DH was in the hospital with a blood infection. I am so glad that I took him in and that they admitted him. He has been doctoring for a couple of months now for a mysterious fever and terrible chills that come and go about every 6 weeks. Three doctors saw him , ran some tests and had him schedule to come back in a few weeks. They all saw the rash on his legs.
His last attack was very severe. He was not very responsive, seemed dazed and was shaking violently. I called the answering service and said that he looked alarming to me. I emphasized that his kidneys are very week, he has elevated white cells and has not even been given antibiotics. A bad infection could kill him and we know he has some kind of infection. I see him getting worse and worse and it scares me. She gave the go ahead to take him in. She had not seen him before but her partner had.
On the way to the hospital I called my brother in law who is a doctor. He said that blood cultures should be taken in fact should have been taken long ago and that he should be on intervenous antibiotics. The ER Doc was amazed that this had been going on for so long. He also said that the rash on the leg was celulitis which is an infection of the skin that could spread through the blood to his organs. They cultured his blood, put him on intervenous antibiotics and admitted him to the hospital for three days. His white cell count had skyrocketed.
What we learned......... Take care of rashes persistently until they are completely cured. Ask for blood cultures and antibiotics if an infection is present. Go to the hospital while the symptoms are severe so that they can see for themselves what is going on. This mad a big difference. No one really paid a lot of attention until they saw it.
Three doctors failed him but the fourth and fifth probably saved his life.
Tragic In So Many Ways
4 years ago
Anna, you and your husband are in my prayers tonight! I am glad he was finally properly diagnosed, but to have it come so late is awful. Some docs are clueless, or at least when we happen to see them.
ReplyDeleteThank god you caught it in time! Take care of yourself too!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you caught this, and by being proactive, you were able to get him the attention he needed! Serious stuff! I'll be praying that the meds do their job and that he feels better soon!
ReplyDeleteP.S. I sent an email to the address on your profile page... not sure you got it?
Thanks to all of you. He is feeling a lot better so we have our fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteHer Big Sad: I have not checked that email in awhile. I will do it tonight. Thanks for your concern.
Cellulitis is a really serious condition that is life threatening if prolonged. I am glad that your husband is being treated. My father almost lost an arm to it because he stubbornly refused to go to the doctor.
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