106 – Real Life Insights: Infection after Surgery
For anyone with a queezy stomach, allow me to warn you about this post. At the risk of getting morbid, I'm including comments on the subject of bone infection, written by different people who have broken legs, again gleaned from the same discussion site referred to earlier:
I had my external fixator taken off and the scars from the pins are still quite pronounced. .. The one in my heel oozed for almost 6 months after removal before a huge lump of something nasty worked its way out.
I had an infection that started when I had my original hardware removed. I had to have surgery to clean it out and end up with three separate admissions plus IV antibiotics for 6 weeks and then oral for another 8. Since breaking my ankle [3 years ago] I have had 8 surgeries to get me on my feet. The last one was in April where the did a bone graft from my knee into the defect on my talus (they had to re-break my ankle to do this. I am finally able to walk almost pain free in almost three years.
I had a clean snap of tibia … probably the most painful thing I have ever experienced! One week in hospital then came home with some sort of superbug infection that took 6 weeks of antibiotics to cure.
I broke my tib and fib in June. [In August] my surgeon found an infection and had surgery to clean the infected site and was sent home to do IV antibiotic for six weeks. Now it’s October and I've just made my appointment to have surgery to take out all of my hardware and have my leg cleaned again. I’m so hoping that once the hardware is out, my leg will heal. It never has healed from the 2nd surgery when they clean it out. It looks awful purple, just yucky.
I had a staph infection in my ankle after a muscle and skin graft, they opened me back up cleaned it out and had a picc line for 6 weeks and oral antibiotics for 3 months.
You need to be super vigilant about infection or you will suffer major setbacks. I busted my femur right above the knee (right side) and am awaiting my 10th surgery. … Here I sit for 22 months NWB (non-weight-bearing) and trying to scrape together enough money to keep the family fed and some semblance of regular life.
As a nurse, I have had patients with an infection lurking for 2-3 years.
Another footnote from me:
What can I say? Coming across comments of this nature from people who have had similar fractures and similar operations as I did, I can only say that I am just so very thankful I haven't experienced any infection whatsoever. Thank God!
next chapter
I had my external fixator taken off and the scars from the pins are still quite pronounced. .. The one in my heel oozed for almost 6 months after removal before a huge lump of something nasty worked its way out.
I had an infection that started when I had my original hardware removed. I had to have surgery to clean it out and end up with three separate admissions plus IV antibiotics for 6 weeks and then oral for another 8. Since breaking my ankle [3 years ago] I have had 8 surgeries to get me on my feet. The last one was in April where the did a bone graft from my knee into the defect on my talus (they had to re-break my ankle to do this. I am finally able to walk almost pain free in almost three years.
I had a clean snap of tibia … probably the most painful thing I have ever experienced! One week in hospital then came home with some sort of superbug infection that took 6 weeks of antibiotics to cure.
I broke my tib and fib in June. [In August] my surgeon found an infection and had surgery to clean the infected site and was sent home to do IV antibiotic for six weeks. Now it’s October and I've just made my appointment to have surgery to take out all of my hardware and have my leg cleaned again. I’m so hoping that once the hardware is out, my leg will heal. It never has healed from the 2nd surgery when they clean it out. It looks awful purple, just yucky.
I had a staph infection in my ankle after a muscle and skin graft, they opened me back up cleaned it out and had a picc line for 6 weeks and oral antibiotics for 3 months.
You need to be super vigilant about infection or you will suffer major setbacks. I busted my femur right above the knee (right side) and am awaiting my 10th surgery. … Here I sit for 22 months NWB (non-weight-bearing) and trying to scrape together enough money to keep the family fed and some semblance of regular life.
As a nurse, I have had patients with an infection lurking for 2-3 years.
Another footnote from me:
What can I say? Coming across comments of this nature from people who have had similar fractures and similar operations as I did, I can only say that I am just so very thankful I haven't experienced any infection whatsoever. Thank God!
next chapter
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