Health update - although Im not in hospital hooked up to a drip, which is good, I am in a sort of permanent state of drowsyness caused by the multitude of tablets and capsules I have to swallow daily. The doctor has put me on different antibiotics and almost trebled my dose, and although the redness and swelling seems to still be advancing further up and down my arm, it's less red and less itchy and less heat is coming off it, so I take that as an improvement. Also the skin doesnt feel pitted (like orage peel) any more. I still feel otherwise ok, so Im happy to give it 48 hours at least to see if the antibiotics do their job. I was tempted to ring Alex in Peru and ask for his expert medical opinion, but his inability to diagnose his own appendicitis (even up to the point where he was admitted to hospital for an emergency operation) put me off.
Very frustrating with the amazing weather we've had for the last week or so, and we havent been able to do any work on the land at all. In addition, our caravan is overrun with ants. This is all very depressing and frustrating, and potentially very costly in terms of being weatherproof before this coming winter, especially if I need a second course of antibiotics and more rest after the first 7 days. Anyway, we'll play it by ear for the moment.
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In October 2008 we completed the purchase of a plot of land in Cheltenham, on which we are going to build our first house together. This blog will chart our progress on the build, and life in general, as I personally fulfil one of my life's ambitions - to build my own house :)
Oi cheeky, I can diagnose you from afar. You have bacterial cellulitis, probably caused by staph aureus or step pyogenes. They probably started you on a crappy dose of 250mg of flucloxacillin possibly with 250mg of penicillin V times a day. Then when it wasnt working they probably raised the dose to 500mg or maybe even a gram. If that didn't work they would have used a cephalosporin or clinomycin.
ReplyDeleteDraw a line in marker pen around the edges of the red bits, they should have done that for you already, that way it's easier to see if it is receding.
If the new antibiotics don't show signs of improvement in 48 hours, the redness expands rapidly, you get a high temperature above 38.5 degrees or you notice red streaks that look like long scratches extending up towards your armpit called ascending lymphangitis then go to A+E dont bother with your GP, hes probably rubbish, especially if he started you on a crappy 250mg dose in the first place.
email me anytime and less of this appendix thing I wasn't a doctor then