6 ms·

My worst nightmare is a catastrophic infection after minor surgery.

by reedf1 3y ago

buggythebug 3y ago
best morningstallion
Pxtl 3y ago
Even a minor infection is scary. I just had my wisdom teeth out and I'm being hyper cautious about masking and sticking to WFH while my mouth is full of swollen wounds, because I know catching a cold would be absolute agony. My co-worker went through catching a bug recovering from same and was out for a few weeks.
- lagniappe 3y ago
  Good luck with your healing! I broke my sternum recently, caught a sneezing cold right after. Sometimes luck has a plan.
eurekin 3y ago
I don't know if it will help, but I had a routine check not that long ago. Turned out I was in the early sick stage. I'll spare you exact details, but each sample put under microscope had clearly visible bacteria. It looks like any infection could spread around the body and it handles it well. By well I mean three days of fever got rid of it
- giarc 3y ago
  Other than urine, blood and CSF fluid, a sample from pretty much any part of the body will have visible bacteria. A Gram stain is performed on many cultures to start to eliminate groups of bacteria.
  - eurekin 3y ago
    It was blood and urine
superkuh 3y ago
Yep. It can go very bad. My father just had a simple (mostly non-invasive) biopsy done and ended up nearly dying and with brain damage due to antibacterial resistant bacterial infection from the minor surgery.
AbraKdabra 3y ago
My time to shine. I had a surgery last January, broken labrum on both hips, left was "ok" and the right was really damaged, still it was an arthroscopic surgery and I could go on with my life 2 weeks after, but... 3 weeks after the surgery my right hip was getting worse, way worse, the pain was like nothing I have ever felt, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't walk, I couldn't even touch my fucking leg that I felt a nuclear bomb going off inside of it. No fever, puncture was ok, nothing that could deemed it as an infection. I was in literal agony, not even the strongest analgesics worked. I did a blood test and the PCR was off the charts, "yup, that's an infection, it's 10 AM, don't eat anything, today at 17hs you go in surgery". I had a toilette done, infection was cleaned off but still I couldn't even move my leg, I lost all the muscle. Fast forward today, I had the worst 7 months of my life, antibiotics for 6 months but wait, there's more... Both infection and the initial cartilage problem evolved into a septic arthritis, last week I went into surgery again to have my hip replaced by a temporary spacer while the biopsy is performed and I will go in again in a month or so to get my definitive prosthesis. For those who want to know, the bacteria was a Pseudomona. So yeah, don't fuck with infections.
- JR1427 3y ago
  I'm really sorry to hear that. That doesn't sound fun at all :(
- nonrepeating 3y ago
  Good Lord, all of that sounds horrible. More power to you for whatever else you face ahead on this.
- fnordpiglet 3y ago
  I am so sorry you are experiencing all this. I sincerely hope things turn a corner and things improve for you. I’ve had my share of horrific trauma related to my health, and it often felt this would never end. Luckily my issues did end, but it does really change your perspective on how fragile and valuable life is, but in some ways it also made me more accepting of death having fully accepted a number a times death was preferable to my situation. I had people that depended on me though so it was more a recognition of the fact. I did find places like HN and other outlets really helpful, little bit sized opportunities to nerd out and connect, that were just small enough that I could keep focus during the worst of things. Good luck.
davidw 3y ago
My grandmother died from a hospital acquired infection after very minor surgery.
bell-cot 3y ago
Oh Lordy, yes. I've not yet lost a friend or family in that specific way...but there have been a number of too-close calls. Seemingly thanks to "top-rated" hospitals - where doctors' fat egos and shiny stuff are far more important than the dreary dull old routines of preventing post-surgical infections.
mytailorisrich 3y ago
In Western countries the place where you are the most likely to catch a disease or infection are hospitals. Especially I think most 'nasty' infections are actually caught in hospitals.
- moffkalast 3y ago
  Getting MRSA seems to be as likely as a coin flip for any bone related operation these days. Being stuck for weeks in an unsanitary recovery ward while there's a metal rod screwed through your skin is a really hilariously bad recipe for disaster with superbugs around.
303uru 3y ago
The worst thing I saw in residency was a case of a 32 year old father of three who came presented with spontaneous pneumothorax. Chest tube was placed and he was admitted, usually no big deal. Next morning the incision was slightly inflamed and he had some pain and mild fever. Later in the day he had follow up with pulmonary and he had black spots on the skin, pus, tachycardia, confusion. He was immediately taken to surgery and necrotizing fasciitis had already spread to his upper arm and a large portion of his chest. Arm and pectoral gone and he was placed into a hyperbaric chamber. 8 hours later no improvement, wheeled back to surgery, chest wall resection, lat removed, infection nearing hip. Back into hyperbaric. 8 hours later no improvement, hip and both legs gone, lobectomy and large section of neck had to be resected. 8 hours later and he was dead. Guy went from healthy, athletic actually, to a head connected to half a torso then dead in a day.
- fatbird 3y ago
  JFC. At no time did the doctors say "we can keeping cutting it away, but who wants to wake up like that?" After the second surgery, was there even a remote chance he'd survive?
  - 303uru 3y ago
    In hindsight the decision is easy, at the time less so. The patient was making informed decisions alongside family but the speed and nature of necrotizing fasciitis make it very difficult. The skin can look largely fine until you begin surgery and find that the infection has spread 12 full inches along the fascia. So you cut that all out, plus some margin and hope for the best. There certainly was a chance he could have lived after the second surgery with a very altered life. And I get that, now that I have children I’d probably chose to live a very rough life just for a chance to watch them grow up. I truly can’t imagine what that man and his family went through in that short period of time. Decision making I slow decline with weeks or months is hard enough.
  - haldujai 3y ago
    It is not up to physicians to decide whether the resulting quality of life reduction and morbidity from heroic interventions is worth it for a patient. If the intervention is unequivocally futile for preserving life it is permitted to not offer care, there are processes in place. While unlikely, it is possible to survive necrotizing fasciitis and multiple debridements. Although it will come with many months of reconstructions, rehabilitation and pain. We are legally and ethically obligated to offer heroic life saving measures if there is a chance of surviving. Quality of life is not a factor in our decision making process. I do not know the exact discussion was had with this patient and their decision maker when incapacitated but it would be extremely unusual for a previously healthy 32 year old to decline heroic interventions, this is also a very rapidly evolving infection where you don’t have much time to think. With that said I’ve also met 80+ year olds who want major surgeries that will leave them significantly impaired and almost certainly fail despite having time to think. At the end of the day patient autonomy supersedes our thoughts and opinions.
matheusmoreira 3y ago
About two years ago I had this unusual appendicitis. There was just nothing that suggested my appendix had burst. By the time I had a CT scan, the appendix no longer existed. My cousin, an experienced surgeon, told me it'd be a quick operation and I'd probably be home in a few days. I spent over 40 days in the hospital due to a severe infection that ate through my abdominal wall and almost reached my skin. One week I was taking seven intravenous antibiotics at once. There was a moment where I became convinced I was going to die.
- abracadaniel 3y ago
  My grandmother on her homestead survived that without antibiotics, apparently because it did breach the skin and was able to drain. Crazy to think that not all that long ago, that was considered lucky for such an infection.
  - matheusmoreira 3y ago
    Yeah. If the abscess had drained, I would have recovered much quicker. It was hidden pretty deep and didn't quite make it to the surface though. They had to bring in a interventional radiologist to perform an ultrasound guided procedure with a ridiculously long probe meant for liver biopsies just to get at the thing.

My worst nightmare is a catastrophic infection after minor surgery.

by reedf1 3y ago

My worst nightmare is a catastrophic infection after minor surgery.

buggythebug 3y ago

best morningstallion

Pxtl 3y ago

Even a minor infection is scary. I just had my wisdom teeth out and I'm being hyper cautious about masking and sticking to WFH while my mouth is full of swollen wounds, because I know catching a cold would be absolute agony. My co-worker went through catching a bug recovering from same and was out for a few weeks.

lagniappe 3y ago
Good luck with your healing! I broke my sternum recently, caught a sneezing cold right after. Sometimes luck has a plan.

eurekin 3y ago

I don't know if it will help, but I had a routine check not that long ago. Turned out I was in the early sick stage. I'll spare you exact details, but each sample put under microscope had clearly visible bacteria. It looks like any infection could spread around the body and it handles it well. By well I mean three days of fever got rid of it

giarc 3y ago
Other than urine, blood and CSF fluid, a sample from pretty much any part of the body will have visible bacteria. A Gram stain is performed on many cultures to start to eliminate groups of bacteria.
- eurekin 3y ago
  It was blood and urine

superkuh 3y ago

Yep. It can go very bad. My father just had a simple (mostly non-invasive) biopsy done and ended up nearly dying and with brain damage due to antibacterial resistant bacterial infection from the minor surgery.

AbraKdabra 3y ago

My time to shine. I had a surgery last January, broken labrum on both hips, left was "ok" and the right was really damaged, still it was an arthroscopic surgery and I could go on with my life 2 weeks after, but... 3 weeks after the surgery my right hip was getting worse, way worse, the pain was like nothing I have ever felt, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't walk, I couldn't even touch my fucking leg that I felt a nuclear bomb going off inside of it. No fever, puncture was ok, nothing that could deemed it as an infection. I was in literal agony, not even the strongest analgesics worked. I did a blood test and the PCR was off the charts, "yup, that's an infection, it's 10 AM, don't eat anything, today at 17hs you go in surgery". I had a toilette done, infection was cleaned off but still I couldn't even move my leg, I lost all the muscle. Fast forward today, I had the worst 7 months of my life, antibiotics for 6 months but wait, there's more... Both infection and the initial cartilage problem evolved into a septic arthritis, last week I went into surgery again to have my hip replaced by a temporary spacer while the biopsy is performed and I will go in again in a month or so to get my definitive prosthesis. For those who want to know, the bacteria was a Pseudomona. So yeah, don't fuck with infections.

JR1427 3y ago
I'm really sorry to hear that. That doesn't sound fun at all :(
nonrepeating 3y ago
Good Lord, all of that sounds horrible. More power to you for whatever else you face ahead on this.
fnordpiglet 3y ago
I am so sorry you are experiencing all this. I sincerely hope things turn a corner and things improve for you. I’ve had my share of horrific trauma related to my health, and it often felt this would never end. Luckily my issues did end, but it does really change your perspective on how fragile and valuable life is, but in some ways it also made me more accepting of death having fully accepted a number a times death was preferable to my situation. I had people that depended on me though so it was more a recognition of the fact. I did find places like HN and other outlets really helpful, little bit sized opportunities to nerd out and connect, that were just small enough that I could keep focus during the worst of things. Good luck.

davidw 3y ago

My grandmother died from a hospital acquired infection after very minor surgery.

bell-cot 3y ago

Oh Lordy, yes. I've not yet lost a friend or family in that specific way...but there have been a number of too-close calls. Seemingly thanks to "top-rated" hospitals - where doctors' fat egos and shiny stuff are far more important than the dreary dull old routines of preventing post-surgical infections.

mytailorisrich 3y ago

In Western countries the place where you are the most likely to catch a disease or infection are hospitals. Especially I think most 'nasty' infections are actually caught in hospitals.

moffkalast 3y ago
Getting MRSA seems to be as likely as a coin flip for any bone related operation these days. Being stuck for weeks in an unsanitary recovery ward while there's a metal rod screwed through your skin is a really hilariously bad recipe for disaster with superbugs around.

303uru 3y ago

The worst thing I saw in residency was a case of a 32 year old father of three who came presented with spontaneous pneumothorax. Chest tube was placed and he was admitted, usually no big deal. Next morning the incision was slightly inflamed and he had some pain and mild fever. Later in the day he had follow up with pulmonary and he had black spots on the skin, pus, tachycardia, confusion. He was immediately taken to surgery and necrotizing fasciitis had already spread to his upper arm and a large portion of his chest. Arm and pectoral gone and he was placed into a hyperbaric chamber. 8 hours later no improvement, wheeled back to surgery, chest wall resection, lat removed, infection nearing hip. Back into hyperbaric. 8 hours later no improvement, hip and both legs gone, lobectomy and large section of neck had to be resected. 8 hours later and he was dead. Guy went from healthy, athletic actually, to a head connected to half a torso then dead in a day.

fatbird 3y ago
JFC. At no time did the doctors say "we can keeping cutting it away, but who wants to wake up like that?" After the second surgery, was there even a remote chance he'd survive?
- 303uru 3y ago
  In hindsight the decision is easy, at the time less so. The patient was making informed decisions alongside family but the speed and nature of necrotizing fasciitis make it very difficult. The skin can look largely fine until you begin surgery and find that the infection has spread 12 full inches along the fascia. So you cut that all out, plus some margin and hope for the best. There certainly was a chance he could have lived after the second surgery with a very altered life. And I get that, now that I have children I’d probably chose to live a very rough life just for a chance to watch them grow up. I truly can’t imagine what that man and his family went through in that short period of time. Decision making I slow decline with weeks or months is hard enough.
- haldujai 3y ago
  It is not up to physicians to decide whether the resulting quality of life reduction and morbidity from heroic interventions is worth it for a patient. If the intervention is unequivocally futile for preserving life it is permitted to not offer care, there are processes in place. While unlikely, it is possible to survive necrotizing fasciitis and multiple debridements. Although it will come with many months of reconstructions, rehabilitation and pain. We are legally and ethically obligated to offer heroic life saving measures if there is a chance of surviving. Quality of life is not a factor in our decision making process. I do not know the exact discussion was had with this patient and their decision maker when incapacitated but it would be extremely unusual for a previously healthy 32 year old to decline heroic interventions, this is also a very rapidly evolving infection where you don’t have much time to think. With that said I’ve also met 80+ year olds who want major surgeries that will leave them significantly impaired and almost certainly fail despite having time to think. At the end of the day patient autonomy supersedes our thoughts and opinions.

matheusmoreira 3y ago

About two years ago I had this unusual appendicitis. There was just nothing that suggested my appendix had burst. By the time I had a CT scan, the appendix no longer existed. My cousin, an experienced surgeon, told me it'd be a quick operation and I'd probably be home in a few days. I spent over 40 days in the hospital due to a severe infection that ate through my abdominal wall and almost reached my skin. One week I was taking seven intravenous antibiotics at once. There was a moment where I became convinced I was going to die.

abracadaniel 3y ago
My grandmother on her homestead survived that without antibiotics, apparently because it did breach the skin and was able to drain. Crazy to think that not all that long ago, that was considered lucky for such an infection.
- matheusmoreira 3y ago
  Yeah. If the abscess had drained, I would have recovered much quicker. It was hidden pretty deep and didn't quite make it to the surface though. They had to bring in a interventional radiologist to perform an ultrasound guided procedure with a ridiculously long probe meant for liver biopsies just to get at the thing.