This week I’ve relearned a lesson that I thought I had learned really well by this point in my life – not relax and leave things in the hands of the experts.
A day or two after completing the antibiotics for the skin infection he aquired when he got chicken pox, ds12’s leg started swelling up again. He showed it to me in the evening, and we got an appointment first thing in the morning. The doctor was sufficiently alarmed to get us an appointment with an orthopedist right away – literally, we got pushed to the top of the list of people who had been waiting weeks for an appointment.
I was very grateful we were able to see someone so quickly, since the pediatrician told us if the orthopedist wasn’t available that morning, he’d need to send us to a local hospital with an orthopedist on staff. His concern was that the skin infection – officially called cellulitis – could spread to the joints and lead to arthritis. (If you’re a medical person and that doesn’t quite make sense, keep in mind that this conversation was in Hebrew and included some medical terms I’m not yet familiar with, so I might have missed some nuances or details.)
The orthopedist prescribed a different antibiotic (which I was glad about, since the option had been to give him intravenous antibiotics), and home we went, prescription in hand. We also started giving ds vitamin c at this point, about 8 – 10,000 units that day. The next evening, ds12 showed me his leg – it was now hurting him a lot, and the infection was clearly spreading to his foot from his ankle. (I could tell because the skin was flushed red, and when I put my hand to his foot, it was very hot.) At this point, I wasn’t going to tell myself he had been on antibiotics for a day and a half, and it would probably kick in soon. Because if I was wrong, the consequences could be serious.
This was a little frightening, particularly as I don’t have a strong feeling of trust in the orthopedist that we saw – no doubt he’s competent, but he was very quick and very brusque. I tried to picture what he would say if we returned, and it seemed he would either brush us off and tell us it was nothing (I’m far from a worry wart, and it was clear to me it was definitely something with the potential to turn major in a very short time), or tell us it was an emergency and to get to the hospital. Where they would….I don’t know what, give him more antibiotics??
I decided we would take him to the orthopedist in the morning (if still necessary), and in the meantime, would get more actively involved in the healing process with the hope being we could reduce the infection before morning. So I gave him cream to put on the pox mark, which was swollen tight, along with all the skin around it. A short while later, it started oozing pus – I’m really glad I didn’t see this, since dd15 was there and said it was the second most disgusting thing she’s ever seen in her life (the first was a goat abscess being treated – JB, you know what she was referring to, right?:)).
(Don’t read the following if you’re squeamish.) What was so hard for her to watch was as ds lightly touched the skin next to where the pus was oozing out, a huge amount of thick green pus suddenly burst out, streaked with red. They told me about this a few minutes later, and I was actually happy to hear this news, since I felt some of the infection was being released from the body, hopefully rather than being passed into the bloodstream.
We rinsed the area with hydrogen peroxide, then sprinkled sodium ascorbate (vitamin c) on the wound opening. At the same time, we had been upping his vitamin C intake dramatically – about 30,000 by the time he went to bed. A little later, it started oozing pus again (but not dramatically like before), and we did a hot compress, followed again with hydrogen peroxide and vitamin C. And prayer.
When he woke up, I felt his leg and foot, and the heat was gone. I was so thankful. There was no more pus coming out, and today, we continued with massive doses of vitamin C – 50,000 units – we’ve never experienced a child taking this much without shedding the excess – but it means his body is using it all. He’s continued the hot compress routine. (Of course he’s still taking the antibiotics.)
Tomorrow we’ll continue the vitamin C, but decrease the dosage, and start to put salve on the wound instead of vitamin C to heal the skin and start to close up the wound, which thanks to all this excitement has gotten bigger than the original pox mark. No tests have yet been done to determine what kind of bacteria we’re dealing with, but it seems to be a powerful strain to not have responded fully to the first round of antibiotics, and then to not respond quickly to the second round, even though it was at the very beginning of the infection. I’m mentally prepared that we will probably need to stay on top of this for a few months to be sure it’s really and truly gone; if I’m wrong and it’s easily finished in a week, I’ll be delighted.
When ds12 took the first round of antibiotics, he didn’t do anything else. I mentioned that I wanted him to use the salve I made and take vitamin C, but I didn’t make sure he did it. I guess I was a little complacent, feeling like I had done my part by getting him to the hospital, giving him the prescribed antibiotics, and it would all get better without any more active involvement from me than reminding him daily to take his medicine.
This entire experience was a good reminder for me as a mother to stay very actively involved, even when working with medical professionals. You can’t relax and assume it will all be okay because you’re doing what someone else told you (as nice as it would be to relax a little) – you still have to keep a constant eye on things and watch, watch, watch.
What would a medical professional have told me to do in this circumstance? Not what I did, that’s for sure. But it doesn’t matter – the main thing is that ds12 kicks this infection. And I hope the healing process will continue in a straightforward way from here on out.
Avivah
When my ds had cellulitis on his nose (from acne) he did get IV antibiotics since it was near the brain. This was followed by doxycyclene. I think it was a 10 day dose. A year later it came back! We caught it early, B”H, and he only needed oral antibiotics. There is so much of this stuff out there now, it’s alarming. You’re wise to stay on top of it. Refuah shelemah.
That sounds really scary, Michelle. I’m glad he’s okay now.
You’re right, there really is a lot of this stuff out there now – I don’t remember even ten years ago hearing about a lot of the medical things that now seem to be more common.
I’m just recovering from cellulitis too. Nothing to mess around with! I had it before on tisha b’av in Yerushalyim ten years ago. OY! Refuah shleimah!
Kerith, it’s nice to hear from you! I hope you have a complete and speedy recovery.
We just dealt with a cellulitis here and our MD told us to keep the wound open to help release the pus. He said we should keep the wound moist with anti bacterial cream and a bandage and several (3-4) times a day to soak the wound in hot water and then squeeze the area around it to push out the pus/infection. That is in addition to the antibiotic. It took about a week to make sure everything was out and cleaned up…
This makes me feel good – your doctor said to do just what we did! It’s really good you have a doctor who gives you practical advice – our doctor said nothing. 🙁
i was wondering when my veterinary adventure would come up 🙂 FWIW a good soak in hot salt water (epsom) is good at draining wounds as well. But keep on top of it..Chas vshalom it can develop into a far more serious infection which is very difficult to treat. An appointment with a dermatologist would also be prudent.
LOL, I hope I didn’t disappoint you that there was just a cursory mention of the goat incident! They had a great time at your home, but about the veterinary adventure, they told me that now they understand what it means to literally be ‘sick to your stomach’. 😛
Can you buy Epsom salts here? If so, what are they called? (Just an hour ago I sent a short list to my mother of things I would appreciate if she could get for me – and Epsom was on the list.) Naturally, I had it on hand in the US, and never needed it!
you can buy epsoms here but most places sell the Dead Sea Salts.
Elinor is recovering from her “surgery” and is now being treated for mastitis 🙂 But she just keeps eating cabbage leaves!! “)
Oh wow. I hope he has a refuah sheleima.
We were afraid we’d be dealing with cellulitis on Simchas Torah when we started noticing swelling on my son’s thumb. B”H it didn’t turn out that serious — we lanced it as soon as we got home from shul to drain the pus and I found a tiny black speck inside that I think caused the infection. It took some tears, but I was able to remove it with tweezers, and started applying antibiotic ointment. We watched it carefully, but the red didn’t seem to spread. Had it not been in such an obvious place, I think it would have progressed quite a bit.
My niece was hospitalized last summer for cellulitis; we really didn’t want to go that route!
I’m really amazed at how many people have had personal experience with cellulitis – to me, it was just a murky term that I didn’t know anything about until this experience.
I read recently about a drawing salve that is helpful to get splinters out (and infection), called PRID (I think). After this incident, I’m thinking it would be useful to have something like that on hand, to use as a preventative as well as in the heat of the moment. I think they sell it at Walgreens? Anyway, I added it to the list of things I asked my mother to get for me.
B”H! glad to hear he is doing better, that is scary. Sounds like you did everything right, For serious acute conditions I like to have lipospheric C on hand, it is expensive and I wouldn’t use it for issues that are handled well enough with SA, but for these kinds of things where you want to get the most C in less time. livonlabs.com Also, calcium bentonite (healing clay like livingclayco.com) you can make a paste and then cover it with plastic wrap to keep it moist and change it a few times a day, also clay internally together with SA works great. manuka honey on the wound (I don’t know if you can get this stuff) alternate it with the salves you use or even mix it in together. There is some info on acid/alkaline balance and more acidic being a good environment for bacteria etc; so SA is actually alkalizing and even adding fresh lemon to water a few times a day is good. Refuah Shelaima!!.
Gilla, as always, you’ve taught me something new with your response! I’ve never heard of lipospheric C; thank you for mentioning it and for the link.
I didn’t bring the bentonite clay I had with me, unfortunately, though I thought of using it externally to pull the infection out. I’ve heard of manuka honey, but have no experience with it.
Avivah- what your doctor may have done was open the wound to drain the pus. I think in some situations it’s wise to go to the doctor even if you’re not sure what they will do. One Purim my 5 month old cut his hand on a Gragger and we put antibacterial cream and bandaged it well thinking this is what a dr. would do any way. We guessed wrong (he would have glued it shut) and the scar and guilt is still there.
Maybe he would have, but his leg was already swollen and red when we saw him, and all the doctor did was prescribe antibiotics. Since it was the nighttime, there were no doctors to take him to until the morning, short of going to a hospital in a different city, so between his anticipated reaction, his lack of active suggestion when we got there, and the distance we’d have to go to find someone else to ask, we decided on the route we took.
I was just wondering, how can you tell when the body is flushing excess vit C? I give megadoses with illnesses too, and was wondering how you can tell when to step down the dosage. Thanks!
Diahrrea. 🙂
That’s quite a scare Avivah! I never knew how common this was either. Sending our prayers for a Refuah Shleima!!
Thank you, Miriam!
Wow my Dad and myself are the only people I know who have had cellulitis. Warning, once you have had it once, it likes to come back! I have had it 5 times! I have spent 10 days in hospital with IV antibiotics the first time, then days with antibiotics and getting sick from them another time. High doses of Vit C work. But I have found 2 other things that help. Greatfruit seed extract, from the healthfood. This is very expensive but last like forever and is good for many things. But the best thing is plain cabbage! I couldn’t believe it when someone told me to try it, but it works!! My cellulitis was on my lower leg so I just put the cabbage in my sock, yes raw cabbage. And change it every few hours during the day. At night I just used a fresh piece before I went to sleep. Cleared it up in record time with very little Vit C!!
That’s a really interesting tip about the cabbage, Rachel – thanks for sharing! You know, cabbage is also good for relieving engorgement of new nursing mothers – I wonder if there’s a similar quality that’s responsible in both cases?