Good News, Bad News - But Holding Steady for Now

Well. I made it through the night.

This morning, the *So-Called On-Call* doc finally called back. She apologized for taking so long to return my call. I set aside my feelings over that - for now - and talked to her.

She asked about the progression of the red areas, fever, all the right questions. She said if I thought I could hold out till tomorrow morning, Monday, when I can see Dr C again, it would be a good thing. If not, go straight to the ER.

I wholeheartedly agree with it all. She reminded me that Dr C does pic lines and so forth in her office, if my insurance allows it (I think not, unfortunately). At any rate, going through the doc who understands the idiosyncrasies, and the context, of my health in the big picture means a great deal. If it does become ER time, I'm ready now.

Okay. Here's what went on last night.

Following Walter's excellent advice, I documented the inflamed red areas by taking pix, and also by marking them with a pen - a simple and amazingly helpful technique. That way, you can tell for sure if the inflamed areas are progressing.

The swelling in the foot and ankle was much better, but I think just from the edema. Still, that's always good news.

My temp climbed up to 98.2. Bad news.

I'm keeping the whole leg slathered with Silvadene. Last night, the Silvadene melted. It's a benchmark I follow: it means the temperature in the infected inflamed area is hot enough to melt butter, so to speak. Bad news.

Here's what happened this morning.

The inflamed areas were very slightly larger. Just creeping up a bit, not a big fast flash like they can do. That flash - it's pretty dramatic, you really know when it's happening - anyway, that's what I'm watching for. That's what happened Friday. So far it hasn't happened again. That's good news.

My morning temp was back down to 97.4. Very good news.

The pain was a little lower overall, but locally, it followed the increase in the area of inflammation. On balance, I'll call that slightly good news.

I feel sicker, but not by much. Slightly bad news.

Overall, I'm holding my ground. In this tug-o-war, each side makes little gains and losses throughout the day. That's okay.

My stuff is all more or less packed up now, so if it does that flareup, I'll be ready to go. Having last night in my own bed made all the difference in the world.

Today, I called my neighbors across the street. These are both wonderful people: smart, fun, hard-working, responsible, artistic, and very kind. One has a broken foot. We're *elevator* buddies for the nonce, hanging around with a foot in the air. That's the guy with a degree in landscape architecture, but he never used it professionally. He's a superb artist and photographer and interior designer and oh, just everything.

His partner is also an artistic landscaper, but does high-grade insurance company audits for a living. He's beautifully strong and healthy, and always makes sure to let me know he'll help with any heavy stuff around the house and yard. He's fabulous with plants, and had a sideline commercial greenhouse in Denver for a while. So we have a lot of plant stuff to talk about here - he's doing the plant aspect of their new house, and when you move to the tropics, you have to relearn EVERYTHING you ever thought you knew.

Anyway - I asked him to come over for a few minutes if he could. He did. He helped me rearrange some of the things I had blocking my scooter pathways in the house. He helped me walk my property, so I could check all my babies and see if they were all okay. When the doc called back on Friday I just stopped, dropped everything right in the middle of my cleanup. I know that if worse comes to worst and I have to get admitted, seeing that my little nursery is okay as is will help me stay much calmer about it all.

That's not a small thing. Keeping one's peace of mind intact in situations like this has a measurable impact on healing.

So what my neighbor did for me today was, in context, an important and significant thing. I'm way too shaky to have walked around the house even once all by myself. I am tough and stubborn to a fault, yet I would not have risked it alone.

When we got back inside, he plugged in the scooter for me - it had crapped out on the front porch, and he'd pushed it into the living room - and I sat in my office chair shaking like a leaf.

Body temp back up to 98.2.

So now, I'll rest.

Now I can rest easy.