Count Your Blessings

It's been a while since my last post. I've had a scary experience and thought I'd write about it here. I was recently hospitalized for six days with an aggressive, rapidly growing staph infection that consumed about 75% of my face. Due to the location of the infection, I had to be treated very aggressively also. I've included 4 pictures of what happened to me.

This is Day 1 (Saturday, March 29, 2008). I went to bed on Friday night looking and feeling normal and woke up on Saturday morning with the redness and swelling you see in the picture. I had 101 degree temperature and ached all over like the flu. I went to the doctor on Saturday morning and he sent me immediately to the emergency room. In the emergency room I received a mega dose of anitbiotic, but due to the location of the infection, it was decided to keep me at least overnight. I woke up on Sunday morning like you see below. Still with 101 - 102 temperture and by now my face was really beginning to hurt.The doctor's were pretty baffled by my symptoms and felt certain it was staph, but not convinced entirely. An infectious disease doctor and and ENT doctor were called in to evaluate me. By now, Bob and I were getting a little scared. The doctors kept saying they were concerned it would go into my brain or eyes. I awoke during the night Sunday night and yep, you guessed it . . .
The infection was beginning to go into my eyes!!! My Internist kept telling me not to worry as she was worried enough for both of us. Somehow that didn't give me much comfort!!!! Fortunately, the 3 antibiotics I was receiving kicked in on Monday, March 31st and my fever broke. When I woke up on Tuesday (still in the hospital), I could see lots of improvement.

This was on Tuesday, April 1 (The best April Fool's Day I'd ever had)!!!! Still swollen, but beginning to look like me again!!! I was discharged from the hospital on Thursday night with 10 days of oral antibiotics which they extended for a second 10 days!!! Now I'm almost back to normal. All of the swelling is gone and all of the redness can be covered by makeup!!! I'm very fortunate to have a husband and mother who insisted I go to the doctor and that I was treated so quickly!!!!