Wednesday, April 06, 2011

In which we get a little bit biological

Warning: For those who don't like dealing with certain realities of the human body, you may want to skip this one.

So, regular readers (if I have any left after the general lack of posting over the last year or two) should know I broke a leg last year. And while it's generally improving, it's still not 100%. One minor issue that persisted but didn't seem a major issue was a little bit of scar tissue on the front of the leg that stayed red and inflamed while the other scars settled down quickly.

About a month ago, this inflamed scar got a bit more inflamed, and a few days later (last warning squeamish types) stuff started oozing out of it. Now I'm no doctor, but this is not a good sign. So, I went to a doctor, and he said it was probably an infection, took a swab of the ooze, gave me some antibiotics and sent me on my way.

At first the antibiotics seemed to be having an effect, and the amount of stuff coming out reduced, but it didn't stop entirely. So as the antibiotics were about to run out, I went back to the doctor. Here it gets interesting. Apparently the swap of the ooze he took showed no sign of any infection. So, to try and find out what was causing this he ordered some more tests.

So off I went and got an x-ray and some blood tests. These also came back negative, so the mystery deepened. Also, occasionally some blood had started coming out with the other stuff. Next on the test cycle was an ultrasound of the leg, to try and find where the fluid is coming from. The ultrasound guy says he thinks it's an infection, and recommended an MRI (not sure if I can get a MRI with the metal in my leg). Also, the GPs decided to pass the buck a bit and have referred me back to the hospital, where I have an appointment on Friday. Also, for good measure, I got a tetanus shot, just to be safe (probably just as well as I haven't had one in over a decade (almost two in fact)).

So, on Friday I'm off to the hospital, and hopefully they'll be able to work out what's going on there.



1 comment:

Friendless said...

Bone marrow? Brain fluid? Custard? You've got my mind racing!