Staph blood bacteria sucks!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

It’s been 25 days for me now, and I gotta rant about this. I thought about putting this in The Pit, but didn’t think it was really Pit-worthy.

Have you or someone you know had a blood bacteria? Not fun, right?

I was in the hospital for 10 days, and I was discharged 2 weeks ago. I am fatigued because I’m fighting that bacteria. I feel like an old man. I’m only 63!

Back story:

For me, I started feeling fatigued about a month ago. The fatigue got worse and worse. On 22 July I got in to see my doctor. He recommended that I go to the ER so I went straight there. I was admitted and they ran lots of tests.

The tests also showed that I had a perforated ulcer and had lost a lot of blood internally. In the hospital they gave me 2 units of blood.

They (and I) don’t know how the staph infection got into my bloodstream, but so be it, it did. In the hospital they gave me 3 or 4 different antibiotics (or, abx). My hospital stay was 10 days and on 01 August they discharged me.

I have a picc line in my arm and at home I administer an abx, cefazolin, through that line. Fortunately it’s not a drip IV from a bag, it’s much more convenient, it’s an IV push once every 8 hours. Each push only takes a couple of minutes so it’s not that bad.

Thankfully on Amazon they sell a shower guard for the picc line ➜

With that, it’s easy to shower. The picc line has an extension to make it more convenient for me. I route the extension beneath my watch strap and then I have this sleeve that I put the extension’s end into so it doesn’t flop about. Fortunately Amazon also sells that sleeve ➜

I got it in camouflage color. It’s there, but since it is camouflage you can’t see it (haha).

A nurse comes once a week to change the dressing and to draw blood for lab tests. I’m getting stronger each day. 4 days ago I got outside for the first time in weeks. I’m still fatigued, but getting stronger.

And I just needed to rant. Thanks for obliging me.

So, yeah, staph blood bacteria sucks!

2

Best wishes!

What did they do for the ulcer?

3

Thanks. They gave me an antacid which is allowing the ulcer to heal on its own.

4

Wowsie! Sorry to hear that you’re going through all that. Glad it’s getting better.

5

Ugh. That sounds awful. Best wishes.

(My aunt had a similar problem, but it was treated in the hospital, and had resolved before they discharged her. She nearly died, though.)

6

@PastTense the med they gave me is Protonix. It is working and the internal bleeding has stopped.

7

Thank you @Northern_Piper and @puzzlegal . There is no pain or discomfort, only exhaustion. On a 0-10 scale my strength is about 3. I’m starting to get out and about. Tomorrow my wife and I plan to catch a baseball game. But I move a little slowly, like an old fart.

8

Staph infections are rampant in most hospitals.

Be sure and watch for COVID.

I just got my PICC replaced today.
I caught some shit while I had the new hole drilled in my poor head. It’s not Staph. Thank the stars.
Also, I’m not getting enough nutrients so I’ll get that thru infusion while I’m at dialysis. So no more time in the chair.

Yep, there’s lots of medical stuff on Amazon for our boo-boos. I have about 6 devices to cover for showers. Yep, I’m a Borg.

Good luck. Watch your numbers with the infection. And your white count.
Check for COVID often. You can get home tests free.

And, most of all feel better soon. I’m with you.

9

Thank you. My picc line is replaced every week. I have just under 4 more weeks to go.

10

They wouldn’t tell me how long my has to stay.

I had one for several months one time.

Some are more permanent, I guess.

11

Uff da.

Man. I’m so sorry. I hope your recovery is fast and complete!

12

Thanks. You and me both!

13

Because most stomach ulcers are caused by bacteria, all those antibiotics may have helped it heal too.

Septicemia is NOT fun. You’re lucky it was caught soon enough. Chances are, your resistance was low because you were so anemic.

14

Are you on PPN (partial parenteral nutrition)? I’ve definitely seen that administered along with dialysis.

15

Yes. Off and on.

I struggle getting enough food in to have the calories I need.

16

I’m so sorry, this sounds miserable. I hope you continue to feel stronger.

17

I’m getting stronger, thanks. Yesterday my picc line was removed. Yay! I’m still anemic but my key blood values (Hgb RBC HCT, etc) continue recovering. Currently my strength is about 2/3 of normal.

18

Bullitt, I’m glad you’re getting healthier! I recently had some fading blood levels so can empathize with you to some extent.

19

Thanks Eric. I hope you’re not feeling any ill effects from yours, and I hope your recovery won’t take long.

20

Yay! So happy for the update.

One day at a time.