Post Surgery Infection – Really?

I always love it when people tell me stories that start out with, “You are not gonna believe this shit…” And guess what, guys? I have one of those stories.

Last Friday, I went in for my post-op appointment after having surgery to remove the hardware from my tibia the week before. It was a glorious Friday, and I was in such a great mood! Ready to hear some good news about how well the surgery went, blah blah blah. But, no. It was not meant to be. 

I had a feeling my incision was a little bit infected. Pardon the grossness, but it was starting to get a little oozy, and the area itself was giving me more pain as the days went by rather than less pain. Still, I’d hoped that it was no big deal. I figured, I’ll get some antibiotics and they’ll change the dressing and, lickety split, I’ll be off doing weekendy things. 

Nope. My surgeon actually scowled when he saw my leg. He said “We’re going to have to clean that out,” and I thought, well, okay, I don’t have to be at the kids’ school until after lunch, I have time. Then he said, “When was the last time you had anything to eat?” And it started to dawn on me that he was talking about ANOTHER SURGERY ON MY DANG LEG and WHAT? Evidently, infection after hardware removal is a MUCH bigger deal than I realized, and if the infection gets into the screw holes and infects the bone, it can be devastating. So, my weekend plans were sort of shot, and I ended up in the hospital bright and early on Saturday morning, having yet another surgery!

Thankfully, that surgery went really well – they got all the infection cleaned out and sent me on my merry way with a fat prescription of antibiotics – seriously, 12 pills a day – instead of admitting me and keeping me there for the entire weekend on IV antibiotics, which was what they originally told me was going to happen. I’m sore and a bit sad, but SO happy I got to spend Easter with my family! Figured I’d wrap this up with the same pic as before – me, loaded up on Percocet!

I have faith that this is going to wrap up the saga of Laura’s Stupid Broken Leg. I have to believe! Send me “get well” vibes and good wishes, okay?