Abscess Time

     Recovering from an abscess,  not a pleasant experience anywhere,  this one took unpleasant to new heights! The abscess was at the base of my testicles. Yes, the base of my testicles. I'll wait for the guys to finish squirming and the women  chortling, he said testicles. ok, the doctor thinks it was an irritation from the catheter tub, the constant rubbing. In 24 hours it went from the size of a grape to the size of a lemon. The doctor velcro'd my ankles into stirrups, the nurse held "things" out of the way, and the cutting began. The incision was large enough that the doctor stuck his finger in the hole to clean it out,  he and the nurse will definitely be getting Christmas cards next year, that's how close we are now. Now we have weeks of packing the wound, trips to the doctor's office,  good thing is I don't need to stay in bed.

No Abscess, No Bed Rest

     Had my wound care appointment yesterday, to say I was stressed would be an understatement! Got there, assumed my favorite position, rear end exposed and up in the air. The nurse started to probe, is it here? Here? Here? I had to explain that as she moved laterally on my body the less feeling I had, so as she moved out towards my hip I wasn’t aware she was touching me. It’s strange, to be at a doctor because you are having pain in an area you can’t feel. Most of my body is that way, dead feeling except along the midline. Because of this the search became a visual one. They rubbed, the pulled, they probed, nothing except for the one spot I was complaining about. Turns out it was all coming from a tiny irritated tag mole! No abscess, no sore, no long term bed rest. I am going to enjoy the victory while I can.

Doctor Week, My Permobil is in the Shop

     Busy week on tap for me, starts off with the wheelchair dude coming today. He won’t be fixing here, he’s picking it up and dropping off a loaner. Good news is I will be able to incline, taking some of the pressure off of my butt. Wednesday I go to the wound care center about said butt, hoping for the best with that, don’t want to go through another debridement. For those of you that don’t know what that is, they open the wound, use a surgical rasp to clean out the bad tissue. It only hurts for a few minutes, it’s the packing it with medicated strips and the bed rest I dread. Friday takes me to the neurourogist, see if I need to increase the number of times I use the catheter. Right now it’s 3-4, but I don’t think it will stay there, I’m guessing it will go up to 5-6? I feel at times like a leper, waiting for the next body part to fall off, we should start a pool!

Busted Permobil Wheelchair

     I’m supposed to incline in my wheelchair every 20 minutes for a period of 2 minutes, a real drag, but it prevents pressure sores on my buttocks, something I want to avoid at all costs. Problem is the actuator motor that controls the one function has gone up, waiting on parts. Second problem is what do I do in the interim? Standing for 2 minutes isn’t an option, do I transfer to bed? I had an abscess once before, was in bed for 2 months, I fear if I end up there again I may never get out. Keep your fingers crossed it doesn’t take too long for the parts!

Stuck In Bed With A Sore Butt, Got A New Set Of Wheels

     Long time no see, I know. I find myself with more time on my hands than I know what to do with, and that's saying something, considering how bored I am normally. I find myself in bed, have been here for the last three weeks. I developed an abscess on my rear, just what I needed! The doctor at the wound care clinic thinks it is just one of those things, not caused by pressure from sitting in the wheelchair all day. Not much of a difference, I still find myself laid up in bed.

   About a year ago I received a new wheelchair, state of the art, and a piece of garbage! It was a quantum heavy duty by Jazzy, tilt, all the bells and whistles. In the first three months I had it, four of the motors went up. I threw a royal hissy fit and the company took it back. I went with a new company, figured it would just be a matter of ordering a new one, right? Nope, I had to start the whole process over from scratch. Finally I got the new one, a Permobil M3000, so far so good, except I flipped it over going top speed on the sidewalk. That story is for another day.