I’ve Been Missing in Action



What a week I’ve had. I went to the doctor last Tuesday morning because I had a very swollen and painful right hand. I literally could not use my hand at all. The doctor took one look at it and said I needed to be admitted into the hospital immediately! I knew it was bad just had no idea how bad it was or how serious the situation was. I ended up in the hospital for 5 days. As I found out infections of the hands are very complex and very serious.

I had a staph infection in my hand. Over a week prior to this I cut my thumb on a piece of glass. I cleaned it up and figured it would heal. The thumb was a bit sore and red but nothing that caused me any great alarm. I washed and used hydrogen peroxide on it. Then the cut healed shut. In less than 36 hours I went from a slightly sore and swollen thumb to an entire hand that was VERY swollen, unusable, bright red and extremely painful. Apparently as soon as the cut healed it basically locked the staff infection inside my hand and it spread rapidly.

These types of infections can quickly move to the bloodstream, bones and joints. The doctor’s put me on IV antibiotics and morphine for the pain. They did a CAT scan that showed it was in the tissues only, praise God. But it took almost 2 days before the infection started to show signs of responding to the antibiotics (We were so thanking God when it did start responding as the news is full of stories of bacteria that is unresponsive to antibiotics… MRSA, flesh eating types :::shudder:::). I almost needed surgery to flush out the infection, but the antibiotics finally kicked in and thankfully I avoided the surgery. Eventually they put me on 2 more types of antibiotics which also seemed to be helping. Finally they did an MRI to see if the infection was in my bones & joints, and again, praise God it was not.

On the 5th day they let me go home with prescriptions for 2 antibiotics and pain meds. According to the orthopedic doctor I’ll likely need physical therapy to regain the complete use of my hand. I have found doing just about everything I do a challenge (as I’m right handed ), but on the positive side I’m seeing improvements every day in the functioning of my hand. I have use of 2 fingers and my thumb so that has helped me to at least be able to type! :) I still have pain (but nothing like I had) and very little strength in the hand… picking up a spoon is difficult..

For now my goal is to rest and recover. I will be back to blogging as soon as I’ve healed and get past this ordeal.
 

Comments

  1. Yikes, that's scary! But I'm glad you're better!

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  2. Oh my goodness! How scary! I'm so glad you are feeling better and on the mend!
    Kristina

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  3. Praise God you went to the doctor when you did!!! Have a blessed recovery! It should be a nice time to continue to draw close to the Lord and reflect! Blessings to you!

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  4. Sorry to hear this!
    I wish you all the best and pray this is a quick and easy recovery for you and your family!
    Blessings,
    Shannon

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  5. That is scary, especially since I seem to always have dry cracked fingers and thumbs this time of year and manage to bump them all the time, out in the critter pens, dirt and manure piles. Guess I better be sure to wear my gloves more often. Wishing you a speedy and complete recovery.

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  6. Praising the Lord that you are doing better! Thank God!

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  7. Oh my word! thank goodness things are getting better and the antibiotics are working. that can be very scary.

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  8. Oh my goodness!! I'm so sorry you're going through this! Rest up and feel better soon!

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  9. Dear Cyrstal,
    PTL that you are getting better. I am so sorry that it happened to you. Prayers for a speedy recovery. I love your blog! I have learned so much from you!
    God Bless,
    Kim in NC

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  10. So glad you are feeling better. I keep telling my sons all the time that they really need to be more careful about cuts. Again really happy to know your doing ok.
    God Bless

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  11. Wishing you a speedy recovery and so glad to hear your doing OK. Blessings to you and yours.

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  12. Glad to hear you are doing better. Get well soon.!

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  13. Take care of yourself. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

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  14. You will be in my prayers! Take care.

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  15. a prayer for a quick recovery!

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  16. So sorry for you illness ! Praying all continues to improve.

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  17. Bless your heart! I'm sorry I'm on the opposite coast or I'd come and help.

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  18. i'm glad it's all a story now and not a tragedy...

    did the drs end up telling you what you could have done differently to avoid all this??? just wondering...thanks

    Celina in Virginia

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  19. That is so amazing! So when you think that you are safe with your "own germs" in your own environment- think again! I'm sure you'll be back up and busy again with your own style of physical therapy! Thanks for sharing-I appreciate the effort it took!

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  20. I am so sorry you have been sick...but so glad you are healing. I have been following you and enjoying your blog for years....way back from homesteadbloggers and I just couldn't let this post pass without sending well wishes your way!

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  21. I am so sorry to hear about this...I will be praying for your continued healing. Blessings! Jamie

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  22. Crystal I wondered what happened to you. Missed your blogging but now know why. So glad you got to the dr. in time----infections can be so serious. Love your blog. Sending best wishes for a complete and quick recovery!!!!! Hang in there!
    Amy

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  23. Crystal, I am glad to hear that you are recovering. I feel that you are a personal friend because I read all your blog entries. Please read about Redmond Clay and the natural healing it provides. Maybe this could be an alternative to doctors and antibiotics and hospitals. I'm looking forward to your future posts and hope you continue on the road to total recovery.

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  24. Thank God you are alive and doing better. I will be praying for you to regain your strength so you can get back to all the things you love to do.

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  25. I'm very sorry to hear that happened to you. Thank the Lord that it wasn't a lot worse.
    I'll be praying for your full recovery.
    ~Lisa (Frugalmomntraining) on your message boards.

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  26. Check out the work of Microbiologist, Michelle Moore. She had a very resistant case of staph herself, and set about creating her own natural treatment solution that is very effective. Her resources are at www.staph-infection-resources.com Good luck!!

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  27. So glad you are all right! I am mommy to 7 little ones and have loved reading on your site and blog all your insights! Praying for your continued recovery and thank you!!!!

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  28. We are cleaning and nursing a similar situation on my husbands shin. It is finally starting to drain but looks horrible. We got a strict warning from our Dr. to head to the ER immediately if it got bigger or stopped draining. So So thankful you are recovering and thankful to our mighty God who watches over us. God Bless You in your full recovery.

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  29. I am so sorry to hear of this. A few years ago my husband got a strain of MRSA and as you said, one day it was okay and then it was a huge swollen mass. Fortunately his did not do tissue/muscle damage and was not on one of his limbs. Fortunately also, he's got a very hearty constitution and had not had antibiotics in 20 years so they acted fast but he had to take loads of them.

    Prayers said for you to be back to normal sooner than doctors expect, and for you to become ambidextrous! lol

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