Treat your wounds!

[Heeb]

By request I’ve created a new topic about a recent experience I had with a small open sore and the challenges of getting treatment here especially during Covid. 

So we have a bed that came with the house we are renting that is made from solid wood and has a poor design because the wood stanchions that support it stick out about 4 inches from the mattress and are hard to see at night. So occasionally when I stumble out of bed in the middle of the night to go to the CR I crack my lower shin on it, coincidentally it’s the exact same spot I would smack on the boxer engine valve cover of my BMW motorcycle back home. Just when it would start to heal I would smash it again, my stupidity for not putting a pad on the posts. Anyway, so it’s scabbed up and i’m not paying any attention to it really.

Three weeks ago on a Friday I went to a bar in barrio Baretto to shoot some pool during the day, I had a beer and felt a little dizzy so I hopped on the moto and headed home. When I got home I was burning up and I went straight to bed. I thought I might have food poisoning because I had it earlier in the year. Fever was very bad and so much pain on my body, especially my back and neck, by morning I started vomiting and I thought well this is it, I’ve purged whatever it was and I’m on the way back to recovery. No such luck, fever got worse, mind you I’m wearing shorts and there is no discoloring on my shin that I notice and no pain at all. Later that night I get up in the dark to go to the bathroom and I feel something on the inside of my thigh like something stretching my skin, I turn on the light in the bathroom and I see red streaks going up from just above my ankle to my crotch area and below the wound I have a bright red patch. I pull the scab off the wound and it’s puss underneath, not good. I found one 500 milligram antibiotic pill and took it just to buy some time until morning when the pharmacies open.

So it’s Sunday and I’m thinking there’s no way they will see me at the hospital because I had an experience with a nephew of mine that had a swollen neck, it was huge and they told him he had to come back on Monday, he died a week later. I hit about 4 pharmacies and none of them would give me any antibiotics without a prescription. I decided to stop by Baypointe hospital just in case and they said they would take a look at me, no Doctor was around but they did a lab test and all the indicators of infection were there, really it was kind of a waste of time but I did get a prescription for Stafloxin 500mg 4X a day. It took 4 pharmacies to fill 28 pills, each one only having a partial supply.

By Thursday I knew there was no way I was going to get rid of the infection with oral pills, the fever was gone but it was really getting quite painful especially when I stood up, I was on a cane at that point. I went back to Baypointe Friday morning and the Doctor immediately said it was a bad staph infection and in the blood and I needed to be admitted and on intravenous antibiotics, unfortunately there were no rooms or even bed space available. She recommended I come in at 6am and 6pm for IV antibiotics at the ER ward. I was given Vancomycin  Mersa twice a day by IV for 7 days, I kept the heplock on my wrist when I went home which was a problem because they kept getting infected, I went through six different vein sights and it was uncomfortable to sleep. Oh and guess what, half way through treatment we show up at the ER in the evening and they are out of Vancomycin.

We had to drive around Olongapo looking for it, Gordon hospital had some but wouldn’t sell it to us, that place was packed and they had a ward set up outside for patients. Finally found some at a tiny pharmacy that you wouldn’t expect to have it. I’m not sure what the problem is with stock in this country, I don’t know if they have a policy that when you get below a certain amount of supply on an item you proactively order more or they just wait till it’s expended and then order. I’m now taking Clindamycin 300mg orally 4 x a day, it’s pretty strong and reserved for hard to treat MRSA infections. Looks pretty good but it itches an I’m peeling like a from a sunburn. Sorry for the long post but I agree it’s important especially here in the tropics, even though it can happen anywhere we need to clean and cover all wounds no matter how small. I’ve had infections before but I always saw them coming because the sight would start to turn red and get painful, this time I had no warning until it was a bad situation.

Edited August 5, 2021 by Jollygoodfellow

[OnMyWay]

1 hour ago, Heeb said:

So we have a bed that came with the house we are renting that is made from solid wood and has a poor design because the wood stanchions that support it stick out about 4 inches from the mattress and are hard to see at night. So occasionally when I stumble out of bed in the middle of the night to go to the CR I crack my lower shin on it, coincidentally it’s the exact same spot I would smack on the boxer engine valve cover of my BMW motorcycle back home. Just when it would start to heal I would smash it again, my stupidity for not putting a pad on the posts.

Oh man, now I am really paranoid!  We have similar beds and I smack my shins like that!  Might have to consider some padding!

[Mike J]

I will second what @Heeb had to say.  A few years back my right thumb where it joins the wrist became kind of sore.  A few days later it swelled up to the hand had swollen to the size of a boxing glove.  I suspected it was cellulitis and I went to Cebu City and saw a specialist.  She confirmed my suspicion.  I was high powered antibiotics for four weeks and it took additional weeks for the hand to return to normal size.  Scary stuff for sure. 

[Guy F.]

I sympathize.

Couldn't make myself read the whole thing though. For those of us who read a lot, a long tract without paragraph breaks is a genuine pain. Can you edit it please?

[Snowy79]

You were a very lucky man. Sepsis is a killer, even in the West. One of the best 600 peso I spent here was on a tetanus vaccine. Since having it any cuts and scratches heal within a few days where as before it could take weeks. 

[Freebie]

50 minutes ago, Snowy79 said:

You were a very lucky man. Sepsis is a killer, even in the West. One of the best 600 peso I spent here was on a tetanus vaccine. Since having it any cuts and scratches heal within a few days where as before it could take weeks. 

Good suggestion @Snowy79.. wil schedule one when NCR lockdown ends.. if ends... etc

[Mike J]

1 hour ago, Guy F. said:

I sympathize.

Couldn't make myself read the whole thing though. For those of us who read a lot, a long tract without paragraph breaks is a genuine pain. Can you edit it please?

An infection can quickly spread into the surrounding tissues.  The red streaks from a bite or wound show the infection is working its way up the limb.  Quick action is required or it can result in amputation and/or death.  This is especially true if the bacteria is one of those that has developed resistance to most antibiotics.  Heeb's infection was so advanced he required the antibiotics via IV to get them directly into the blood stream. 

[Tommy T.]

7 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

You were a very lucky man. Sepsis is a killer, even in the West. One of the best 600 peso I spent here was on a tetanus vaccine. Since having it any cuts and scratches heal within a few days where as before it could take weeks. 

I second the comment about getting a tetanus booster. L and others here don't even think about it and it is a hassle to find a doc to administer it - but super worth it. I forget now, but I think it is supposed to be given every 10 years or so?

Last time, at St. Lukes in Manila, they looked at me like I was crazy when I said I wanted a tetanus booster. I ended up at a pediatric doctor and explained that I play (work) in dirt at home all the time.

I also know of a guy, many years ago, who was scratched lightly from a fish hook or fish scale after catching a fish in a very remote atoll. He quickly developed a similar situation to @Heeb and ended up being airlifted by US Coastguard to Hawaii for emergency treatment. Apparently, the medic - who was air dropped from a helicopter - took one look at the guy and gave him some sort of super anti-biotic shot, right on the spot.

Fortunately, his leg was saved and he eventually recovered. Lesson learned, as already posted, there are lots of nasty "germs" in the tropics. Be careful is sound advice!

Edited August 5, 2021 by Tommy T.

[Jollygoodfellow]

8 hours ago, Guy F. said:

I sympathize.

Couldn't make myself read the whole thing though. For those of us who read a lot, a long tract without paragraph breaks is a genuine pain. Can you edit it please?

I edited as it was to hard to read so should be better now.

[RBM]

Most of us have experienced similar if not as sever, good to see Heeb on the way out of it now.

Support what he says, about a year ago I skinned my toes on a piece of Re Bar jutting out of a side walk, they never seem to finish anything here. Knew the danger of infections especially below knees. Treated my small would with alcohol and Bernadine on a 2 hourly basis, still became infected and needed antibiotics.......I am reasonably fit and healthy for a senior, wonder what more I could of done.