Nightmare on "Valley" Street!

What a FREAKIN' Nightmare!!

I was reading my last post, which was posted on Monday September 13th. So much has happened since that day...where to begin?

Well, I guess I will begin with my checkup that I had the following day with my Orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Death...or maybe I should call him Dr. Infection. Needless to say, since at the time my incision from my initial hip surgery had STILL not healed completely at this point, he decided the ONLY way to determine why it was not closing and healing was to go in the operating room and reopen the wound and see what he can see...like the bear who went over the mountain obviously!

And what did he see??

The other side of the mount...oh, sorry.

No, he saw a massive infection which had apparently been brewing for some time. As he put it, "it was just the tip of the iceberg." Gee thanks Doc. Like I didn't know there was something wrong after seven weeks of oozing and weeping from my incision. Doesn't take a rocket scientist...but apparently it takes a stupid Orthopedic surgeon to FINALLY get on board.

SO...after my surgery on that Wednesday, September 15, I was admitted to the hospital. I was back on the Ortho Floor...the 9th floor...and was reunited with all the wonderful nurses and aides that I had from my previous stay at the hospital from the initial pinning surgery. They were so great. I was blessed with great nursing staff...again. So there is one silver lining. (Yes, I am still trying to find the silver linings in this cluster-fuck of a situation).

I had three more surgeries while in the hospital. I was FINALLY released after nine days. I have to admit that although the staff at the hospital is excellent and the food is not that bad either for cafeteria food, but staying in the hospital is NOT so much fun...for that amount of time.

So, the prognosis was to have my wound heal with a wound vac machine, which is essentially a vacuum that is attached to my hip (pardon the pun) and continually sucks out all the fluid from my wound to prevent further infection and promote faster healing.

I don't get it. I mean, its the weirdest damn process and it just seems wrong, but who am I to question the genius of the medical community?

So, I have been home now for a while now and am having the visiting home nurses come to my house every other day to rip open the bandages and pull out the sponge that they had previously stuffed into my gaping hole like last years Thanksgiving turkey. Let me just give you an idea of what exactly we are talking about here. I have a hole...and yes I say hole because there is no pussy footing around the fact: it is what it is. So this hole is basically about five inches long, three inches across, and depending on what end we are talking about, about five inches deep...some spots are perhaps a bit deeper.

It's big. It's a hole. And it is on my leg.

In the very beginning the doctor could put his whole fist inside the cavity. Gross thought, but alas, tis too true! Pretty gnarly, eh?

So now I wait. I wait until this stupid thing decides to heal itself. I wait to see if I can eventually have a life again. They say I may have to have this on for a little while...the wound vac. I am hoping that SOON I get to get rid of it and be free again. Then I can go to the mountain and scream, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank GOD almighty; I am free at last!!" That's not too dramatic, right?

I leave you now with hopes and prayers that no one I know will ever have to undergo what I have in the last few weeks/months. It is not that I am blubbering "poor me" but I am proud of myself for how I have been handling the situation. It is not easy, but hey, it is my life!

Wishing you all good health and humor! :)