Oh orright!
In 2007 whilst rock fishing over in the west, I slipped & skinned my right knee virtually down to the bone. First Dr I saw, of Asian extraction & wearing a mask, just slapped some cream on it then covered with a band aid. Few days later the leg was a bit hot & puffy so went to the local hospital where they did various scans & other tests & came to the conclusion that it was cellulitus caused by an infection. Copious quantities of antibiotics over the ensuing week sorted that little bastard out just fine.
So, roll on 6 years or thereabouts & on the evening of the 18th I started shivering, then would get hot, then back to shivering so climbed into the sack around 9pm. A very uncomfortable night with a pain running from the inside of the right knee up into the groin & made itself very evident each time I moved it. Next morning the leg was looking a bit better even though the pain in the upper thigh was still evident.
We took Dot & George up to our friends Rob/Bob & Lyn (Bobk on this forum) who reside NW of Adelaide, for lunch. By this time the leg again felt a bit puffy & hot to the touch - but the penny hadn't dropped yet - & by the time we arrived there the leg was definitely swollen from knee to ankle & & showing a fairly good image of crimson colour!! Dot rang her Dr's surgery in Mr Barker & managed to get me in for a 3:15 appointment - which necessitated a short lunch with Bob & Lyn - sorry guys.
The Dr was thinking cellulitus but also said it could be DVT (clot)! First things first - down to the hospital for an Ultra Sound... now that was fun. The front of my shin area from knee to ankle was so tight it was extremely sensitive to touch - & therefore extremely painful when so touched. So imagine me absolute delight when the young lady doing the U/S was pressing the gizmo she ran up & down my leg - courtesy of a gel application & pressing very hard on that gizmo whilst she grabbed the calf & squeezed that as well. I literally had tears welling on the edges of my eyelids. She didn't get the results she was looking for so had one of her compatriots come to assist. The original lady did her thing with the gizmo again but harder this time whilst her compatriot used both hands to squeeze my calf.
Holy snappin' duck shit!!
I'm surprised I didn't leave hand prints on the edge of the table I was sitting on!
Anyway it turned out the there was no DVT so treatment for the cellulitus was commence via a drip... to be done twice a day for two days.
Unfortunately the first IV drip did not take place until 1730/5:30pm so by the time we got back to D&G's place it had been a relatively long 9 hour day!! But they didn't complain once - naturally realising that its a fairly decent walk from Mt Barker to Strath!!
As we had another appointment with the Dr at 1000 the next morning, today, we decided to attend the hospital again at 0900 when the casualty nurse started, for my second IV. Arrived at 0845 & sat in the waiting room till 0915, then approached the service desk to enquire if the nurse was on duty... she used the PA system to call for said nurse whilst we returned to the waiting area. By 0930, realizing that there was now no chance of the IV being completed in time - 30 mins - for our Dr's appointment - we left to return afterwards.
Dr appointment went well, he was quite satisfied to see the difference in the leg - swelling had reduced considerably & the red area also reduced in size, also the pain from knee to groin almost completely gone. Gave me a script for some strong antibiotics - the same variety as the IV - but in tablet form to be taken for 4 times a day for 4 days commencing 12 hours after the last IV.
Two more IV's to go & all, hopefully will be well again.
Definitely owe Dot a big thanks for getting me into her Dr's surgery on such short notice as the Dr said if it had gone on for another 24 hours then all sorts of shit could have happened from festering to ulcers & worse, but most of all a massive drop in this blokes good looks, charm & personality!
So I'm here to confirm that shit does happen - it's just the depth that varies - & I jumped in the deeep end.