Irina’s Surgery – March 5/7, 2013

[Doodles]

Irina--
I'm so sorry to hear about this. I truly hope and pray things are going to improve for you very soon. Janet

[JuliaAnn]

Oh Irina, so sorry to hear of your complications. They sound dreadful. I will pray that whatever caused it is fixed effectively. Rest well. I'm praying for you.

[jrnyc]

so sorry to hear of the complications...
shocked that it wasn't clear what was happening on initial Xray.
i am so sorry you are going thru this...
i hope the antibiotics knock the infections out of you and that
you do not need to be on them as long as they are predicting...

thoughts and prayers for your recovery...

jess

[titaniumed]

Irina

I am so sorry about these complications...

Try not to worry, the antibiotics will do their job and you will be fine.

My thoughts are with you...

Ed

[golfnut]

Irina,
I am so sorry to read about your complications. I hope everything will soon be resolved soon so that you can get home and continue with your recovery.

[maggie6]

[QUOTE=Irina;148134]I am at a local hospital with a few complications - huge hematoma and blood / urine infection. I developed severe abdominal pain the day of discharge from UCSF. They did x-rays that only showed gas. They told me it's a bad constipation and sent me home next day. At home, my abdominal pain was getting worse to the point that I simply screamed.

We called 911and were taken to the nearest ER. The docs there did x-rays and ct-scans of my belly and found an enormous hematoma. On Tuesday I had another surgery, where they removed FOUR liters of blood from my belly. If that's not enough, I developed an infection in my blood and urine. Infectious disease doctor told me they will put me on antibiotics thru IV for several weeks and then I'd have to take antibiotics orally for months and possibly years. I am worried about hardware infection, but doctors here tell me that there is no real way of knowing if hardware was infected.

Any experience with infections? No need to say that I'm worried.[/QUOTe
This is terrible news. Have you spoke with your surgeon who operated. Maybe he can give you more information. I am going to keep you in my prayers.

[Irina]

Thank you all for prayers and good wishes. I am feeling better and they transferred me from ICU to a regular room. I took my first shower today and it felt like heaven. They will probably keep me in the hospital over the weekend because I am still very weak and they monitor my heart all the time. I never had cardio problems, but after this ordeal I had high heart rate that concerned doctors.

[babyboomer16]

Prayers~~~

Irna, I am praying for you that the antibiotics heal you fast and you can concentrate on your spinal surgery. I am so sorry to hear you had to go through such an ordeal. We all know how hard it is to recover from these huge surgeries without any problems. Accept my prayers for your body to heal soon! Warmly, Linda

[maggie6]

Glad to hear you will be going home soon. Keep us posted on your recovery.

[jrnyc]

Irina, i hope the wkend is uneventful and you can get some strength
back....and i hope you will be able to go home soon...
maybe with an IV catheter or long line for the antibiotics...?

feel better...
jess

[Irina]

I'd have a long term IV for home care.

[Irina]

so sorry to hear of the complications...
shocked that it wasn't clear what was happening on initial Xray.
i am so sorry you are going thru this...
i hope the antibiotics knock the infections out of you and that
you do not need to be on them as long as they are predicting...

thoughts and prayers for your recovery...

jess

Initial x-rays did not show anything, but ct-scans did. UCSF only did x-rays, but no abdominal ct-scans. It was a local hospital that we all here look down at, who did both abdominal x-rays and ct-scans. Local hospital also said that x-rays did not show anything and they wanted to do ct-scans. CT-scans showed hematoma and they were able to diagnose me within minutes.

I don't want to sound negative and will stop here.

[jrnyc]

i am so sorry this wasn't caught sooner...
amazes me what medical professionals overlook...
i know humans and dogs are very different....
but the need for more radiology shouldn't be rocket science...
my dog suffered for a YEAR because the vet did X rays but did not do an ultra sound, needed to be able to see that something was wrong with
poor puppy's prostate...apparently, X rays do not show everything that
other kinds of radiology show...
you kindly do not want to be negative...i will do it for you...
no one...not 2 legged or 4...should suffer needlessly because some stupid
medical doctor who should know better fails to be thorough in searching for
the cause of pain and suffering! thank goodness that little hospital did
what was needed...

i hope you get better steadily and rapidly and that the antibiotics do their
job....i was on antibiotics with an IV cath for a long time for Lyme...it took
many changes of medications, but i finally improved...
i hope things go faster for you...
feel better....

jess....and Sparky, the wonder puppy

[Irina]

I am home finally after spending 18 days in the hospitals. I have a picc line and home care nurse administered antibiotics today. My husband will be doing it from now on. He just has to connect bags and hoses, no poking involved. Last day of antibiotics thru IV is April 2. After that, per infectious decease doctor, I'd be on oral antibiotics somewhere between 6 and 12 months, depending on how my body takes it. Then I would have follow ups with three doctors - orthopedic surgeon, cardio-vascular surgeon who removed my hematoma and infectious decease doctor, who will be my friend for a long time. I am feeling better and getting stronger. If it were not for complications, I would say that my back and leg pain are not that bad.

[Confusedmom]

Irina,

I'm so sorry you are going through this--but glad to hear you are home and on the mend!! What do they think caused the hematoma? Will your spine doc check the hardware for infection at some point?

Your situation is rare, but there have been a few others on this forum who have had IV antibiotics due to various kinds of post-op infections. They have all seemed to recover and heal--just takes a little longer getting started. You were in good health pre-op, so I'm sure you will be doing much better soon. My thoughts and prayers are with you!!

Evelyn