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+--- Thread: I'm back. It has been a crazy week! (/showthread.php?tid=4287)
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I'm back. It has been a crazy week! - Russ Bellinis - 08-07-2011
I had a biopsy done on my prostate Monday afternoon. I felt pretty good on Tuesday afternoon and had some craft supplies to take to a church camp in the mountains about 90 miles away, so I drove up to the mountains to camp. After less than 1/2 hour at camp, I got chills, fever, and nausea. The camp called 911 and when the paramedics arrived I threw up. I was transported down the mountain to San Bernardino Community Hospital to the e-r. At the e-r my blood pressure fell to 81 over 58. They started an I-V to restore my blood pressure, and I waited in the e-r for a bed to open in icu. Apparently, I had an e-coli infection from the biopsy that the cipro the urologist had prescribed did not touch! I went to icu late Tuesday night and then to the tele unit on Wed. evening after my blood pressure stabilized. Thursday I was taken off of the tele monitors and transferred to a bed on the med-surg floor. I finally was released to come home Sat morning. The nurse on the med surg floor who also is certified to install a PICC line put in a 48 inch catheter in my left arm going through the vein to one of the main veins going into my heart and my wife (an RN) is administering the antibiotic every evening for the next 10 days! Needless to say not what I had planned to do last week! I'm feeling pretty good now except that I didn't get much sleep in the hospital so I'm catching up, but it was a close thing. Fortunately the camp was in session and had a nurse on staff as well as a second nurse who is the wife of the speaker that week, and I got sick up there where my truck is parked and locked in the camp parking lot rather than getting sick on the highway, and having to put my truck in storage until I could retrieve it.
Re: I'm back. It has been a crazy week! - faraway - 08-07-2011
Russ, that sounds scary and serious. We hope you will be fine again soon!
Re: I'm back. It has been a crazy week! - Gary S - 08-07-2011
Sorry that you had the troubles, Russ. I guess your camp experience was pretty much ruined. Here's hopng for a complete and speedy recovery. Glad you are feeling better. The catheter makes me shiver.... :x
Re: I'm back. It has been a crazy week! - Russ Bellinis - 08-07-2011
I'm fine now. My wife administers the antibiotic daily (glad I married a nurse). My only restriction is that I can't lift any weight with my left arm until the catheter is out. Believe me, when I first heard about that catheter I was freaked out as well. Turns out the worst part of it is the shot of lydacaine the nurse used to numb the area where she made the insertion with the needle. She needed me to be awake to move my head as directed to make sure the catheter went down toward the heart and not up my neck toward the brain when she put it in. She used an ultrasound wand to follow the catheter and then before they pull the wire out of the middle, a portable xray machine was brought to my room to make sure it was located correctly. I don't even feel the catheter once it is in place.
Re: I'm back. It has been a crazy week! - cn nutbar - 08-07-2011
Hello Russ---hope you're feeling better.That E-coli is nasty---some of our local hospitals have been having major issues with this illness lately
Re: I'm back. It has been a crazy week! - Ralph - 08-07-2011
Geez Russ! That sounds like a rough expereince! I'm glad you're doing better. I hope the biopsy is negative.
regards,
Ralph
Re: I'm back. It has been a crazy week! - ezdays - 08-07-2011
Wow, glad you made it through, that has to be scary. The biopsy in itself isn't fun, the rest of what you went through is beyond comprehension. Good thing for all those professional people around you, you never know when they'll come in handy to have around, especially when you're married to one.
Good luck and here's wishing you a speedy recovery. Just take it easy.
Re: I'm back. It has been a crazy week! - Green_Elite_Cab - 08-07-2011
First up, I wish you a Speedy recovery and good health!
cn nutbar Wrote:Hello Russ---hope you're feeling better.That E-coli is nasty---some of our local hospitals have been having major issues with this illness lately
Not that i'm a big fan of E. coli, but it is important to remember that only very particular strains of E. Coli are dangerous, and that most others are harmless, or even beneficial (some can save lives). In particular, E. coli O157:H7, which is the enterohemorrhagic strain responsible for the the food poisoning you occasionally hear about on the nightly news.
Russ probably has a more benign strain, which probably just grew out of control. E.coli is literally everywhere. they prefer your colon, but they can be found on anything everywhere even after you nuke it with antibacterial soap if you look. For a lab project, we had to culture cells in a generic lab bench environment (not a "clean" area that is supposed to be free of bacteria). E. coli was so prolific that as soon as it got in, it out competed the animal cells we were culturing for food, and they changed the pH to better suit their needs (killing off our animal cells). however, this is an extreme case since these were just generic caterpillar cells in a flask, your body would normally absolutely devastate any invading E.coli out side of your intestinal tract (where they belong and are beneficial). only in unusual cases do they have a snowball's chance.
These aren't super dangerous, but catheters are classic spots where they can grow if improperly installed (and it is difficult to place them).
One thing that i'm supportive of is using viruses to kill bacteria. Viruses are not living things, rather they are particles that hijack cells to reproduce. they are VERY particular about what cells they infect. For example, in the lab we use T4 Bacteriophages to transfect (genetically modify) E. Coli. They only attack E.coli, and in our case, they are usually modified to deliver a gene.
However, a Wild-type Virus that jug kills the E. Coli would be fantastic. Since they don't attack any other kind of cell, i don't see why we don't just give people the virus as an anti-biotic. Unfortuneately, people are unfamiliar and scared of this sort of technology, but the fear is base out of lack of information.
until then, make sure all your food is cooked well. E.coli and heat don't go together once you go past a few hundred degrees!
Viruses (green) killing an E.coli bacteria
![[Image: M0900071-Coloured_SEM_of_T_bacteriophage...li-SPL.jpg]](http://www.sciencephoto.com/image/249796/large/M0900071-Coloured_SEM_of_T_bacteriophages_attacking_E.coli-SPL.jpg)
Re: I'm back. It has been a crazy week! - Sumpter250 - 08-07-2011
Russ, You're home now so, I guess you'll just have to be a "good patient" now.
No matter how many time you opt to change your list of priorities, remember to keep the #1 spot filled with "Get Well"
See you "back at it" when your health is restored.
Re: I'm back. It has been a crazy week! - cnw1961 - 08-07-2011
Russ, that does not sound crazy, that sounds horrible. Glad that you are feeling better already. Hope you’ll fully recover very soon.
Re: I'm back. It has been a crazy week! - Russ Bellinis - 08-08-2011
I've got 8 more days of I-V antibiotic treatments at home and then they can remove the PICC line. I'm feeling fine except the PICC line is itching and I can't lift any weight with my left arm.
Re: I'm back. It has been a crazy week! - MasonJar - 08-08-2011
Russ,
Best wishes for a speedy recovery! Seems like you've taken it all in stride so far, so it should be a simple feat for you to get back to 100%.
Andrew
Re: I'm back. It has been a crazy week! - steinjr - 08-08-2011
Ouch - sure sounds like a pretty crazy week.
Here is hoping for a swift recovery and that your biopsy is negative!
Stein
Re: I'm back. It has been a crazy week! - tetters - 08-08-2011
Holy Schnikies! That sounds intense! Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.
Re: I'm back. It has been a crazy week! - MountainMan - 08-09-2011
Good to know that you are on the road to recovery after a nasty experience. You were indeed fortunate with your timing. I wish you a speedy recovery and a good result from your biopsy. You might consider finding another urologist, though...