Back where I’m comfortable

The discharge paperwork finally went through last night and I slept in my own bed. I awoke to find my leg, ankle and foot back to normal size, but looking very sunburned.

Apparently, I had a really bad case of Cellulitus, and not the blood infection previously thought, and not the blood clot they suspected (I was never informed if it was the strep or the staph edition). They were talking about possibly having to remove small bits of me, but I haven’t noticed anything missing. On a side note, the pictures at the link don’t do my case justice. The left calf was at least as big around as my thigh and deep red from the knee to the toes.

So, three days of IV antibiotics (which make you feel like vomiting), Dilaudid, anti-coagulant and bed rest did their trick.

I’m confined to my house, where I’m supposed to keep the leg elevated, until Wednesday at the earliest, and they’d like me to not go back to work until Friday. They’ve given me ten days worth of oral antibiotics and some pills for pain that I didn’t ask for.

As I previously stated, the leg, ankle and foot are back to normal size, but look like I stuck them in a deep fryer. lots of medicated lotion and no socks should take care of the visuals and not kicking too much ass during the oncoming week should keep the swelling down.

Thank you all for the well wishes in the comments and emails. I’ll try to stick around for a while longer and not be so pig ignorant about my own well-being in the future. The ER folks could immediately tell I didn’t want to be admitted to the hospital and whacked me with the Dilaudid with only the quickest explanation of what they were doing so as to keep me from walking out. Once they pulled the needle out they said I was no longer allowed to drive and I most certainly didn’t feel like even getting out of bed, so I finally conceded the point and called the wife to bring me stuff and get the Jeep home.

Being confined to one spot for more than a couple hours is a horrible thing in my little world. The nurses were threatening to strap me to the bed after the second time I got up to use the bathroom, so to say I was feeling like a bit “prisoner-like” wouldn’t be too much of an overstatement. It’s a damn good thing thing they make nurses pretty.

I didn’t even wait for the wife to show up last night to pack up my shit up and hit the linoleum. I told the nurse who insisted that she had to walk me out that I was hoping for some background music to exit to. Something to strut to like Stayin’ Alive by the BeeGees.

Needless to say, I didn’t get any music.

But you do.

Sneakin’ Out the Hospital – Beastie Boys