The Fall of, well, Me.

Just three months ago and some weeks, I fell down. There was no ice to slip on, the sidewalk was dry. I didn't trip over a crack or stumble over a pothole. The days of wearing elephant leg pants have long since passed, and I did not fall off my platform shoes. I just fell. And kind of rolled. And managed to get back up again. Then I stiffly kept walking back to where I was going and didn't think much of it.

My left leg gave me a reminder the next day

. Bruises such as I have never experienced before showed up. Even on my arms, which I don’t remember being much involved in this falling down thing at all, had very colorful bruises on them. Wow, I thought. Maybe I ought to get this checked out.

By the time I did, my left leg was not only very colorful, it was very swollen. I had to wear my too big rubber shoes to work, which I do not feel is proper. The PA took a look at me, and then sent me for an X-ray.

The results? Nothing broken or fractured in any way.

That was in November.

1: Bruises
If you are human it is very likely you have had bruises in your life. Some are very painful, like a bruise on your bone. Those take a long time to feel better! Some are mild, like accidentally bumping into the corner of a counter.

Did you know there are different words for bruises? Contusion, hematoma, owie…It is defined as an unopen injury under the skin, characterized by pain, swelling, and discoloration.

Why did I have Xrays to check for a break? Bruises are a symptoms. They could mean a sprain, a strain, or  a break. The amount of swelling was a symptom, too.

It took a month or two for the bruising to fade. It went all the way down to my toes! I was impressed! When it finally faded, I didn't expect any more trouble. But trouble came in the form of swelling  on my left knee, redness, heat and pain. I finally went to a doctor to have another look see, and he told me I had to go get an ultrasound to check for blood clots.

I have had ultrasounds before, and they really were no big deal. But the ultrasound to rule out deep vein thrombosis was painful! The tech checked my good leg first, to have a guideline or baseline to judge the bad leg by. In order to prove there were no clots, she had to press down pretty hard on the veins. The femoral vein, at the top of the leg and near the pubic bone, hurts like absolute heck when someone is pressing down a device to prove there is no blockage! It has to be done. Blood clots are nothing to take lightly.

I didn't have any clots.

what happened next is the big golf-ball sized lump on my left knee burst open over night. It was messy and ugly and gross. The doctor I had seen had also started me on antibiotics, thank goodness, because my knee was badly infected! So I went in to see another PA (physician's assistant) and she had me get another X-ray to verify if the bone was infected (a terrifying thought!) and also who recommended me to see an orthopedic specialist.

The stuff pouring out of my knee was reddish orange and thick. Very scary stuff.

Exudite, or wound drainage.

There are three main kinds of exudite: Serous exudite is clear and water, and it is what usually comes out from blisters or burns. Sanguineous exudite is from an open wound and it is kind of another way to say you are bleeding from a cut or other kind of open wound. Then there is purulant exudite. Yep, Pus. Nasty, stinky, thick stuff which can range in color from greens to yellows to really to gross to talk about. My exudite was a combination of the last two, purosanguineaus exudite, which meant that I had an infected wound.

So, the orthopedic specialist took a look at my knee and kind of looked like he was expecting really bad things. He drew up samples of the stuff to send to the lab and find out just what kind of infection he was dealing with. Then he drained my knee and packed it.

Oh, holy cow. It was like going to the dentist, having a stubborn tooth pulled, and then having the dentist pack the stuffing into the empty socket. It hurt!

Two days later I heard that I had a staph infection. Glad it wasn't worse! How did I get an infection any way?  I have a bad habit. I cannot leave sores alone. It is one of the ways I show a low self image or nerves. If nothing else motivated me to stop doing that, this sure as heck did!

The next appointment with the orthopedic specialist his face showed something akin to awe at how much better my knee was looking. He suggested surgery to take out the remaining fluid underneath but we both felt that the skin tissue wasn't strong enough to hold stitches. Also, I had just started a new job and really cannot afford more time off than I have already had! He ordered another round of antibiotics and I will be going in for another evaluation soon to see if it looks like it will heal without surgery.

What have I learned?

Listen to my body. Pain is a symptom, swelling and redness, all of these are signs not to be ignored.

Stop picking sores!!! I am embarassed to admit that I do this. It is a bad habit, one that I am making great strides in stopping especially after all of this happened!

I live a blessed life.