the nerve endings made new pathways. The new tissue is supposed to look like a red piece of nice fresh beef, wet. Again, if you see any green, yellow, or smells bad, that's infection. Blood is ok as long as it's not too much. When there is a little blood that means that oxygen is getting to the wound for it to heal. If it dries out, that's not good. I'm so sorry that you are going through this.

DEB

[rthom]

Thanks for the info folks. It really helps clarify some things. Yah when he finished doing his thing There was meat on the bed that loked exactly like hamburger--same mottled colour etc. And holy crap about the pain level--I couldn't take it I vocalized at the end when he spunn the scizors around in it over and over--he kept hitting a nerve and he was trying to scrape it out, I just couldn't deal anymore--so much for trying not to upset anyone else around (my wife, kids waiting etc.). By the time he was done I had a wicked headache and very sick stomach (pain response). Anyway I'm supposed to keep it bleeding for a day then remove the drain packing. What a mess--my pain management is only the meds I have here that I've been on for like 15-20 yrs for the rls. As you can imagine I get more relief from a potato--lol (had to thnk of something funny--potato was the first word that came to mind). Boy I wish I had one of those machines you were speaking of--I just need it to be safe and in the back of my mind soon. It's making things potentially unsafe here. Anyway just my luck the new arrival had direah in the night (likely stress) and I let them out having not noticed that I walked through it, so then I promptly went back to bed and left my shoes on. Now that it's a few hrs later and I spread it around the bed (thanks WED) I'm thinking it would have been better o have had that bonehead move any other day of my life. As it was on the opposite leg as the open wound It traveled up the bed---talk about horor get up walk around pass the bed and see that stuff where my leg was. I don't think (don't see any) I got it in the wound but really-----this has never happened before and what's the chance that it would happen last nigh. I've never not smelled anything and if I step in stuff I ususally feel it underfoot (however my back is all messed up from the standing for hrs and hrs..... at the hospital, I have weird nerve senses {like water running down}both legs , so I'm not surprised at the lack of feeling really). I guess it's just murphy's law.

[rthom]

Thanks EeFall your sense of humor sounds much like mine.

[debbluebird]

I hope it heals ok. Eat healthy, take zinc and Vit C. Take care, DEB

[badnights]

That just makes you never want to go to emerg again for anything, esp since you already didn't really want to go. Love of Jesus. Why no local anesthesia? There must have been a reason? That's nuts....

[rthom]

I did not know he wasn't going to use anything, but as a tough guy I just did as I was told and behaved myself. He was talking about the 300 people so I think it was about that--trying to get to others. He was also talking about being a self employed person and that he only made $16 doing this but had I had had him do it vertually anywhere esle (but, mouth etc..) he would have got over $50. so who knows.

[EeFall]

I did not know he wasn't going to use anything, but as a tough guy I just did as I was told and behaved myself. He was talking about the 300 people so I think it was about that--trying to get to others. He was also talking about being a self employed person and that he only made $16 doing this but had I had had him do it vertually anywhere esle (but, mouth etc..) he would have got over $50. so who knows.

So how are you doing?

[rthom]

Got about 10 min sleep earlier tonight but not in very good humor. The wound swells large and then seems to split an dump which helps alleviate the pain. I see my GP tomorrow but am aware they don't always know much about when to do what with those kinds of wounds. The dogs here keep exciting at the response to the blood--makeing things quite worrysome. A dog that is nervous but has never bit anyone before bit somone here this am--just having been petted--no good reason. I can understand how and why it happened but is should not have. I will get home from the dr's tomorrow to 3 new ones and one is a killer of little animals. A serious case of bad timing. But it's do the best I can and hope for the best or the cops dog (only 1 yr old) will have to be put down. What a choice eh?
Got good news though--got a new (good used) stove from freecycle today--Yahoo!! The old one kept shocking me every once in a while and as it's a 200v unit--it was making me nervous.

[rthom]

beth (Why no local anesthesia? There must have been a reason? That's nuts....)

I figure it was a time thing--literally doing med like you would in the field--By 9am this morning the local after hours clinics had a 3 hr wait time. So the hospital being 10 hrs is likely trying to expitate thing as fast as possible. Still Sucked and I aint goin back.

[rthom]

Crap I gotta go my bleep, bleep, bleep leg is dripping bl on the carpet again. Ahh nuts

[debbluebird]

Are you putting in the 1/4" dressing? Were you able to find supplies? When a dressing bleeds through, you can just reinforce it with more pads, then rewrap with tape/stretchy wrap, without taking out the inner packing. That way you're not disturbing it too much. You still need to change the inner dressing at least once a day. Also then you don't have to change the whole thing more than twice a day. Make sure you tell the doctor how much it's bleeding. Don't want you to loose too much blood, but on the other hand bleeding is still always better than it drying out. Elevate your leg.
The whole thing is just awful. I'm so sorry.
DEB

[debbluebird]

How is your leg and wound doing? What did your doctor say? Just wondering.

DEB

[rthom]

I went to the dr. yesterday (sorry about the delay--too much going on here), The dr knew quite a bit. She had a report from emerg--(not a favorable one apparently) said they took out over 6 cc's from the excised wound. Also she said it looked alot better than she expected from the report--(kept stressing alot better, the report must have said it was a mess). So she was impressed at the care it's had (thank you folks here-esp debbluebird). We talked about the blood colour amount--(she's really surprised at how much is still coming out and doesn't know what else to do for that) and bruising. The blood is building up under the skin then some of it is traveling down the inside of my leg (running down my muscle sheaths) and causing newer and larger bruising--different areas etc. The resulting bulging blood then builds up pressure around the wound splits it and then makes a big mess (It's still enough that it half fills thos large surgical pads {the 2fx2f blue ones you put under stuff}completely through in a matter of 3-4 mins.). So the outstanding question for me is why. Apparently the arteries are in tact but the veins are not and the Dr said I got bit at the worst possible spot. (the wound is at the bottom of my hamstring, behind my knee and to the inside of my leg and wraps around to the front of my leg--if that makes any sense. Basically if you reach down you leg to the inside of you knee and grab that muscle just above and to the backside of it between your legs--that is the bite. Your hand is about the size and shape etc.) So the problem comes from the movement there and the fact that there is almost no chance for the veins to heal under pressure and being stretched around my knee like that, as well as because they have been torn not cut it's harder for them to heal anyway.
So what to do next. She said it may be months before it heals and I might have to see a plastic surgeon, although she has no idea what he would do as nothing is likely to work. But we'll just have to wait and see.
Pretty much I need to carry on with what I have been doing and try not to lett it bleed any more than I can. (every time it bleeds it takes pressure off of the area and without that pressure there is more chance of the internal pressure pushing out the clotting material.) So cover it, add pressure bandages and wait as long as I can before I release the pressure (by removing the pressure bandage or changing the dressings). This is the protocol I have been doing thus far but about 3-4 times a day I have to release it because the pain frm the sweeling of the leg and the itching travels and I can only take it until it gets to about half way down my calf, by then I can't walk without the wound rubbing on my other leg and it itches like a madman, and my knee aches really bad (listening to myself here, beginning to feel foolish or like a woose, "can't take the itch etc..." oh well guess I'm just at my wits end).
That's pretty much it--I have the 5 dogs here and am doing my best to stay off of it--and kee it raised (dr's orders) but I was already doing this stuff. Mostly it's (for me anyway) common knowledge or common sense stuff. Being able to talk to you folks here has helped on a head level alot. I've had alot of major surgries and none have behaved anything even remotely like this--my lung removed did not bleed amywhere near as much and was healed up in 12 days. So I have had to work at not being creeped out about it. You guys have been very important for my sanity--thank you all so much.
Well that's everything I can thnk of other than it's just slowing down again so I guess today is just going to be another one of those days with it. Hopefully it will continue to improve daily now that it seems to be not so inflamed. Oh yah still on antibiotics, so I can't take vitamins yet (pharmasist said none) I usually take some because I get really low on something-(-brainfart can't remember the name, not iron) B12 maybe? ah I'll remember later-just way too tired.