I came home on Wednesday and it’s been healing ever since. The plus side is that I now have access to my laptop again. So, I can try my best to explain what happened and make an actual post.
A little more than two weeks ago, I started feeling fatigued and feverish. Got myself tested and everything came back negative, so it was assumed to be a simple virus. Overnight, I ended up dealing with extreme swelling to the point where I was having trouble walking around. It was a bacterial infection, so I got ultrasounds and medication to get it under control. Things were looking good over the weekend even though the pain and swelling wasn’t going away that quickly. Figured it was just a slow recovery.
Then came the night of Thanksgiving. I felt that things were going wrong with the pain growing. By the time I went to bed, the swelling had come back full force. In the morning, I couldn’t move without nearly collapsing in agony. Hospital was my only choice and that’s where I ended up for about 5 days. Turns out the infection was worse than believed and the meds weren’t doing a dent. It became a full staph infection with abscesses appearing in the infected area. By the end of day one, I was cut into and the wound was packed to allow for draining. My time in the hospital was spent with packing changes and various I.V.’s such as saline, antibiotics and the like. Needless to say, it was difficult to focus on much there.
It was nice to come home, especially since the pain was gone. Just some discomfort and fatigue. I’m still getting wound care though, which means I either go to a place or someone comes to me. The packing gets replaced because they want the wound to heal from the inside out. If it heals on the outside and the abscess remains, I could get infected again. My bed has been set up to protect the sheets, showers are a challenge, and my appetite comes and goes. It’s still better than last week, but I’ve got a long way before I’m back to normal. Can’t even drive myself anywhere, which also means Pokemon Go in the park or mall is out. Might go with my parents and son tomorrow to sit and play. Just to get some fresh air.
I can’t say my time was entirely fruitless. Got a little of ‘Phi Beta Files’ completed. Did a lot of thinking of how to work the last two books, which would have been a great victory if I wasn’t on painkillers at the time. Glimmers of the ideas remain, but I’m going to have figure it all out again. I also managed to get all of the January posts completed, which clears up some time. Not sure if I’ll tackle February yet, but I might do a few when my son is around. Still have a while before I return to work, so I can get some things done.
My hope for Darwin & the Joy Path is that I can get a chapter section done every now and then. I might be able to do one today since I’m just sitting around the house by myself. Come the later weekdays, I hope to do a little morning Pokemon Go at the mall just to start getting my stamina back. Then, I aim to do writing in the afternoon and evening. It’s going to be a challenge only because I can only remain on my desk chair for about 30 minutes at a time before it’s too uncomfortable. Might try to write in the bed, but I can’t use a lap desk. I’ll be happy if I can get the rest of chapter 8 done by the weekend, which might see more completed. Chapter 9 is a bigger one, but I have the following week as well.
That’s really it for now. Clearly, my time and energy is directed more at healing. So, what are my goals?
- Heal.
- Help son study for tests.
- Get some writing done.
- Sleep.
- Work on ‘Phi Beta Files’ when I can’t stay at the desk.
- Short walks for stamina.
- Puzzle time for screen break.
- Get Burger King at some point.
Legends of Windemere 
Having gone through something similar this year, I can truly empathize! Trust me, you need to take it slow for longer than you think to heal up properly. And have any medical personnel come to you. I had to have PT for two weeks toward the end of my time healing. It really helped. Take care of your good self.
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Nurse is coming today and tomorrow to switch out the wound packing. Hoping that can be over after Wednesday. Then I just need to build my strength back up after being stuck in bed for so long. Thankfully no PT for this mess.
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Glad you are on the mend. Take it easy though.
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Thanks.
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So glad you are healing.. Gotta wonder how this stuff gets started.
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It’s just bad luck. Bacteria got inside, meds did nothing, and things reached the point of needing hospitalization. Due to a few symptoms I was lacking, the actual method of me catching this monster is unknown. One doctor kept calling me anomalous.
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Charles, Good thoughts for complete healing. You certainly have gone through a tough time. Yep, bacterial infections are the worst to get over. Last December, I had an Ecoli infection that turned into SIBO (overgrowth of bacteria in small intestines). Antibiotics took care of it so I could have hip replacement surgery 11/14/25. I’m in the slow healing process. PT a lifesaver. I can understand how you feel. Stay strong, you will get better. Christine
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Thankfully, I won’t need PT even though it was really bad. The location will take a few months to fully heal in terms of swelling and redness. All I can do is wait and rest when possible. I’m hoping they’ll let the wound heal up this week so I can take walks and regain my stamina. Get tired very easily, which isn’t good for work.
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Thank goodness you’re all right!
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Slowly recovering.
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Glad you went to the hospital. Sounds like it was really bad.
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It was horrible. Could barely walk due to the pain.
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Do they know what caused the infection? Horrible, Charles. Thank goodness you’re on the mend!
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They don’t know how I got the infection. Only that it was a staph one and pretty nasty. Best guess is that I had a smaller infection, which got worse. Considering the body part, it’s really hard to figure out.
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Wow. Hopefully you’re doing much better.
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I’m improving. Just takes a while for the drainage wound to close. Tired from low activity and meds too.
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That’s good news, and it makes perfect sense. No wonder you’re tired!
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