Greetings from Kingston General!
Lots of stuff to bring you up to date!
On Saturday, August 22nd, Greg decided that it was time for me to get my arm looked at. It was day 10 post biopsy and my arm was swelling up more each day. This particular night, two of the staples were showing green roots, and part of my arm was going shiny with the swelling. The arm was also really hot. Greg took me into the urgent care dept at hotel dieu, and they got nervous about my blood pressure and pulse, both of which were elevated given that I was in pain. They got me in quite quickly and the ER doctor immediately called over to the ortho doctors at KGH. Well, they wanted me brought over to Kingston General Hospital ER immediately. So, Greg drove me over, though I think he was hoping that we could go by ambulance! They had a bed for me immediately, and ran blood work and did an ultrasound of the arm. From the ultra sound, the infection was really visible, sort of sprawling out like a cauliflower. The infection count in my blood work was huge. The decision was made to wait out starting antibiotics until they could get in surgically, so that they could get fresh specimens. But, and its a HUGE BUT, the biopsy results showed that there was no cancer cells! woo hoo! They admitted me, and transferred me to a regular floor on Sunday. I finally got in for surgery on Tuesday, and it went well. They basically dissected my arm, scraping out infection, and scraping hte damaged bone. The scraping that they had done at the biopsy was already showing signs of regeneration, so they feel good that the arm bone will regrow. They sewed me up and put me on antibiotics by intravenous. On Wed (or was it Thurs) they put in a PIK for intravenous, so that I can continue with the antibiotics at home. Yesterday (Saturday) they changed the antibiotics, based on the surgerys pathology reports.
So, I have been in the hospital for a week. I have a staph infection that they are treating with heavy antibiotics, and will continue to treat for several weeks. The incision is healing nicely, and is starting to itch, which is a good sign. I have a fair amount of pain still, but we are able to manage it orally, most of the time. I have nerve twitches as the nerve endings repair themselves.
James has the children, and he has returned to Kingston with them today, to get ready for school. He is taking some time off work and looking at doing some work at a desk in Kingston, so that he can continue to take care of the kids. I am unable to use my arm for anything that is weight bearing for a while, until the bone is healed. I am also on heavy medications. So I am unable to be the full time parent right now. But I was so happy to see my kids today! I missed them like crazy!
I think that this brings the blog more or less up to date. My brain is fried, so if I remember something, I will add it later.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support.
