And the Staph Goes On....
and on and on, apparently. Mind you, I am willing to admit that I am one of those people who never seems to catch much of anything, who has a high pain tolerance and who's never spent much time recovering from anything. I am, indeed, the genetic descendant of my farming Swiss-German peasant forbearers on the health front, which means I have generally enjoyed good health most of my life. I am willing to concede that I am probably not a very patient patient when it comes to something that will take a spell for full recovery.
Soooo.....imagine my frustration levels every time I look at my still swollen lower abdomen, which is still oozing disgusting amounts of pus and which also has about 18" of packing in that little incision. It's not that I don't see some progress. I do. It's not that I don't feel better at all. I do. It's just that having been a generally healthy person all my damn life and after four days of antibiotics, I expect to feel like doing friggin' cartwheels and seeing something that is clearly healing and not hovering in a state of "is it getting better or not???" It is a question of expectations, you see. And I am not sure what to expect from an abscess that was softball-sized. And I'm frustrated by it.
I have a dr. appt. tomorrow for some more follow up care, which means prodding the incision to remove and replace the packing in there. Yuck. I do sorta thank God that I have not been plagued by stinky bacteria; the only scent from the wound is actually quite medicinal and probably from the packing. I am going to ask for an excuse from work for the rest of the week, possibly through Monday. I could not possibly have done my job today. If I don't feel significantly better by Weds., I still won't be able to do my job. This is a major source of frustration for me because I've NEVER had anything that kept me from being able to do my job for a week or more. It is uncharted territory for me. However, I also know that pushing my body to do more than it is capable of is a fool's errand. It will serve no one in the long run to try to shortcut my recovery and healing, and the fact is that without a rather dramatic improvement on the healing front, I am not capable of running pretty much at full bore on my feet for 7 1/2-8 hrs. right now, and probably won't be for the rest of the week.
And one more thing. The claim that paper tape doesn't hurt is a lie. It does too hurt when you have to change a dressing 5-6 times a day on the tender skin of your lower abdomen. One shudders to think what the other kinds of tape would feel like. Probably wouldn't have any skin left at all with those.
Soooo.....imagine my frustration levels every time I look at my still swollen lower abdomen, which is still oozing disgusting amounts of pus and which also has about 18" of packing in that little incision. It's not that I don't see some progress. I do. It's not that I don't feel better at all. I do. It's just that having been a generally healthy person all my damn life and after four days of antibiotics, I expect to feel like doing friggin' cartwheels and seeing something that is clearly healing and not hovering in a state of "is it getting better or not???" It is a question of expectations, you see. And I am not sure what to expect from an abscess that was softball-sized. And I'm frustrated by it.
I have a dr. appt. tomorrow for some more follow up care, which means prodding the incision to remove and replace the packing in there. Yuck. I do sorta thank God that I have not been plagued by stinky bacteria; the only scent from the wound is actually quite medicinal and probably from the packing. I am going to ask for an excuse from work for the rest of the week, possibly through Monday. I could not possibly have done my job today. If I don't feel significantly better by Weds., I still won't be able to do my job. This is a major source of frustration for me because I've NEVER had anything that kept me from being able to do my job for a week or more. It is uncharted territory for me. However, I also know that pushing my body to do more than it is capable of is a fool's errand. It will serve no one in the long run to try to shortcut my recovery and healing, and the fact is that without a rather dramatic improvement on the healing front, I am not capable of running pretty much at full bore on my feet for 7 1/2-8 hrs. right now, and probably won't be for the rest of the week.
And one more thing. The claim that paper tape doesn't hurt is a lie. It does too hurt when you have to change a dressing 5-6 times a day on the tender skin of your lower abdomen. One shudders to think what the other kinds of tape would feel like. Probably wouldn't have any skin left at all with those.
posted by Mel at 6:11 PM
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