I Ducked Good

So as I sat soaking in Hibiclens in the tub yesterday morning, I had this feeling of being called out for a Command Performance.

I really couldn't think of a reason to go back to the ID doc's office so soon except for that smoke signal effect.

Well, that's all right. We're all only human.

But on the other hand, I did something I almost never do any more: I was 15 minutes late.

The appointment was for 10:15 not 10:30.

Ooops.

When I got there, the waiting room was empty. The office wasn't hugely staffed either. Very quiet all around, almost deserted.

I asked if I had a minute to go back downstairs to lock my car. --Sure, go ahead.

Scootered down, did the deed, scootered back up.

And waited.

I called Walter on my cell phone. We talked and talked. Just after I hung up the phone, D came for me. She's the ID doc's medical assistant and I really enjoy visiting with her.

Good thing too. Cause we had some time to do that.

D has been with her guy for five years now, and off and on for two years before that. Now he's getting really serious about getting married. And she had kind of gotten off that track and more focused on her career and so forth, and time went by like it does...and SHE had wanted to be the one who said, HEY, guy, come ON now, time to do it RIGHT!!! we get MARRIED!, and all that.

Instead it's him, not her. And just about every day now he's saying the B word, as in, Babies.

HMMMM.

She says it's making her a little nervous. But she seems pleased, too. And it sounds to me like a man taking that kind of interest is bound to be a very good father.

This conversation came about because we were talking about Walter, she'd asked how he was doing. See, when I saw her on Monday, Walter was still in his triple bypass surgery. She said she was thinking about what it would be like to suddenly be alone, if her man unexpectedly died, and how you have to change everything about your life, your sense of security gone, the person you always turn to isn't there any more.

I told her I found out Walter had not one but two heart stops on Tuesday. One was nine seconds. He doesn't know how long the other one lasted.

For nine seconds he was dead.

We thought about that for a while. And we are both way glad we have our guys still with us.

Then we talked about MRSA, and finally the doc came by.

That was a little after 11 am.

She did seem just a tiny bit...steamed. Very quietly so.

--Why wouldn't he biopsy?

--He felt it was too dangerous.

--Dangerous? I don't think this is MRSA.

--Oh! he's absolutely convinced.

(slight pause)

--It looks better already. Are you on antibiotics?

--Yes.

--How much?

--He asked me how much you usually prescribed, and I told him 100mg BIC. Is that right?

--Yes. (slightly mollified, perhaps?)

--But you don't need it for 30 days. 10 days then stop. All I ever prescribe is 10-14 days for MRSA.

--Okay. Just out of curiosity, could you explain the different times to me? I mean, are you concerned about keeping me from getting sensitized?

--No no no. That's all I ever do. The eight months, before? That was because of the other infection in your arm, that looked like a mycobacteria.

--Okay. And I have no doubt it was an infection of some sort, culture or no, because it was only after you did that that the lumps stopped spreading. Before, they were both growing and making more lumps, and they only stopped and then reversed after you did the long-term minocycline. They seem to be pretty much gone now.--

I told her I was going to try to decolonize again, too.

So...I think what I saw today was this: Ever so gently, we drew our little lines in the sand. Made sure each of us knew where the other one stood. Tacitly agreed to disagree and move on.

*Whew.*

While I had to pay another $30 copay unexpectedly, OTOH she said I didn't need to come back for this one, so my appointment on the 18th with her is cancelled, and it's a wash.

Yay!

Now I have a prescription for a month of minocycline, and a doc who says I don't need to take it all. My feeling is it's safer to take it for longer. That's always been true for me anyway, I've needed longer antibiotic courses than other folks since at least my early teens.

I'll probably take all but a few day's worth. There are certain meds I have no qualms about hoarding any more. Silvadene, minocycline, the topical numbing agents like lidocaine and cetacaine I use on the skinless blistered places in my mouth. I'd run out of my stash of minocycline and I'll be glad to have a bit in reserve once again.

MRSA or no, it was clearly a bacterial infection: it had all the signs, and it's responding fast to antibiotics. The little points of contention between the two docs - me in the middle, keeping my head low - are not relevant to me. I simply don't care about that aspect of it: my goal is to clear this infection.

So yeah. I'm a happy camper on the infection front today.