ProfessorTomoe

The news keeps getting worse. I had a face-to-face appointment with my foot doctor yesterday. Not only do I have osteomyelitis in the middle toe of my left foot, I've got signs of it in the metatarsal (the long bone) that leads to the middle toe. So, when he does the partial amputation of my toe, he's going to do a bone biopsy of my metatarsal. I'm kinda scared of the possibility of losing part of my foot proper due to a bone infection. How will it affect how I walk?

As with the thread from the previous incarnation of the board, I begin this one with a request that the information within remain confidential. This is a thread for those seeking support as they deal with very sensitive situations involving either their own or a loved one's health. Please let this be a thread where such information can be shared with a level of trust. Now, back to the topic at hand. I picked up my second filling of Brintellix yesterday—all $141 of it, for a month's supply. I find it odd that it is an antidepressant, yet the price is so high that it is depressing just to purchase it. As for its effects, I'm still getting used to them. I haven't been able to sleep for more than three hours at a time for a couple of weeks now. When I do wake up in the middle of the night, I'm not groggy. In fact, I feel for at least a short time that I've had a decent night's sleep. That sensation only lasts a few hours, though. I don't crash out—I just sort of fade to the point where I need to sleep again. Very weird. I've also lost weight. Not a lot, but every pound counts, and it's been a slow and steady drop. Some of this might be related to the small dose of metformin that I'm on (my A1C hit 6.5 again, causing my primary doctor to freak out). I seriously don't know. Whatever the reason, it made my cardiologist happy at my appointment yesterday. Speaking of cardiologists, mine determined that I am status quo as far as my PVCs are concerned. He hasn't seen them in the short 30-second EKGs he runs at every appointment, but the memory of my Holter monitor results from several years ago is enough to keep him on his toes. Still, he saw no reason to increase my lisinopril or to add a beta blocker to my shoebox full of medicines. I hope this thread will be as useful as the last one was. Thanks for any support you can provide.

I just got some bad news from my podiatrist's office. I had a bone scan run on the infected middle toe of my left foot on Wednesday. Just got the results a few minutes ago - it's osteomyelitis, a bone infection. The same thing that cost me the second toe of that same foot back in December of 2018. We're not screwing with the IV antibiotics this go-round. They did no good last time, and they'll do no good this time. We're going straight to partial amputation. It's scheduled for some time in the morning of Friday, April 26th.

The infection has failed to respond to antibiotics and topical iodine treatments. The subcutaneous fat layer of the tip of my toe is now exposed. The doctor now says my toe looks just like toe #2 did last year. He is scheduling a radioisotope bone scan to determine if I have a bone infection (osteomyelitis), which is what I had in toe #2. If I have osteomyelitis, we're going to skip the six weeks' worth of IV antibiotics that we tried last time (which also didn't work) and proceed directly with a partial amputation. My depression gene is kicking me in the ass over this.

Currently drinking Spiced Purple Maize drink from Aldi. It's a variant on the Peruvian national drink known as Chicha Morada, which is made from boiled purple corn, pineapple, quince, and spices. It takes a glass or two to get used to the unusual taste (along with the fact that you're basically drinking corn), but once you're past the weirdness of it all, you're hooked. The only problem with it is that it's 70 calories per 8 oz. glass - there's no artificial sweetener in it. It's sugar all the way. I've adapted my enjoyment by mixing it with my Crystal Light Lemon Tea, at about half a bottle per gallon of tea. That cuts it down to around 140 calories a day, and it makes it taste even better. Next time you're at Aldi, grab yourself a bottle. Put it in the chill chest for a few hours first. Let it get good and frosty - iced down doesn't cut it. Pour yourself a small glass and take a small sip. Be ready to taste something you've never experienced before. If you can make it through the whole glass, you'll probably be addicted, which will be a good thing for your body according to medical studies. Enjoy.

Let's see if we can consolidate some of the "what are you eating/drinking/breathing" threads into this one. I am currently ingesting Crystal Light tea. Just had some hummus & pita chips beforehand. I'm considering getting a glass of Bulgarian buttermilk (I was shocked that my local Albertson's actually had the Bulgarian style! Nom.).

Last year, I had part of the second toe of my left foot amputated due to a bone infection gone out of control. Today, I found out I have an infection of the middle toe of my left foot. The foot doctor says we caught it just in time. He saw no bone problems on the X-rays. However, I am wearing a special walking boot on that foot and will have to take precautions when I shower so that I don't get it wet (I'll have to clean it separately outside of the shower). My foot is a pain in the arse.

Thank you. In perspective, it should save me a lot of grief. The pain that the surgery is designed to relieve can be crippling at its worst. It felt like I had a large, jagged rock between my ankle and the flat of my foot.

Surgery No. 2 (Endovenous Ablation, left leg) was done today. It looked at first like it was going to be easier than the right leg was, since they only had to do one lidocaine injection to insert the sheath and the catheter. However, the problems started once they started doing injections farther up the leg. They did about a half dozen injections prior to the radio wave ablation, each one more painful than the last. Things got even worse when they turned on the radio wave machine - I felt an intense pain from inside my leg. They either missed a spot with the lidocaine, or they didn't wait long enough for it to kick in. They gave me more lidocaine and restarted the ablation. A couple more burning spots popped up along the leg during the ablation, requiring even more lidocaine. In total, I think they hit me with about 10-12 injections when all was said and done. About seven hours later, I am very sore. Walking hurts. Sitting hurts. I'm worn out.

Eww. My bandages are off, and my leg looks a mess. Bruises all up and down my inner upper leg, and a huge bruise covered by Steri-Strips at the incision site. My leg felt like it weighed a ton after I finally un-bandaged it (I had to fight my cat, who insisted on being lovey-dovey during the process). It was bad enough that I had to walk it out for a while afterward. Still hurts.

Three hours until these damned bandages come off, and it's three hours too long. The things don't want to stay in position on my leg: they've slid down every chance they've got, mainly due to a lipoma that I have on the back of my upper leg. I'm not supposed to be able to see any of the bruising from the anesthetic shots, but of course that's already been violated. And don't forget the pain - the vein that was treated still hurts. It'll probably hurt worse after the bandages come off. Follow-up appointment is this coming Friday. We'll see what the doctor says.

Well, the doctor was right - it was not comfortable. I got stabbed with needles full of numbing medicine at least a dozen times, had a sheath shoved into a vein, then had a catheter shoved through the sheath up into said vein and heated with radio frequencies (yep, another radio ablation procedure) so that it collapsed the vein. I'm now wrapped up from my groin to my ankle with orders not to remove the wrap for 48 hours and not to lift anything more than 10 pounds. I'm just waiting right now for the time that I can take my next pain killer, because this crap hurts. Lather, rinse, repeat nest Monday.

Chowing down on a thick-cut bacon and Velveeta slice sandwich. Totally bad for you, but oh-so-good. Nom.

It's Monday, and still no headache, which is good because I have to go in for another surgery today. I'm having a catheter shoved up one of my right leg peripheral veins to cauterize it and stop venous reflux that's been causing painful swelling (edema) in my right foot and ankle. I'll be awake while they do the operation - not looking forward to that - so they've given me a couple of Xanax to take 30 minutes before the operation to calm me down. I've been warned that it's not going to be comfortable (gee, thanks), so I'm going to be laid out afterward. Much fun. I get to repeat the process on my left leg a week from today.

I seem to have woke up headache-free this morning. Let's see how long it lasts.

Oww. Two days in a row with steady headaches. They just won't go away. I'm taking rizatriptan for the pain, but it doesn't knock it out completely. Oww.

Give us a week: we'll take off Kuwait. ...and get off my lawn, too...

I am recovering from yet another radio ablation procedure, this time on my right lumbar spine. This was way more painful. I was living on oxycodone Thursday, to no avail - my pain level shot up to between an 8 1/2 and a 9 and stayed there for five hours. I can handle short sprints at that level, but not marathon runs. This called for a call to my doctor ... who did not call me back until Friday morning, by which time my pain had receded to a 6 1/2. How'd I make it through the night? By violating doctor's orders. I put an ice pack on my back--well-wrapped in fabric--and kept it there for well over an hour. I did not experience any cold burns, thanks to the wrap. I've had worse experiences, but this ranks up there on my list of "things I don't want to repeat." Not without significant doctor guidance first. You see, there was one difference between this operation and the last: the anesthesiologist did not give me Versed. It is very hard for me to shake off after surgery, to the point of giving me uncontrollable shivers and a headache. In retrospect, I probably should have suffered through it instead of suffering through the pain afterward. As I write this, I'm still hurting, at about a 6 or a 7. It's at a peak at the moment. Earlier on, it has backed off (pun intended). Now, all I can do is wait for the relief to kick in.

Baker is having some trouble adapting to life without a feeding tube. He's thrown up his kibble four straight days now. His evening activity level is rather low, but he's still somewhat active in the morning. He is meowing a lot more than normal throughout the day, though not so much today. Mrs. Prof finally called the vet around noon, who said Baker's pancreatitis may be acting up again. The vet clinic has standing orders to give Baker IV fluids and anti-nausea medicine on arrival if we ever bring him back in. Fortunately, Baker has had three small meals since throwing up breakfast and has kept all of them down. Fingers crossed.

Baker the cat's ordeal is over! The vet removed his feeding tube today and pronounced him healthy. We don't have to give him any more medicines or anything like that. All we have to do is keep his neck collar on while his feeding tube hole heals up. We were afraid Baker was going to die on us when all of this began. If it wasn't for a group of great vets and Baker's will to live, we would have lost him. We nurtured that will to live - Mrs. Prof, especially - and now, Baker is back to his sassy self. Thank goodness.

It's been a week since my last post, and Baker continues to astound us with his progress. He has returned to his pre-thread-eating weight of 13.6 pounds and has, to a limited degree, resumed running through the house again. Last night was the first night that he broke out into a sprint, albeit a somewhat hampered one. He also showed interest in his laser pointer for the first time since all this began last night. He's eating more kibble, however he got into his housemate's kibble and wound up throwing up yesterday. Fortunately, there was no damage to his feeding tube. He's still being fed through the tube several times a day, and he's getting wily about feeding time - he runs off and tries to hide, even though he is docile during the actual feeding. His stitches are out, so now he just has a shaved tummy and some minor scabbing. He's also got a new feeding tube collar which Mrs. Prof mail-ordered. He's not too keen on it: he keeps scratching at it. The old one is in the wash, so he's stuck with this one until the old one dries. I'm watching him closely - right-side scratching is okay, but left-side ist verboten. His body has finally filled back out again, thanks to the weight gain. He was looking very gaunt when his weight was in the mid-12-pound region. You could feel the bones along his back and see that his face was very angular. Now, his face is round and full, and his back and shoulders/hips have some muscle on them again. His next trip to the vet will be Thursday of this week to determine when his feeding tube comes out. He may have to be weaned off of it, because even though he's eating kibble, he's not eating enough to sustain himself. All will be told at the vet's office.

Seconded.

After a long (too long) hiatus, I have finally returned to working on my novel, Tapper. My music has been put on the back burner for the time being—I've been working on it for an unusually long time anyway. I picked up Tapper and did some long-overdue rewrites and polishing on it, starting about a week ago. I put the finishing touches on it today and uploaded it to Scribophile. If you want to read it, all you have to do is join Scribophile (no fee required for a basic membership - they don't spam you) and start reading from this link. If you want to help me write, you can critique the novel, but you'll have to go to my profile page and make me a "favorite" of yours first (look for the link below my picture on the left-hand side of the page). That way you'll get full credit (a.k.a. "karma") for your critique. I'm seriously looking to get this novel published this time around, so I would appreciate every bit of input that I can get. Thank you in advance!

I am a walking barometer. I have so much metal implanted in my feet and ankles that any kind of weather change sets off my pain receptors. I'm glad they don't set off any kind of adverse reactions in the Greenfield Filter I have implanted in my Inferior Vena Cava.