Infection Control and an update on Jackson-Pratt
The antibiotic I am on is really making a big difference. Its knocking out the infection really well. My knee hasn't felt this good in a while. Mobility is much better, pain is down to almost nothng, swelling down, and redness is gone. My surgeon made an interesting comment when he was checking it last Friday, "Hey, its starting to look like a knee again!" I've been 100% on the antibiotic. Even have an alarm that wakes me up at midnight to take it. Haven't missed a dose yet.
Last Friday, 5 days after I visited the E.R., my surgeon and I sat down to make a decision about the drain. It was at a point where we needed to decide if the drain was causing the fluid to continue, or if the drain needed to stay in longer because my knee needed more time to heal. But since it was already the cause of the infection, it would probably mean I would either be on antibiotics until it came out, or I would end up sick again.
So, the drain was removed. The surgeon started putting together everything he needed to pull the drain as well as to cover the hole left over and provide good compression. While he was doing that, I asked him if I could get a release to work EMS again. He asked me, "Will you be careful?", with a tone that was a little comical, but that implied he was serious and not joking. "Yes, I will be.", was my response. And I meant it. I don't want to go through this again, not that my work in EMS did this to me.
Remember how I mentioned the joy of it going in? Taking it out was without anesthetic. Not that I think the anesthetic would have worked, since infected tissue doesn't anesthetize very well. He takes a 4x4 and places it on my knee right where the drain came out of my skin. I mentioned to him that I accidently tugged on the drain line the day before, which gave me a taste of what this was going to feel like... ugh. But, I wanted it out like no tomorrow.
"Are you ready?", he asked. "As ready as I'll ever be..." Only took a minute, but yeah... it hurt. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't when they are removed. Since it was infected already, the tissue was pretty tender. Yeah, I watched the whole thing. I also got to take a good look at the drain (the portion that stayed under the skin for over 2 weeks). It didn't have holes. It had rails, made of a flexible plastic, along the sides. The suction pulls the fluid into the rails, and it comes out the tubing. Really interesting, actually.
So, I ended up with a bulk dressing again. Lots of 4x4s over the hole left where the drain came out, and a bulky pad over that, wrapped up with a gauze wrap and and ace wrap over that. In this case, the "bulk" of the dressing is to provide pressure on my knee to discourage fluid from accumulating again. I took the rest of the day off of doing anything, and went home to be kind to my knee. With the drain out, the pain level dropped instantly. Still tender, but not painful except a few twinges once in a while. I did fax my work release over (Yes, he gave it to me) to the Rivercats, so I could work there again. I've really missed it a lot.
On the EMS front, Saturday, I worked a triathlon, then went to a football game and worked there. Saturday night, I worked a shift for another EMT at the ballpark. Sunday, I worked another triathlon. It was really hot both days. Yeah, I jumped in with both feet. But it felt really good to be hands-on with patients again, and I needed to get tired again doing some good physical work. My sleep hasn't been very good lately, due to the pain from the surgery, the drain, the infection, and more. I slept really well the last two nights. I know mentally I've missed the work. I didn't realize that I physically did as well.
Last Friday, 5 days after I visited the E.R., my surgeon and I sat down to make a decision about the drain. It was at a point where we needed to decide if the drain was causing the fluid to continue, or if the drain needed to stay in longer because my knee needed more time to heal. But since it was already the cause of the infection, it would probably mean I would either be on antibiotics until it came out, or I would end up sick again.
So, the drain was removed. The surgeon started putting together everything he needed to pull the drain as well as to cover the hole left over and provide good compression. While he was doing that, I asked him if I could get a release to work EMS again. He asked me, "Will you be careful?", with a tone that was a little comical, but that implied he was serious and not joking. "Yes, I will be.", was my response. And I meant it. I don't want to go through this again, not that my work in EMS did this to me.
Remember how I mentioned the joy of it going in? Taking it out was without anesthetic. Not that I think the anesthetic would have worked, since infected tissue doesn't anesthetize very well. He takes a 4x4 and places it on my knee right where the drain came out of my skin. I mentioned to him that I accidently tugged on the drain line the day before, which gave me a taste of what this was going to feel like... ugh. But, I wanted it out like no tomorrow.
"Are you ready?", he asked. "As ready as I'll ever be..." Only took a minute, but yeah... it hurt. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't when they are removed. Since it was infected already, the tissue was pretty tender. Yeah, I watched the whole thing. I also got to take a good look at the drain (the portion that stayed under the skin for over 2 weeks). It didn't have holes. It had rails, made of a flexible plastic, along the sides. The suction pulls the fluid into the rails, and it comes out the tubing. Really interesting, actually.
So, I ended up with a bulk dressing again. Lots of 4x4s over the hole left where the drain came out, and a bulky pad over that, wrapped up with a gauze wrap and and ace wrap over that. In this case, the "bulk" of the dressing is to provide pressure on my knee to discourage fluid from accumulating again. I took the rest of the day off of doing anything, and went home to be kind to my knee. With the drain out, the pain level dropped instantly. Still tender, but not painful except a few twinges once in a while. I did fax my work release over (Yes, he gave it to me) to the Rivercats, so I could work there again. I've really missed it a lot.
On the EMS front, Saturday, I worked a triathlon, then went to a football game and worked there. Saturday night, I worked a shift for another EMT at the ballpark. Sunday, I worked another triathlon. It was really hot both days. Yeah, I jumped in with both feet. But it felt really good to be hands-on with patients again, and I needed to get tired again doing some good physical work. My sleep hasn't been very good lately, due to the pain from the surgery, the drain, the infection, and more. I slept really well the last two nights. I know mentally I've missed the work. I didn't realize that I physically did as well.
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