So my Dad got a staph infection in his foot, working in another country. He is one of those guys that is terrified of doctors and I think he waited a really long time after it first became noticeable before he saw someone about it. He was referred to a wound care clinic and the doctor said he needed surgery on his foot to clean the wound he also had a vascular growth there called a pyogenic granuloma and they cultured the tissue, at the time we didn’t know what it was, they found it was staph and gave him the appropriate oral antibiotic.
Fast forward a little bit later he finished the antibiotic but the wound was oozing and smelled bad. My Dad also didn’t do anything the doctor recommended, he’s a pretty big drinker, like prob 8 beers minimum a day probably more a lot of days. He kept drinking heavily, didn’t stay off his foot, never elevated it or anything. He went back and the doctor had to clear out dead tissue and even cut into his joint or bone.
Now here we are a week later, his friend who is a nurse has been changing the dressing for him, told him he needed to go back because his foot was red and he had a fever. My Dad waited two more days to go back, against her advice and now they’ve just performed a third procedure on him and I believe will give him IV antibiotics, he’s going to be in the hospital for a few days.
Does he necessarily already have sepsis if they are doing IV antibiotics or could it just be a prophylactic type of measure? I’ve been concerned about his health because he drinks so much, is overweight and eats badly, and has untreated sleep apnea.
If he’s in the hospital now, he’s where he needs to be. Is he still abroad or did he come back home?
As to your main question, it’s really hard to say based on information over the Internet, whether he’ll be ok. It depends on what you mean by “ok” in part. I can see why you would be concerned about his health, but he is where he needs to be.
Is he in the hospital now? Talk to doctor yourself and ask these same questions. It sounds like he is not making good personal choices.
If he is not in the hospital, take him there asap. IMO this is a emergency.
Doesn’t need to be sepsis for IV antibiotics to be used. My daughter got a staph infection in her hip at the site of a previous external fixateur (after an accident that broke her pelvis) and she was hospitalised for a week until the infection subsided. At no time did it become a generalised sepsis, but could easily have done so.
Your dad is in hospital now, and as mentioned, the best place to be. Hopefully they’ll treat the infection aggressively and he’ll be on the mend soon.
Staph infections can be strongly resistant to antibiotics (MRSA). The good news is that draining them and good wound care in healthy patients results in usually good outcomes. The bad news is that they can tend to recur for awhile. I hope he becomes more compliant.
A friend of mine got a staph infection and nearly lost her arm. It went from a small welt to infecting much of her arm in a matter of days.
Not something to fool around with!
I will hope he turns out OK but from what you say I can’t offer a solid opinion. With infections you really do need to get serious and stick strictly to the care available which he doesn’t seem to be doing. But with luck and some pressure from you and others maybe he will come around.
If he recovers ---- the next fight may be getting him to be real serious about regular check-ups (more than the normal once a year - I’m talking once every couple months) and cluing his MD into anything odd he feels or that happens. Long story real short — my Dad had a bad post-op infection and a couple follow-up surgeries to correct the issues. He seemed recovered and went into his usual “next time I get sick I’ll see the doctor” routine. He died from a heart condition brought on by the infection that maybe could have been treated if he had seen the doctor say a month or two after he was “better”. This level of infection follow-up isn’t just a good idea – it can be a lifesaver.