Pressure sore turned into cellulitis very quickly

[Barb]

C has had an ankle pressure sore for around a year now. The thing will not heal! So, Thursday night we were getting ready for bed and he takes his socks off and I look down and the whole area under his socks is bright red, inflammed, hot and obviously infected. I fought the urge to take him to the ER (didn't want to traumatize him anymore than he already is) and drew on it, dressed it with bactroban, and watched it throughout the night. In the am it wasn't worse or better. We went to the pediatrician who sent us over to the orthopedic for xrays. They decided to put him on both clindamycin and bactrim for 14 days. He is responding well to the antibiotics so far...if he doesn't we will have to be admitted for IV antiobitics. UGH, why is it always the little things that flare up into monsters?

[kali]

hugggsss barb, I know what that scare ,feels like, my son has had an ankle pressure sore for around a year also. hugggssss it will be ok! I am also worried about my sons baby toe, it doesnt look normal to me almost as if it is out of the socket. Ive been told that there is no way to put a baby toe in a cast?????? it just needs to be wrapped up and watched carefully. I get this sense of dread everytime I look at it. even the way his sock is put on has to be watched becasue it can push the toe in a weird position. well, huggss to you my friend!

[Dodger67]

Tape the little toe to the one next to it. That would hold the injured joint steady so that it can heal and make putting a sock on a lot easier.

I once nearly died when a "trivial" rash in my groin turned into Fournier's Gangrene. The anaesthetist for my emergency surgery said I was probably less than an hour from death when they started the operation to clean out the infection.

[Barb]

I once nearly died when a "trivial" rash in my groin turned into Fournier's Gangrene. The anaesthetist for my emergency surgery said I was probably less than an hour from death when they started the operation to clean out the infection.

That is just so scary how fast it can happen. And I don't know about all of you but I am so 'trained' to watch for the big things, shunt failure and such that a 'little' thing like this is hard to realize how deadly it can be. BTW--it is determined now that it is a staph infection. He couldn't have got it at the last hospital stay though as that was almost a month ago.

[kali]

sounds scary! now that they nknow what is wrong things will be treated!!! hugggsss barb
can my sons baby toe turn gangarene? I have tried taping his toe but his feet sweat when hes in braces by the time I pull of the braces the tape has come undone. but I watch his toe like a hawk! wow Dodger waht a scary thing to go through you were very lucky to pull through such an experience...hugggsss

[Barb]

It is almost completely cleared at this point. He responded great to the antibiotics. Two days ago he couldn't get them down but we pushed through and he is back to being OK taking them.

Ever feel like life with SB is some see-saw??? Up and down, up and down :p

[Dodger67]

Fournier's Gangrene = healthy to dead in 12 hours or even less!
Google it - it is seriously scary!

[mommy2cnj]

Dunno if this will be of any use to anyone, but I read Kali's post about the sweaty feet. My youngest had this problem to the extreme. Her feet were drenched after an hour, and it was so difficult to decide what to do....keep her in braces shoes so she can walk, take her out of them every so often and then she forgets she's not in them and she walks without them, arghhh!! Anyhoo, she ended up having athlete's fEEt. We'd no more get it cleared up (and take a breath) and she'd get it again, 2 days later. Ongoing battle! I finally took her to pediatrician after doing the spray, powder spray, powder, making sure toes are dry, buying new shoes with more breathing available, etc.
At first, the Doc was ready to write it off, saying there's really nothing more you can do except keep on keeping on with what you've been doing. BIGGER arghhh!! On the way out the door, I happened to mention that her feet are completely pruned within an hour....BINGO! He wrote an Rx for Hypercare Solution (Rx only at this point). He said it's like an anti-perspirant, but stronger. Said I could try using an everyday anti-perspirant, but odds are, it wouldn't help...not strong enough. I had to put it on the feet 3 nights at bedtime for a week; then go down to once a week. Since, we've had absolutely no trouble with athlete's fEEt.

I also wanted to ask about the pressure sore(s) on the feet. I've only ever dealt with one pressure sore (and that was on the hind'er area). Do they get scaly (Or perhaps I should say could they)? Just wondering. Thanks in advance.

[StrictNon-Conformist]

Ok, now you've got me wondering about whether there's a connection: is it more common for those with nerve damage as a result of SB to have temperature regulation/sweating problems with their feet? I ask this, because while there may be other things that account for it, I do note I have feet that tend to keep warm rather more readily than most, and sweat. How much of that is from what cause, I'm not sure, but I could post photos of me standing in sandals, without socks, on an ice rink, where I'd been standing and talking for well over an hour, and my feet were suitably comfortable, while I heard someone else on the ice (Bellevue, WA where it doesn't get real cold, usually, and natives that don't go in the mountains are probably wimpy when it comes to cold) say, "I think I've got frost bite!" which to me was a real exaggeration :D But, my point is, as long as they're dry, I'm fine with sandals without socks down to probably readily 20-25F and my feet will adapt, and too much warmer, I'll definitely sweat. Fortunately, my feet don't get to the prune stage, and are nowhere near that bad :)

Dunno if this will be of any use to anyone, but I read Kali's post about the sweaty feet. My youngest had this problem to the extreme. Her feet were drenched after an hour, and it was so difficult to decide what to do....keep her in braces shoes so she can walk, take her out of them every so often and then she forgets she's not in them and she walks without them, arghhh!! Anyhoo, she ended up having athlete's fEEt. We'd no more get it cleared up (and take a breath) and she'd get it again, 2 days later. Ongoing battle! I finally took her to pediatrician after doing the spray, powder spray, powder, making sure toes are dry, buying new shoes with more breathing available, etc.
At first, the Doc was ready to write it off, saying there's really nothing more you can do except keep on keeping on with what you've been doing. BIGGER arghhh!! On the way out the door, I happened to mention that her feet are completely pruned within an hour....BINGO! He wrote an Rx for Hypercare Solution (Rx only at this point). He said it's like an anti-perspirant, but stronger. Said I could try using an everyday anti-perspirant, but odds are, it wouldn't help...not strong enough. I had to put it on the feet 3 nights at bedtime for a week; then go down to once a week. Since, we've had absolutely no trouble with athlete's fEEt.

I also wanted to ask about the pressure sore(s) on the feet. I've only ever dealt with one pressure sore (and that was on the hind'er area). Do they get scaly (Or perhaps I should say could they)? Just wondering. Thanks in advance.

[Dodger67]

My feet absolutely never ever sweat.
They are always bone dry no matter what the temperature.
I have to use lotion to keep the skin from being too scaly.
My 10 year old sneakers still smell only of fabric, plastic, etc. as if nobody has ever worn them. (Shoes easily get to be 10 or more years old if one is a non-walker.)

[stub20]

I would just like to say although it may have cleared up, i would still keep an eye on it. I had pressure sores since 1999, and the infection has recently got so bad that I had my leg amputated last year.

[Barb]

You were right to say to keep an eye on it. That nasty little resilient bugger came back yesterday in a fury. The scary thing is that it didn't even have an open wound. It had been festering in the tissue. Waiting for more blood results to come back to make sure it isn't into the bone but he is doing 4 bactrim and 3 clyndamicin a day. Poor kids tummy is going to be a huge mess here soon.:puke:

[technovicki]

pressure sores suck!!! i get so tired of dealing with them as often as i do, especially when it 'benches' me from being active. i mainly get the same one in the same place, left heel. it use to be the side of my left ankle too but a modification to my brace finally cleared it up but now its trying to find a way to offset the pressure directly on the heel. my left leg is shorter and i use a lift in my shoe but that can only help so much. i have been hospitalized twice for IV antibiotics. i try to keep my regular podiatrist appointments and get in right away when i notice something building up underneath the skin. its really tough when you have no feeling. in some ways its good but then i walk all day and when i take off my braces and shoes its a bloody mess. and with no feeling its easy to walk around on it. i currently have one now and i have the 'ok' to continue to bike riding but to must limit walking which is really hard.

until i read some of the recent posts about amputation i never really thought about it. ive had some close calls before when they take x-rays to make sure it hasn't gotten to the bone. as much as i hate spending 3 days in the hospital for antibiotic treatments it sometimes the best choice in order to make sure you its healed...it was the first time i ever met of doctor of infectious diseases...and i have OCD so its tough!

i even have a good story about this orthotics company in my area but its too long of a story. in short there are some great people who try to find the right solution. since i have to pay the entire amount (thank goodness my job offers for flex spending up to $5,000) for each brace i make sure and so do they i get something that works. we were really close on getting a brace for the left side and i was soooo excited and it worked for about 6-8 mos and now im back trying to see what they can do and now my right one has been difficult which in past never has been (going to another orthotics place just for that side after almost a year of this other company trying to tweak it). FORTUNATELY and UNFORTUNATELY i am so tough on my braces that they can't make them too stiff/hard because i need to flex them but at the same time that flexing breaks them down quicker...very frustrating. as a kid i broke my braces in half twice...kicking a football and jumping off a tree...and until recently i actually broke the inner carbon in one of my braces...arrgghh...sorry for long post but at least i can vent about this and some people will actually know what i am going through.

[BrinaRad]

My experience is that when i had my pressure sore that ended up in amputation is that i always got up and active sooner then the doctor said i could. At the time it started i was 17. At that point in my life i smoked and drank. I know now that the cigs played a big role in poor healing. But i did have times of abstinence in between. I developed staph on 2 seperate occasions before amputation. Since amputation i had a abscess inside the skin flare up on my stump out of nowhere. The Dr. opened it right up, cleaned it out, and sent me home with a pic line to do IV antibiotics for 3 weeks. <knocking on wood> Been free of serious wounds for quite awhile. The best advice i learned was to follow docs orders and stay down as long as needed

[Dodger67]

You broke the carbon composite structure of one of your braces? Wow you really are hard on them! Is there a university with an engineering department near you?
I sometimes dispair at the lack of "cold hard science" in the design of many of the tools we use to get around.
Way back in the early 1980's when I was a teen I completely smashed two "super strong yet lightweight" wheelchairs within a couple of months. The manufacturer went out of business soon after!

[Barb]

t was the first time i ever met of doctor of infectious diseases...and i have OCD so its tough!


Yeah, we are waiting to hear back from the infectious disease team.


Way back in the early 1980's when I was a teen I completely smashed two "super strong yet lightweight" wheelchairs within a couple of months. The manufacturer went out of business soon after!
C has broken 4 carbon fiber spokes from his titanium chair. When he walked, he would smash through the plastic afo's, I found an old pair when we were moving held together with duct tape. I agree, we (or our insurance companies) pay $1000's of dollars for this type of equipment, they should really be making more advances in orthotics. Chairs have come along way, just even in the last 10 years but there are still more things to be done.

[cutie patooties mom]

My daughter has Chiarri II malformation and I was told that this makes the body's temperature regulator go wonky. Her normal temp is 99.4 and when she gets a fever it spikes very high, like in the 105's.

[cutie patooties mom]

My daughter has Chiarri II malformation and I was told that this makes the body's temperature regulator go wonky. Her normal temp is 99.4 and when she gets a fever it spikes very high, like in the 105's.

Sorry! :sign0007:I don't think I know how to post yet. I put this message in quick reply and it went under a different thread. So, I redid it here.