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Post by Clipper on Jun 13, 2022 17:24:45 GMT -5
I was driving t-posts around the garden one day last week and managed to drop the 12lb post driver device on the instep of my left foot. It left a gash about 1/2 inch long and my foot and toes turned purple. Neosporin and bandage had the cut healing nicely, but this morning I woke up and it was throbbing. Went to change the bandage and the wound was looking pretty red and angry and the wound was weeping.
Off to urgent care I went. Xray showed no fractures but I DID have an infection and pustules were beginning to form around the wound. Yup. Overnight. Wow. Antibiotics and leaving it open to the air along with putting neosporin on it at night and putting a white sock over it.
It got to 95 here this afternoon so i was not doing anything productive anyway. I laid around the house with my foot elevated. 7 days of antibiotics and wound care and it should clear up. I hope so. Nothing more dangerous than a foot wound when it comes to infection.
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Jun 13, 2022 18:52:34 GMT -5
Be careful you do not need gas gangrene. Follow your Doctor's procedure. We are going to be lucky up here and dodge the heat coming up from Carolinas which is triple digit. Two days in high 80's is ok with me and the weekend is to be in 60's. Fantastic.
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Post by Clipper on Jun 14, 2022 7:05:07 GMT -5
Be careful you do not need gas gangrene. Follow your Doctor's procedure. We are going to be lucky up here and dodge the heat coming up from Carolinas which is triple digit. Two days in high 80's is ok with me and the weekend is to be in 60's. Fantastic. I have had only two doses of 500mg Keflex thus far and have kept it smeared with Neosporin and open to the air. I put a white sock over it when I went to bed last night and removed it this morning. The wound does look a little better and the red area is not as large and angry looking. I knew a man, now deceased, who contracted gas gangrene after wounding his foot. He ignored the wound and delayed treatment until the pain was so bad he could no longer tolerate it. He ended up losing his entire foot and had to do hyperbaric oxygen therapy to save the rest of his leg. He was a severe diabetic and should have known better. He died of diabetes related kidney failure eventually. That is what prompted me to get immediate medical attention when it became so red and inflamed over night when it had been healing nicely.
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Jun 14, 2022 9:50:40 GMT -5
I tool care of a man like that in a nursing home as a Brother. He had gangrene on right toe which was then amputated. Was well for awhile then it came back to his right leg which was then amputated he did well for sometime then the left big toe flared up. That was amputated and eventually it once again appeared in left leg which then was amputated. He was going through hell and being if I remember correctly 89 years of age did not help. He too was diabetic and find foods that he should not be eating. One day I was on the evening shift and a relative of his came to visit and brought him a huge chocolate cake plus cookies and pepsi. I just shuck my head in disbelief.
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Post by Clipper on Jun 14, 2022 11:48:39 GMT -5
I decided this morning to get a second opinion and went to the VA walk-in satellite clinic here in Bristol so a doctor could take a look at it. He pretty much changed everything that the nurse practitioner told me yesterday. She said not to cover it, he said keep it covered to avoid further contamination getting into the wound. He said that the fluid seeping from the wound is fluid caused by the swelling and to elevate my foot above my heart to eliminate it gathering. He gave me a boost of stronger antibiotic in the cheek of my butt and told me to continue the Keflex. He told me he was glad I came in because leaving it uncovered was asking for more bacteria to get into it. Other than that he said it looked to be healing well and a percentage of the dark red is bruising, while the bright red inflammation and infection is pretty much isolated to a small area around the wound itself. Keep it bandaged, change dressing every other day, wash with warm water and soap when I change the dressing, and he is scheduling a follow-up appointment with my regular primary care doctor at the VA hospital in Johnson City for two weeks from now. I have to be very careful in caring for my feet. I had all sorts of foot trouble when I came home from Vietnam, I had Stephens Johnson Syndrome as a result of an allergy to sulfa drugs that left me with water blisters that completely cover the entire bottom of both feet, and I have peripheral neuropathy in my feet. My toes are almost numb to the touch, my feet tingle sometimes and other times I have very little feeling in my feet, and finally I quite often get shooting stabbing pains that feel like a bee sting and are strong enough to make me wince. Even with all that trouble with my feet I WOULD like to KEEP them both. I have become quite fond of being able to walk over the years. I hope that the antibiotics take care of it. I really don't want to be treating at the wound care clinic in Johnson City where they admit you and use a hyperbaric chamber to treat gangrenous wounds.
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Jun 14, 2022 15:39:39 GMT -5
Sounds like the VA Doctor gave a strong boost to the healing process with another antibiotic. I wondered also why they told you to not keep it covered but I thought maybe advances were made in wound care for a bad infection. I did not know your feet are in such bad shape. Hope you got to feel better fast. It is going to be a pain elevating the foot above your heart but it can be done and then will only be for a little while as the antibiotics clear up the infection. Good luck.
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Post by BHU on Jun 14, 2022 15:43:40 GMT -5
I decided this morning to get a second opinion and went to the VA walk-in satellite clinic here in Bristol so a doctor could take a look at it. He pretty much changed everything that the nurse practitioner told me yesterday. She said not to cover it, he said keep it covered to avoid further contamination getting into the wound. He said that the fluid seeping from the wound is fluid caused by the swelling and to elevate my foot above my heart to eliminate it gathering. He gave me a boost of stronger antibiotic in the cheek of my butt and told me to continue the Keflex. He told me he was glad I came in because leaving it uncovered was asking for more bacteria to get into it. Other than that he said it looked to be healing well and a percentage of the dark red is bruising, while the bright red inflammation and infection is pretty much isolated to a small area around the wound itself. Keep it bandaged, change dressing every other day, wash with warm water and soap when I change the dressing, and he is scheduling a follow-up appointment with my regular primary care doctor at the VA hospital in Johnson City for two weeks from now. I have to be very careful in caring for my feet. I had all sorts of foot trouble when I came home from Vietnam, I had Stephens Johnson Syndrome as a result of an allergy to sulfa drugs that left me with water blisters that completely cover the entire bottom of both feet, and I have peripheral neuropathy in my feet. My toes are almost numb to the touch, my feet tingle sometimes and other times I have very little feeling in my feet, and finally I quite often get shooting stabbing pains that feel like a bee sting and are strong enough to make me wince. Even with all that trouble with my feet I WOULD like to KEEP them both. I have become quite fond of being able to walk over the years. I hope that the antibiotics take care of it. I really don't want to be treating at the wound care clinic in Johnson City where they admit you and use a hyperbaric chamber to treat gangrenous wounds. I'm no Dr by any means but I've never heard of leaving a wound like that uncovered. But, what do I know. Good thing you got that second opinion. I hope the hoof doesn't trouble you for too much longer.
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Post by Clipper on Jun 14, 2022 17:20:35 GMT -5
I left it uncovered until bed time last night and kept it smeared with antibiotic ointment. When I went to bed I put a clean white sock over it. This morning I didn't like the looks of it so I decided to go to the VA clinic. I am much more comfortable with the guidance from the doctor than from the nurse practitioner at the urgent care. She just didn't seem to take it too seriously. I am glad that the doctor agreed with me that I should have been given an injection of antibiotic to get the party started and gave me a shot.
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Post by BHU on Jun 15, 2022 18:11:26 GMT -5
I know the feeling. I was cutting up an 8 ft deck board today with my chainsaw so it will fit in our fire pit. I stomped on it to get it to break in half & it bounced up & bingo! Right in the shin. Got a gash there & a bruise but nothing major.
Put the chainsaw away & broke out the sawzall for the rest of them.
Hope your foot felt feels better.
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Post by Clipper on Jun 15, 2022 23:04:47 GMT -5
Ouch! Glad you weren't seriously hurt. I bet you expanded your vocabulary when that happened. We have to be more careful. Things like that happen in a split second but the pain stays to remind us of our mistake.
My foot is doing better. I too could not believe that the NP said to just put a Bandaid over it when wearing shoes and to leave it open to the air when I am at home and without shoes. the doctor gave me a plastic bag full of packets of a stronger antibiotic salve and some 4x4 adhesive bandages that say in place better and longer than the store bought patches. When I changed the dressing this morning things were looking better already and most of the pain is gone other than being tender because it is so bruised.
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Jun 16, 2022 18:35:26 GMT -5
Sounds like you are on the road of recovery. Maybe you need to wear a pair of boots with a steel toes next time. I have seen them always on sale at your favorite store: Walmart. LOL
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Post by Clipper on Jun 16, 2022 21:29:17 GMT -5
I don't work with heavy stuff as a general rule PB. Steel toes would be hard for me to find with my chronically troublesome feet. I have to try on a plethora of assorted shoes just to find a pair of dress shoes or athletic shoes. For the amount of time I would wear steel toes it would not be a worthwhile investment. My podiatrist has a display of orthopedic and diabetic shoes in his waiting room. The safety toe athletic shoe looking walking shoes are about $300. I have to pay quite a bit for my shoes, and therefore I take very good care of them. The shoes I wear for dress cost me $100. The slip on shoes I wear in the workshop cost $150. I just need to be more careful. I was trying to grip the handle the post pounder, two steel fence posts, and a pair of work gloves all in one hand, and a bundle of tomato stakes in the other when I dropped the thing on my foot. On a normal day in the shop the heaviest thing I carry is a fat ham and cheese sandwich on rye bread in one hand and my insulated coffee mug in the other. LOL.
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Post by BHU on Jun 17, 2022 14:36:39 GMT -5
With or without mustard? Lol
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Post by Clipper on Jun 17, 2022 15:01:21 GMT -5
With or without mustard? Lol Guldon's Spice Brown Mustard. I am just not a Grey Poupon sort of a guy, lol.
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Jun 17, 2022 18:54:43 GMT -5
Wow your shoes are expensive as some sneakers! Ham and cheese on Rye I like that.
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