Same Song, Second Verse

I'm reminded of a refrain we sang at summer camp when singing some songs:

Same song, second verse

A little bit louder, a little bit worse

::Sigh:: Here we go again. Or, more accurately, here I go again. A little over 13 months after the last diabetic foot ulcer healed, I have more. My second toe is full of them and there's one on my lower leg. It started with just one on the toe less than three weeks ago. They are infected and the doctor at the wound clinic wanted me to go to the ER to get the toe amputated. I said no, I will die before I allow that. Now, before anyone gets hyper at me, my refusal to have it amputated saved my big toe the last time. Had I allowed that and then this one, I'd be down two toes (including the balance toe) side by side on the same foot. How do you walk minus those two toes?

So, here I am on IV antibiotics again. Now, that isn't a big deal in and of itself - I can do them myself at home - everything is delivered and it's very easy. The hard part is getting the IV in, as my veins hide. I go to a nursing place called St. Elizabeth for dressing change and IV care. They jabbed me six times with no luck, then they sent me to Urgent Care at one of the two hospitals in the nearest city. I was there four hours, a lot of it spent waiting in triage, then in the waiting room. A nurse wrapped my arms in heated blankets and got me on the first jab. I stayed to run the infusion, which I had with me as St. E asks you to bring it with you when getting the IV done.

While I was doing that, the doctor came in and talked to me. She said "I get the impression that if I look at it and recommend amputation, you will say no. Yep, you got that right, doc. She still wanted to see it. She didn't say a lot, but I could tell she wasn't happy with what she saw. She looked at my leg and said that is infected. The wound care doc at the clinic I go to for foot care said it wasn't just the day before, but to be fair, a nurse there told me the last time that these things can turn on a dime in diabetics.

Urgent Care did not have extension tubing for the IV so I had to find a way to do two more daily infusions before my next appt. for dressing change. My landlady had said to call her if I needed anything ( I have a WONDERFUL landlord/landlady couple), so I called and asked if she would do it. She came over and I talked her through flushing it, that went well. But, when she went to hook up the infusion, she wasn't holding the port still and I could feel pressure on it. The infusion hurt like hell which indicates it's out of place. I called St. E and they said stop the infusion and come in. I later discovered that I forgot to clamp it off after my l/l took it off and it ran out onto my carpet. Ooops.

Sure enough, it was out of place but I had better luck than the day before - it only took 3 jabs to get it in. It was a cold day so I'd worn my very heavy knit sweater/jacket that a friend made for me. I also took a blanket intending to use it if needed - even though it wasn't heated, it still might work. The nurse taped it up like she was sending a package through the mail! The order is for 10 days, but I'm sure the doctor will extend it if the infection is not cleared up.

It's really too bad I don't have a needle/IV fetish! I don't mind either, though and could fit IVs into my medical fetish BUT I'd rather not have them for real needs!

PS before anyone mentions PICC line, it has not been suggested this time around and the last time, the infectious disease specialist I saw said it wasn't appropriate (I presume the course of antibiotics wasn't long enough).