today my wife saved my life
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
Today I learned that I have a dangerous infection.
On Saturday I found a small ingrown hair on my arm. I scratched it and forgot it. Until Sunday morning when I found a small lump there. I ignored it.
By Monday afternoon I was in a skin-care clinic with a large red patch and a small tough spot. They gave me antibiotics and calamine lotion and sent me on my way. By Wednesday night, the medicine was finished, and the area had developed a large lump. Also, the red patch had become quite tough and now extended from just above my elbow to my wrist. The small hole in the center was somewhat larger, and the skin had taken on a discoloured look. I decided that the infection was putting up a damn good fight, but expected the antibiotics to come out on top; I know that with these modern delivery systems you get three days of pills but it takes a week to take full effect. I slept on it. Or tried, anyway, during the night the pain was pretty bad.
On Thursday I worked through increasing pain and a disturbing hot and tingly sensation in much of my arm. By Thursday night the centre of the troubled area looked was as you see it below. I did not go to a clinic at that time because I'd had a meeting until past 17:00 and frankly I wasn't feeling entirely horrible.
Not to say that it hadn't been bad. Wednesday night had been really bad. I could barely use my arm at some points. And Thursday night was much the same, if not worse. In fact, the swelling at that point completely changed the shape of my arm. With the larger size and tougher nature, it was like I had muscles.
And a heroin problem.
I warned you
On Thursday night I could barely sleep. I had to keep the arm up at all times. Also I was feeling just a tad shaky, maybe a bit feverish. The pain was bad, too. This morning I vowed that I'd get back to a hospital and find out what was going on. At this point the thing looked like this:
I f'n warned you
I dropped Kenny off a little later than usual because my wonky arm was slowing me down. Then I cycled over to the NTT hospital in Gotanda, but I just couldn't convince anyone that I wanted to pay the ¥5,250 fee for showing up without a referral. They sent me cycling back to the clinic I'd been to on Monday by Shinagawa station.
But the clinic was closed for Obon.
I decided, "I'm going home."
But it was at that time that my wife called to see how things were going. She told me to try another hospital, the one in Mita we went to when we learned that she was pregnant with Kenny. It's a fine hospital, and I'm glad she sent me there. Because she possibly saved me from a serious system-wide staph infection.
I got to the hospital at around 10:45 and waited for quite some time. The doctor, when I finally saw him around noon, took one look and asked "Why did you let this go so long? Why endure the pain?" He went on to explain that I had a deep infection in the fatty stuff under the skin that was imperiling the nerves and stood a chance of not only spreading widely under my skin but into the meat and possibly the blood. And he made the decision to perform an initial surgery.
So he stuck me with a local anesthetic and began to carve into the hard, swollen tissue. There was less fluid leaking out than he expected, so he began to use some strong tongs to squeeze the infected area. It felt damn weird and not a little painful. Then he took a narrow pair of pliers and began to pull off the dead tissue. I don't know what it looks like because he covered it with a (quickly sodden) bandage, but I do know that it's not closed because he wants to perform the same routine tomorrow. And possibly on Monday and Tuesday as well.
After leaving the surgery I went to have a strong dose of antibiotics via IV. For some reason it took three nurses and five attempts to get it right, adding to my already uneven mood. By this time I'd blown through a meeting I'd had planned with someone who needs some web work done, and I hadn't eaten.
But the waiting was just beginning. With it being Obon and the clinics closed, the hospital was packed and the pharmacy was worse. I didn't hit the road until 16:00!
But all's well that ends well. I expect I might pick up a scar or two from this incident, and there might be some hair loss. But it's on the road to being fixed.
Three good things that happened today:
1. I lived!
2. The surgery, while grim, was not terrible
3. The wait, while interminable, is over (heh heh heh)