Well...

Just got back from the doctor, and I am glad I recently stocked up all the first aid supplies. Guess what Santa brought the fat man for Christmas.

I began getting this "bug bite" size sore on my side about a week ago. In the last few days it has taken on a life of its own. Little lidocaine and one heck of a large scalpel incision later and I am the proud new owner of a wound I had to have packed and will be dealing with until a recheck on Friday.

First Aid at a MVA... sure, GSW... ok? Open hole in MY side draining like the dam burst is NASTY. Any tips on wound treatment? (Other than common sense.) The best I got from them was limited to non-existent.

Also, MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, and have a safe holiday.

Dude, tough break. Take care.

Wow, Merry Christmas, huh? Sorry to hear 'bout that. Re wound treatment, I always went for the "cover it up so no one can see it" kind of bandaging...

I guess I can no longer say I refuse to trust anything that can bleed for a week and not die.

Evidently Ms. Clause heard my last comment. Now that I have been asked (told) by the medico's "No Camping Trip" my wireless router just went on strike. Down to iPhone for Internet.

I assume your physician has you on some sort of antibiotic coverage?

Keep it clean and dry. Rest. Avoid excessive activity and sweating. Eat adequate protein. Wear clean, lightweight, loose-fitting shirts. If you develop an elevated temperature, if the red, swollen and tender area around the wound begins to expand or develop red streaks leading away from it, or if you develop swollen lymph glands, particularly in your armpit on the affected side, seek a re-check without delay. Of course, follow all of your doctor's instructions to the letter.

Let us know how you are doing with it. Good luck and Merry Christmas.

Jeff

Jeff,

It has already done most all of that. That is why I went in. I tend to be the one that takes family for med treatment asap, but I wait on me.

Believe it or not I am out doing emergency shopping. See the Merry Christmas thread.

Kerlix - it's your friend

MRSA - NASTY stuff, had it 2x now - if confirmed, there are basically 2 choices - you get to spend a couple of weeks in the body and fender shop, taking Vacomycin (sp) or you get to take a 2 week course of Zyvox - either oral, or IV (again, a 2 week visit to the hospital)

I finished my last zyvox tonight, so the eating restrictions come off in 72 hours (there are interesting dietary restrictions when you are on zyvox, althought theey have recently losened then somewhat)

Did they say anything about "wet to dry" bandages? You soak a bandage in saline, ring it out, cover the wound, put a dry bandage over it, and let the inner bandage dry out (takes a few hours) - you then change the bandage - if it's stuck to the wound, it's OK to wet it with saline to get it off - in fact, you should) - this helps pull the bacteria out of the wound

There are all sorts of silver bearing bandages, but the MD has to prescribe them, and you may not be at that point

Good luck, heal well

Right now they have what looks like a hockey skate lace shoved inside the wound refilling the cavity left behind by the fluid removed. Said "hockey lace" is to wick the bad stuff out like an oil lamp wick. Oral med's already started. Dry 4x4 over top. Not to remove the first two 4x4's until Friday at the recheck. Have seriously filled a multitude of 4x4's since around 1600 cst. Thinking seriously of going to feminine sanitary napkins for in bed. I certainly have used them before for worse than this.

Thanks for the info. If confirmed I will have more questions.

OK, I didn't have a deep pocket to pack, so you are on your own with that

sanitary napkins do work wonders - "abdominal pads" are about the same thing, at more $$

My DW & I have used maxi pads as external bandaging for 1 or our best friend's MRSA wound.

When he'd get up into his wheelchair, the maxi pad would absorb the extra drainage caused by the pressure of him sitting up for a few hours.

His wound was on the bottom of the left buttock. Normally a poor circulation area made poorer due to being a paraplegic.

We used surgical sponge gauze for packing in the early stages and finished with the Algaenate material once the wound was 2cm and closing.

His wound started off looking like he'd been shot with a nearly spent .75cal round.

I still carry maxi pads in my FAK because of their size and absorption abilities.

you're doing the right things already. Oral meds, keep dry, packed.

Folks, not all "bug bites" are MRSA. There's the normal "Methicillin Sensitive Staph Aureus." MSSA is sensitive to Keflex. MRSA laughs at Keflex. You can try Clindamycin with MRSA, but really, Zyvox is the only good oral med right now for MRSA.

If you redress the wound packing, 4x4s are fine. Unfold them first, and put them into the wound (wet or dry, depending on what you're told). Don't "pack" them in - the wound should have just enough 4x4s to keep the wound open. You don't need to cram 500 4x4s into the hole, when 5 will do. Packing too much actually slows healing.

Clindamycin and Bactrim to start, with a threat of Zyvox coming soon.

The packing is what looks like a wet hockey skate lace that came from a sterile bottle. Man oh man, I had forgotten what a nasty thing the human body can be.

This would be better for me if it was a stand-up adversary that I could face. If I could "get my hands on it" type of fight it might do me well as a little stress relief.

Yeah, but when the lab results come back as MRSA, and a list of which antibiotics worked and didn't work, you do know (as was my case)

About that - for me, it was $3000 for the 2 weeks, but the insurance covered all but something like $90

There is one other downside - look at the tiramine issue - and at least 6 months ago, the dietary restrictions were MASSIVE - no cured meets, no preserved foods, no fermented foods (aka sauerkraut, soy, soursauce, etc ), no aged cheeses, no chocolate, and most important NO pseudepidrene (sp) the list goes on - they have since decided that most of the restricions are not needed. This is because Zyvox is actually an MAOI - but a milder form than the ones used for psycological reasons. If you do get a tiramine/maoi reaction, your bloodpressue can spike like you would not believe

Favorite new experience at the 7/11. "No these are not for my wife or daughter, they are for me." The clerk probably still wonders why I needed the generic maxi-pads. It was that or diapers. The pads were a darn site cheaper than continuing to use sterile 4x4 for non-contact sponges. I will be getting "regular" 4x4's in the morning.

Huh? What did the clerk say or ask, exactly? I had a similar experience buying lipstick once for a craft project. Neither I nor the store had red candles, and I wanted to make an old fashioned seal with an imprint.

The smirking clerk, who I was slightly acquainted with and had joked around with before, asked "That for you?" I replied, "Yep, I looked fabulous in this shade!," and sashayed my fanny right out the door.

Jeff

I went to the store for el generico pads to put on top of the sterile 4x4's that I have on the wound. The clerk smarted off with something to the effect of "I wouldn't let any woman send me to the store for these". My rejoinder was they were for me. Left him confused.

Good one! His smart comment might have earned him my best cold, dead stare and and a flatly intoned "what exactly do you mean by that?" from me.

I try very hard to be extremely polite and courteous in public. But among my many character flaws is a nasty tendency to intimidate those who I think are being unnecessary rude. I know I need to work on the whole "turn the other cheek" thing, but it's hard for me.

Jeff

One trip to the doc today and things look "okay". Not worse, but not what was hoped for. One more trip after accidentally ripping out the packing, and things don't look worse, but the opening got a little bigger. I promise that WILL NOT happen again if I still have a pulse.

I'm going OT here, but...

Yeah, it's expensive. I should clear up my earlier statement on this thread: Zyvox is the only "good" drug currently that can be both IV and oral for MRSA. Bactrim I think can be both too, but it's not as effective.

Anyway, insurance companies will gladly pay $3000 for 2 weeks of an oral med, versus keeping you in the hospital for those 2 weeks to get an IV med! And yeah, those dietary restrictions probably suck. Makes one glad they aren't on an MAOI.

Makes one fastidious about washing one's hands (more than normal) too. All of the sudden, I have become a neat freak. Yeah, I know it's there all the time, but a quick rinse and I am ready to perform surgery now.

BTW, I suspect it isn't as bad as feared. It seems to be "going away" already. Of course I am not a doc.

When I had crews in the field, I always had an order of stupidity FAK. If the injured party was following safety protocol and using proper PPE, they got 4x4's and kerlix. If they were being stupid (i.e. no hard hat) they got 4x4's topped with the biggest Maxi-Pad taped to the most hair I could find. Both ways provided good F/A, but one provided a lesson also.

Well, good news..

It must not be MRSA (Still waiting on labs), it has gone away. I don't envy anyone dealing with this long term. Something about having to drain one's own wound really reduces the appetite. I am just glad I could reach it myself. DW mistakenly walked in on me working the wound over... she had to sit down.

My wife and I had similar experience after my appendix reputured and a particularly nasty infection set in. She would hold a mirror for me and look the other way. lol

Glad to hear that you're doing better!

I have to admit, some of the wounds I see turn my stomach. Not the sight, but the blasted smell. Ugh.

Yep...

And burns or burn fatalities are the worst!