Here’s the latest update on my situation, for those interested…
On the 10th, I saw Dr. “Q” down at UNMH, and he said he wanted new MRI and CT/PET scans done and for me to bring them in for an appointment they’d scheduled for the 31st of this month.
I told him that, according to my blood work, the infection is no longer active, and he told me to get a new set of MRI and CT/PET scans done, and had his staff make an appointment for me to go back to see him on the 31st. He said that if I wanted him to, he would still be happy to do the surgery, but to think about the option of not having it done now, go home and take antibiotics every day to keep it down, and have an MRI done every three months to make sure it doesn’t go active again.
I got the scans done, and they show that I’ve got one pocket of infection, (basically a cyst,) still in the tissues in my pelvis, but the infection has, (the closest term is,) gone into remission. There’s been no additional destruction of the bone in my pelvis and left thigh from it either.
I’ve thought about it and talked with trusted doctors and nurses, and they’ve advised that I go ahead and get the surgery done now, while the infection isn’t running rampant through my pelvis, and I’ve decided to get it done as soon as possible for several reasons.
1.) The surgery is going to have to be done eventually anyway, and waiting for the infection to become active again is waiting for the surgery to be done on an urgent/emergency basis with my body under greater stress from fighting the infection.
2.) If I do wait, and the infection goes active, it’s likely I won’t notice anything other than becoming extremely drained of energy again. Last time around, it didn’t give me a fever or anything noticeable except for my feeling drained all the time. If this happens, it will do more damage before the surgery even if they knock it back down to a dormant state.
3.) If the infection does become active again, there’s a good chance that it will end up going septic and in such a case, if not treated immediately, I would be dead within three days.
4.) Getting it done now would mean an better recovery for me, both in the healing of the surgical wounds and in having the energy for the rehab I’ll have to go through in order to learn how to do things a little differently without the left leg there. (I don’t know how much it’s passive support helps me with tasks like hauling the wheelchair into the car, bending over to pick things off the floor, use the bathroom, etc., but in at least a few areas, I’ll undoubtedly have to change how I do things pretty drastically in order to be fully independent again.)
Apparently, some sort of family emergency happened with Dr. “Q”, because they cancelled my my 31st appointment and the earliest I can be seen is June 28th. When I called to try to get an earlier appointment, they said Dr. “Q” was gone for three weeks, and he wouldn’t have appointments scheduled if this was an planned absence.
So, I’ve decided to go through with the surgery, but have to wait until June 28th to schedule it, and given that Dr. “Q” is on oncologist and will be backed up on his cancer patients need for pelvic surgeries, I’m expecting that I’ll be waiting awhile after that before I can have the surgery done, possibly a couple of months. Cancer patients who require pelvic surgery will understandably take precedence over my surgery so long as my situation has been stabilized and remains stable.
My lease on my apartment ends in on June 30th, so I’m going to let it go, put my stuff in the storage locker I’ve already go rented, and I become ready to be discharged, start looking for a house to rent, and given the current housing market, I’m guessing there’ll be plenty of folks willing to take my dogs rather than have a second home sitting empty and still having to make payments on it or, worse, facing having to sell that property at a loss or get foreclosed on.
So starting in July, I’ll be officially HOMELESS!!! I wonder if the libs will suddenly like me with that new status! LOL…
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