Not again!

If you're a reader who's been with me since the very beginning, you may remember the saga of the leg injury that was caused by a 2-liter bottle.

(Back in 2007, a 2-liter bottle fell from the top shelf of the fridge and gouged against my leg.  It landed cap-first and created a really bad bruise that refused to heal.  I ended up in the emergency room with cellulitis a few days afterward.)

The whole saga can be read here, if you have time to kill.  (Scroll down).

The reason I'm bringing it up is because it's sort of happening all over again.

This time it didn't happen because of a bottle; it happened because I accidentally had my leg in the way when I was slamming my car door.  The metal corner on the bottom of the door scraped deeply against my leg and made a big bad bruise/gouge.

Ironically, it's about an inch away from the scar left by the previous injury.

It happened on Monday, May 20th, which is also odd because the bottle injury also happened on the 20th day of the month.  (April 20th, 2007).

I keep having deja vu because the bruise is doing almost the same thing as before.  I don't have good circulation in my legs, so wounds don't heal very well.  The bruise (and the wound in the center of it) is getting redder and more painful, plus it might be swelling up.

I went to the doctor's office this morning, only to find that he closed up early for the Memorial Day weekend.  He won't be back til Tuesday.

In the meantime, I'm doing the rest/elevation/cold-compress thing.

Sigh.  I'll keep you posted.

Five months already

Today is the five-month anniversary of my freaky leg injury, which happened last April when a 2-liter bottle fell on me. It was a full bottle, and it happened to fall from the top shelf of the fridge, turning itself over on the way down. It dug into my leg cap-side first, causing a painful and ugly injury that refused to heal and eventually turned into full-blown cellulitis.
Most of my regular readers are familiar with the whole saga, but just in case you're new, you can read the whole thread here. The first post is on April 20th, so start there and work your way forward.
I'd love to say that the leg is completely healed by now, but it still has just a teensy way to go. Can you believe it, FIVE MONTHS, and still not completely healed. Almost, though.
Maybe next month.

Thoughts regarding various body parts

1) My left leg is numb a lot when I sit at the computer. I think it's jealous of something. I always tell it I'll pay attention to it later, but no, it has to pout and go all numb on me. Stupid leg.

2) My right leg is ALMOST all healed from the bottle incident that occurred over four months ago.

3) There is currently a green highlighter placed in between my boobs. Just for the next three minutes or so.

4) Why are my left knee (and left elbow) always drier and scratchier than my right knee (and right elbow)? I always have to use more lotion on that side. Why am I such a moisture-symmetry-challenged person?

5) My left ring finger has a permanent dent in it, from the hematite rings I wear all the time.

6) The green highlighter is now back in my desk drawer.
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Three months already...

Today marks the three month anniversary of the day I injured my leg.
Yes, that was WAY back on April 20th, can you believe it?
Here's the whole saga of posts where I've mentioned it...
And it STILL isn't completely healed.
It's continuously getting better, though... I think.
It's just veeeeerrryyyy slow.
The worst part is over; all that horrible cellulitis stuff, the pain, the having to go to the hospital...
Currently the wound is about half the size of a kidney bean. The surrounding area itches sometimes but it doesn't hurt.
I wish it would heal faster. Three months seems like an unbelievably long time.
I know slow-healing wounds are a warning sign of diabetes, but I've been tested for that, and the tests always come back fine.
I was going to post a picture, but decided not to gross you out.
Maybe next time.
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Just cover my entire body in bubble wrap

I really need to stop hurting myself with falling objects.
A few minutes ago in the bathroom I dropped a full bottle of shower gel right on my left foot... right on my toes.
Oh, it didn't break them or anything, but it sure did hurt.
It would be nice if I could wait for one wound to heal before I go and create another.
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Leg Update

(Don't read if you're eating or squeamish)
I haven't really posted an update on my leg lately, so for any of you who are curious, here's the latest: It's not healed all the way, but the wound has shrunk down to the size of a Cheerio. The surrounding area is still discolored, and the discoloration is an oval about 10x4 inches. (That's the part that was previously so red and swollen and painful when it was infected with cellulitis) It doesn't hurt at all now, though. It hasn't hurt for a LONG time. And the skin lightens a little each day. I may always have a scar, but I think eventually my leg will be 99% back to its previous questionable glory. I do still have to bandage it, because it still drains a lot of fluid. Any bandaid I put on it gets soaked in an hour or two. That'll stop when the wound finally closes up, though.
Part of the problem is that my legs are always swollen and edemic this time of year. I retain fluid in my legs really badly. It's yet another reason why I hate summer. So all that fluid has nowhere else to go, and it kinda drips out the big hole in my leg.
Ew. That was gross. Sorry for the mental image there.
Go back to thinking about flowers and kittens and rainbows.

Now, who wants a bowl of Cheerios?
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My leg must really hate me by now

Last night I went to Mom's house for dinner. We had the most delicious tacos on the planet.
But I accidentally dropped a plate... and since Mom uses REAL plates (unlike my conviction to stick with disposable ones), the plate shattered. And some of it hit my leg.
My bad leg. About four inches above the infamous soda-bottle wound. (Which still hasn't healed completely, by the way).
It didn't even hurt, and I didn't even notice it at first because there wasn't really a big gash, just a nick...
Then after I picked up the broken bits of plate and threw them away, I felt something dripping down my leg. I looked down and there was blood!
Mom handed me a paper towel and said "Here, wipe your DNA on this."
(See where I get my quirkiness from?)

Farewell to my I.V.

Today was my last day of IV antibiotics at the hospital!
My arms/wrists are now completely bare! No more needles or IV's or anything!
All gone! All done!
I still have about a week's worth of the Cipro, which I have to take twice a day.
Today the leg was more red and swollen than yesterday, but the ER people didn't seem too alarmed by it, so I won't worry.
I'll just keep doing what I'm supposed to do...

Completely unrelated thought: I am now craving lemon sherbet with blueberry preserves on top.
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La la la la la la la!!!!

That's me, singing, because I've lost my mind.
No, actually it's me, singing, because I just got back from the hospital and they saw how miserable I was, so they took the IV out of my wrist!!
Yay! Relief! Sweet, sweet relief!
They were able to find a much better spot, further up on my arm. Usually my veins are notoriously hard to find, but there was a terrific nursing student named Melanie who found one right away! First time! Effortlessly! Yay for Melanie! You go, girl!
So now I still have to have the IV in til tomorrow, but it's not a big deal now. It doesn't hurt at all in its current location. And thank goodness, now I can move my wrist and be ambidextrous again!
The leg is definitely improving, BTW. It doesn't LOOK much better, but it certainly feels a lot better. The swelling has gone down, and the "pressure" has greatly diminished. The flare-ups don't happen very often at all now.
I am feeling better! Lalalalalala!
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Sharing my wisdom

Wrist. Sore. Poke. Stab. Ouch. Constant.
One more day one more day one more day and I can get this thing taken out of my wrist vein. Onemoreday.
Infatuated newsprint hobbies virtually decapitate eyebrow holders if bald goldfish perpetually cruelly ignore Janna. I can tell the difference, don't think I don't notice. There used to be daily luscious connectivity demonstrations of warm oxygen bonding but now there is blankness and glacial occipital separation ostinato which sears noticeably into unsheathed neurons much like a cattle brand that says "Eat At Joe's." After all, Joe has been dead for years.

Mr. Fab doesn't like lemurs anymore. But he does like pepper jack cheese.

If I had balls, I bet they would itch.

Bonus lesson: If you can only pull your pants down one-handed, which takes awhile, and you're on antibiotics which give you diarrhea, whatever you do, don't try to fart. Trust me on this.

This isn't pretty, folks

I see purple anthropological hairspray zombies trailing blindly through the zeitgeist....
Oooh, and they're in alphabetical order...
But I can't take pictures of them until I decipher the aluminum magpie orchestration...
There is no time for baguettes!
Also, today I learned that if you have to pee really bad but can only pull your pants down with one hand (due to an IV being in the other wrist), you will probably not win the race against time. Especially since antibiotics also cause diarrhea.
Dammit.

Pardon me as I drift further into insanity

I HATE having this I.V stuck into my wrist vein 24 hours a day. I can feel it in there whenever I move my arm at all, and it is driving me crazy. It has to be in there four whole F***ing days. (Wed-Thurs-Fri-Sat.).
I. Can. Feel. It.
Acghh! Take it out! Take it out! I'll tell you whatever you want to know, just take it out!!! Resplendent ovarian quiche habitat in a regurgitated omnivorous spherical zephyr! Anticlimactic burglarized quarterly vaseline triplets masquerading as triglyceride hoofbeats! Fear the philanthropic antique jello meridian!

Another day, another hospital bracelet

I just got back from the hospital. I spent the whole evening there.
My leg has developed full-blown cellulitis and is badly infected.
I laid in the E.R. for a few hours while they gave me an I.V. of antibiotics. (something called Rocephin). I have to return for the next three days to get three more doses of antibiotics pumped into me.
They left the I.V. needle thing in my wrist and bandaged up my arm to immobilize it, so when I return each day, they just have to unwrap me, IV me, and wrap me back up. (Plus I'm on oral antibiotics again too).
They couldn't find a good vein in my arm, so they had to stick me right in the middle of my wrist. This hurt like hell, and still doesn't feel very good when I make the mistake of moving my wrist, because of course that thing is still jammed in there.
Here's how I knew my leg was making a turn for the worse: the wound had been slowly healing down to the size of a dime. But it's now the size of a 50-cent piece. The red area around it had been the size of a bagel. But it's now larger than a CD. And it hurts worse. My leg has swollen and is full of fluid, which sometimes drains out and drips. (I know, that's gross, sorry). There's an awful feeling of pressure.
I realized this afternoon that it was not going to get better on its own, no matter how much tea-tree oil I used.
So I made the dreaded journey back to the hospital.
And I'm glad I did. I really feel like crap. As I was laying there in the ER, it dawned on me how lousy I felt, and I realized that the hospital was exactly where I needed to be at that moment.

This whole thing has turned into such a saga that I've given it its own LABEL, so you can revisit the whole storyline if you want.

One other thing: While I was there, they did a blood test to see if I was diabetic. I'm not. So there's good news, at least.
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Tea Tree Oil

Tonight at band, I showed my leg wound to our director. He and his wife highly recommended tea tree oil as a healing antiseptic. They even gave me a partial bottle they had. I've got it soaking on the wound right now.
I smell like.... like a swamp full of Lipton tea in the middle of a greenhouse. Weird.

It is soothing, though. I wasn't expecting that. It's taken away a significant amount of the discomfort I was having. I'm impressed.

(1) Here's one article about tea tree oil's benefits as an antiseptic for wounds.
(2) Here's another. (This one's from the Mayo Clinic!)
(3) And another.
(4) And one more.

I'd like to give it the benefit of the doubt.
We'll see how things look in the morning.
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Leg Update

For anyone who still cares... LOL:
I'm now down to a regular-size band-aid for the wound. I had been using those giant ones that are about the size of the palm of my hand, but now I can get away with the smaller ones (the kind that you'd put on your finger).
The red area is still pretty big (about the circumference of a bagel), and sometimes for no discernible reason it will start hurting a lot. When those "flare-ups" happen, I generally have to stop what I'm doing, because there's no way I can concentrate through it.
But at least the part that needs bandaging is getting smaller. It's maybe the size of a dime.
I'll be glad when the whole thing is gone for good.
When the hospital said it'd take a long time to heal, they weren't kidding!
It's been over two weeks now!!
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For anyone who still cares about the leg thing

I forgot to update everyone on the leg situation in my last post, so I'll just give a quick update right now for anyone who's curious:
It's healing v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y. The hospital said to expect that, though, so I'm not worried.
I joked to a friend that the pace of my healing makes glaciers look like hummingbird wings.
I still have to change the bandages at least twice a day.
Sometimes my leg starts feeling really hot for no apparent reason, like I have a fever there. Weird.
I'm still taking the antibiotics; I was given 7 days worth. I'll be done with them on Thursday.
The muscles (or whatever) around my shin are still sore; it hurts to move my foot around.
But I expect I will be ok. At this point it hurts MUCH less than a migraine. And it's not constant pain anymore, just occasional. Usually right after I change the bandages, it hurts like an S.O.B. for awhile. Or if I accidentally brush it up against something.
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Thirteen things I did NOT do in the waiting room at the hospital yesterday:

1) Point at empty chair and say "For crying out loud, are YOU here AGAIN??"
2) Ask strangers to dance with me.
3) Play Twister "solitaire" on the floor (with an invisible mat, of course)
4) Point at complete stranger and shout "YOU'RE the reason it burns when I pee!!"
5) Ask the nearest doctor if we can all send out for pizza
6) Turn to male stranger and say "I have a ballerina costume that might fit you."
7) Stare at nearest child and say "You know they have needles a foot long in there, right?"
8) Re-enact three random TV commercials... over and over and over...
9) Suddenly look shocked and say "Oh, NO; I've forgotten how to conjugate Russian verbs!!"
10) See how many old magazines I can fit into my bra
11) Make up limericks about amoebic dysentery *
12) Yodel
13) Shake head sadly and mutter "I KNEW I shouldn't have stuck that avocado in there."

*There once was a patient named Sherri
Who always had bad dysentery
Sometimes for a laugh
She would spray all the staff
And their laundry became rather scary
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You can't get rid of me that easily...

Ok, everyone. I just got back from the hospital.
This morning I finally gave up and went to Urgent Care.
Except the triage nurse looked at my leg and sent me to the emergency department instead. (She said it was "Just in case there's a clot").
So I signed in and got my sexy little hospital bracelet (see picture).
Then I waited.
The doctor came in and cleaned out the wound, saying it looks like I have a "hematoma". (Note to self: Google "hematoma" to find out what the hell it means).
The wound isn't the kind that needs stitches, because it's not a clean slice with two distinct edges. When the bottle hit me, it gouged out a "J" shaped layer of flesh, and it hit me really hard. The doctor says it looks like the deeper layers of tissue have been damaged. So it will have to heal from the inside out. I was told this will probably take a few weeks to fully heal.
To fight the infection, I've been given a prescription for antibiotics (Keflex), which I'm supposed to take four times a day for the next week. (see picture).
They reassured me that the wound IS healing; it's just doing so really slowly, because of the deeper damage. I got instructions on how to take care of it, and hopefully things will be just fine as time progresses.
So we can all breathe a sigh of relief.
UPDATE: I Googled "hematoma". It's pretty much a fancy way of describing a bad bruise. Here's the Wikipedia article on it.
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Leg

(Note: First go read the previous post, including the update at the end)

I used Neosporin on the leg last night.
Actually got a full night's sleep. Felt like crap.
Woke up this morning and found the bandage soaked.
It's been 4 days now, and the wound looks worse than day #1.
And it hurts.
I don't HAVE a doctor. I haven't had a doctor in about two years. He moved away.
If the Neosporin hasn't helped in another day or two, I'll take it to the "urgent care" section of the hospital. Or "prompt care", or whatever they call it nowadays. I'll get treated like cattle but hopefully someone there can help me.
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Various things from the life of Janna

1) I was tempted to post a picture of my leg wound, with a title that said "Does this look infected to you?" It's been three days since the incident, and it doesn't seem to be healing. It still bleeds a lot and soaks through the bandages. And it still hurts. Shouldn't it be, you know, healing at least a little bit by now? Should I be worried here?

2) This weekend I will be visiting Lee and Morgen for a few days, from Friday to Monday morning. I might be able to post something from Morgen's store on Friday afternoon, but other than that, you guys are going to have to live without me that whole time! (Please don't do anything drastic. It would be cool if you missed me, though).

3) Here's a cute picture of Honeynut taking a nap today.

UPDATE: The leg is definitely infected. The bleeding has stopped, but it still looks pretty bad. I don't feel so great, guys. This afternoon I changed my bandages and was so exhausted I laid down for "just a moment". I woke up three hours later! I don't seem to have any Neosporin in the house, so I'm making a trip to the store right now to buy some. I'll also need to buy more bandages, since I've used up a lot of what I bought the other day.
I am still amazed that a 2-liter bottle can wreak this much havoc.
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