agingdisgracefully

[agingdisgracefully]

Welp, urgent care put me on my third antibiotic for the month - Clindamycin. Hopefully it doesn't make me too nauseous or worsen my acid reflux too bad. They also instructed me to call the clinic where I see my podiatrist and at least leave a message for my medical team.

I need this to work.

I need a win.

Day 22 - Post Total Nail Avulsion

Well, this hasn't gone entirely as planned.

After the first dressing change, things went......alright. Day 8-9 was the worst, pain flared up and the nail got dramatically darker. Day 10 was an abrupt about-face with subtle improvement, and it's really (mostly) be all uphill since then.

I went to see my podiatrist for a 2 week follow-up on Tuesday. She things it looks like it was healing fine, which was a big relief, and that after 2-3 more days, I wouldn't need to soak and wrap it anymore. I mentioned that the granuloma was still there, so she trimmed it off which, of course, made it bleed like crazy. It still oozes a bit and overnight will look like there's some drainage/blood that wants to collect in the corner of my nail bed, but I'm not terribly worried about that.

HOWEVER, that's where the good news ends.

The podiatrist still wasn't in love with the fact that my toe was still red (keep in mind: it was only red - no pain or pus or heat, as far as I can tell and the redness is confined from the middle knuckle of said toe to the tip), is still certain that it's cellulitis - despite the fact that it hasn't spread outside of the original redness in over a year - and ordered some Azithromycin - two 500mg pills to be taken at the same time for a total of a 1 gram dose. This shit layed me flat out for about 2 - 2.5 hours afterwards with intense nausea - but I was fine when it passed...or so I thought. I saw no improvement in the redness, and then when I woke up this morning (Saturday the 13th), it was even MORE red. There's still no pain, very mild warmth (that I honestly might just be imagining), no oozing or discharge - just the redness. It honestly looks like it did when it actually WAS infected prior to the Total Nail Avulsion. The locations where I see my podiatrist are closed on the weekends, and she's booked out between 3 and 5 weeks anyway; This definitely doesn't feel like it could (or should) wait that long, so I've booked an afternoon appointment at the urgent care. I'm hoping that they'll just want to do another round of the Cephalexin since I had practically no side effects to that one (despite being allergic to penicillin and there being a chance of cross-reactivity).

Whatever they choose, I just need it to hold me over until I can at least get word to the podiatrist on Monday. I don't know if she'll want to do one of the previous antibiotics (fingers crossed it isn't the Z-pack), maybe a new antibiotic (like Clindamycin), or if maybe we will try a topical steroid cream (like the Triamcinolone Acetonide that I already use for my eczema).

I know I need to have my left big toe nail done too, but until we can get the right toe sorted, I don't feel safe proceeding just yet.

#Health #Chronic Illness #Cellulitis #Ingrown Toenail #Ingrown Toenail Removal #Personal #Clindamycin

[agingdisgracefully]

A doctor told me at the beginning of the pandemic that I have Venous Insufficiency - didn't elaborate at all beyond that and telling me to wear compression socks (which he also didn't elaborate on; What strength, my guy? There are multiple types!)

anyone else kinda fucking pissed they have the vaguest diagnosis possible

yeah.. hypermobile spectrum disorder.. so specific..

#Chronic Illness #Health #Medical #Text #Personal

[agingdisgracefully]

Day 22 - Post Total Nail Avulsion

Well, this hasn't gone entirely as planned.

After the first dressing change, things went......alright. Day 8-9 was the worst, pain flared up and the nail got dramatically darker. Day 10 was an abrupt about-face with subtle improvement, and it's really (mostly) be all uphill since then.

I went to see my podiatrist for a 2 week follow-up on Tuesday. She things it looks like it was healing fine, which was a big relief, and that after 2-3 more days, I wouldn't need to soak and wrap it anymore. I mentioned that the granuloma was still there, so she trimmed it off which, of course, made it bleed like crazy. It still oozes a bit and overnight will look like there's some drainage/blood that wants to collect in the corner of my nail bed, but I'm not terribly worried about that.

HOWEVER, that's where the good news ends.

The podiatrist still wasn't in love with the fact that my toe was still red (keep in mind: it was only red - no pain or pus or heat, as far as I can tell and the redness is confined from the middle knuckle of said toe to the tip), is still certain that it's cellulitis - despite the fact that it hasn't spread outside of the original redness in over a year - and ordered some Azithromycin - two 500mg pills to be taken at the same time for a total of a 1 gram dose. This shit layed me flat out for about 2 - 2.5 hours afterwards with intense nausea - but I was fine when it passed...or so I thought. I saw no improvement in the redness, and then when I woke up this morning (Saturday the 13th), it was even MORE red. There's still no pain, very mild warmth (that I honestly might just be imagining), no oozing or discharge - just the redness. It honestly looks like it did when it actually WAS infected prior to the Total Nail Avulsion. The locations where I see my podiatrist are closed on the weekends, and she's booked out between 3 and 5 weeks anyway; This definitely doesn't feel like it could (or should) wait that long, so I've booked an afternoon appointment at the urgent care. I'm hoping that they'll just want to do another round of the Cephalexin since I had practically no side effects to that one (despite being allergic to penicillin and there being a chance of cross-reactivity).

Whatever they choose, I just need it to hold me over until I can at least get word to the podiatrist on Monday. I don't know if she'll want to do one of the previous antibiotics (fingers crossed it isn't the Z-pack), maybe a new antibiotic (like Clindamycin), or if maybe we will try a topical steroid cream (like the Triamcinolone Acetonide that I already use for my eczema).

I know I need to have my left big toe nail done too, but until we can get the right toe sorted, I don't feel safe proceeding just yet.

#Health #Chronic Illness #Ingrown Toenail #Ingrown Toenail Removal #Total Nail Avulsion #Cellulitis #Personal

[agingdisgracefully]

#Chronic Illness #Chronic Chillness #About Me

[agingdisgracefully]

#Chronic Illness #Chronic Chillness #About Me

[agingdisgracefully]

"have you learned how to drive yet" i have the spirit of friendship in my heart. the joy of lifes little things in my soul. the whimsy of magic. the beautiful enjoyment of nature. the answer is no though

#in my defense I DO know how to drive and am licensed #I just hate doing it so much and find it so stressful #that I just avoid it whenever possible #I need to move to a city with better public transportation in place #About Me #Text

[agingdisgracefully]

Day 1 Post-Total Nail Aversion (3-23-2024)

WE GOT THROUGH THE FIRST DRESSING CHANGE, LADS

((GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS BEYOND THE 'READ MORE'; YOU'VE BEEN WARNED))

After spending my first hour if consciousness in a state of panic, I set up shop in the bathroom, gathered my supplies and got to work - though I did take a brief interlude to text my brother and see what he thought re: soaking the nail (he's had a few partial nail avulsions and has a medical background)

The tape and gauze wrap came off with no problem, though I did have a mini-breakdown when I finally peeled enough gauze away to see some blood. There was what can best be described as a hunk of folded up gauze covering the wound that was caked in dried blood.

It very much reminded me of the gauze pads that a dentist would have you bite down on after getting a tooth pulled.

Cue panic. Cue tears. Cue overdramatic bullshit.

I filled my basin with enough lukewarm/room temp water to cover my foot, added a tablespoon of epsom salt, said a prayer, and put my foot in, making sure to swish my foot around every couple minutes.

The majority of the gauze loosened right off and left just a singular layer that I was pretty sure I was going to have to yank off - I think the fuck not. Decided to dump out and refill the basin just like the first time, soaking and swishing my foot for another 10 minutes. It still kind of wanted to stick in one corner, but it came pretty right off with no pain.

For a third (and final) time that day, I refilled the basin with water and now 1.5 tablespoons of epsom salt to do a 15 minute soak, as instructed by the podiatrist. There was some tingling, but like I told my mom "It's not really pain. It feels like my brain can't decide if it stings a bit or itches".

After 15 minutes, I took my foot out of the water - dried the other toes and rest of the foot with a regular towel, tried to dab a bit of the water off of the wound with a piece of regular gauze (not the non-stick) but it was too tender and I was too scared to push beyond a featherlight touch. There was a couple of tiny blood spots on the gauze I dabbed it dry with, but I saw no fresh bleeds so it must have soaked up the blood from the Proud Flesh (pyogenic granuloma) that my demon toe spawned; It doesn't look like the podiatrist removed it, but maybe it will go away on its own now that the source of irritation is gone. Slathered some triple antibiotic ointment (the kind with pain relief) onto the non-stick gauze with a q-tip, made sure it was enough to cover the full nail bed, and wrapped it back up.

Is my wrapping job as good as the podiatrist? No - but it'll do for now.

Gotta do that all over again, once per day for the next 14 days (though honestly I'll probably continue until my follow-up appointment in 2.5 weeks). Hopefully, all of the future dressing changes go as smoothly as this one.

#Ingrown Toenail #Ingrown Toenail Removal #Total Nail Avulsion #Health #Medical #Chronic Illness #Personal

[agingdisgracefully]

Went in hoping the podiatrist would only want to do one side of the nail in a Partial Nail Avulsion

Walked out sans THE ENTIRE FUCKING TOENAIL.

I'm a little bitch about pain, so I was (and still am) fucking terrified, especially after reading the stories of people who rated the numbing injections as a 10 out of 10 pain - even one who went so far as to say her c-section hurt less. The shots truly were not THAT bad; I wouldn't say they were easy or comfortable by any stretch of the word, but the most I'd give it is an 8 out of 10 (and really, only 1 of the 4 injections I received was that bad. The other 3 barely compared to some of the more heinous IV pokes I've received in the ER the last couple of years).

The drive from the doctor's office to our house is like 20 minutes (35, if you factor in that we stopped at Burger King and CVS on the way home) and by the time we got home, the numbing meds were already starting to wear off. I still wasn't in extreme pain, but having always been told that it's easier to PREVENT pain rather than stopping it once it's started, I went ahead and started 1000mg of extra-strength Acetaminophen anyway. The pain was clearly tolerable, as I took a couple hour nap in there while watching some pals stream on Twitch.

The nail is clearly tender (though I still wouldn't classify it as 'painful' necessarily), and I can't really put weight on that foot yet. Luckily, I kept an old pair of crutches in the basement and have been using those to hobble back and forth to the bathroom as needed.

The next big hurdle is the first dressing change. I've read too many horror stories of people having the dressing the doctor put on stick to the wound - and with it now being Saturday, she isn't in the office to call if I have issues. I keep trying to move my toe ever-so-slightly in the wraps she put on to see if that'll help any. Even if the bandages don't stick, I have Big Concern about the Epsom Salt soaks burning so bad that I can't force myself to endure them.

Me and deep breathing are becoming besties.

#Ingrown Toenail #Ingrown Toenail Removal #Total Nail Avulsion #Health #Medical #Chronic Illness #Personal

[agingdisgracefully]

#No Americans are not okay #Please send help #Funny #But also not funny

[agingdisgracefully]

About an hour out from taking the 2nd dose of Day #3

I've noticed slight improvements in pain level from the first dose, but last night was the first real confirmation that the Cephalexin is working. There's still some minor redness/irritation from the nail being ingrown (and the granulation tissue is still slightly bleeding) - but the intense redness, bruising, and - for lack of better word - the shininess of infected tissue is now almost completely gone.

I've scheduled the podiatrist appointment for Friday afternoon - which is good on one hand because that's the first day I'd be without antibiotics (removing the nail should prevent the infection from coming back as long as I keep the wound area clean) - but bad on the other hand because it's a Friday, and I'm not sure the podiatrist would be in the office over the weekend (I see her in a community clinic setting, rather than in a dedicated podiatry office). Worst comes to worse, I can always go to Urgent Care or - g-d forbid - the ER.

I just know Imma rock up to that appointment with a mile-long list of questions. Just because I've accepted that I need a complete matrixectomy doesn't mean that I'm going to like it or go down easy. ((I've already told my Mom, who will be driving me, that I want to stop for milkshakes on the way home as a treat - like when my Dad would treat me to a Happy Meal after doctor's appointments as a kid LMAO))

Don't mind me - just documenting my experience with Cephalexin as someone with a documented Penicillin allergy

#Cephalexin #Antibiotics #Health #Chronic Illness #Infected Toe #Ingrown Toenail #Complete Matrixectomy #Toenail Removal #Text #Personal;

[agingdisgracefully]

An hour after dose #5

My shoulder started to hurt after dose #4, but I’m choosing to believe that’s just a random side effect and not any sign of an allergy (Walgreens pharmacist said it wasn’t a documented reaction, but several reputable sources said that, while rare, joint pain was actually a known side effect). I’m not blind enough to recognize that I couldn’t also have just had the bad luck to pull a muscle at the same time and it actually having nothing to do with the med. I didn’t get any nausea this time, so I think dose #2’s increase in nausea was likely because I didn’t eat a sufficient enough meal before/during.

Dose #5 went down equally as well - This begins the technically 2nd day of a five-day prescription. I’m still not seeing any real improvement on my toe yet, but here’s hoping it at least works enough that they can properly numb my toe whenever I’m able to get in to a podiatrist (hopefully by the end of the week). I’d still ideally like to keep SOME of the toenail just for aesthetic reasons, but the last podiatrist was pretty sure they’d have to do a complete matrixectomy.

Don't mind me - just documenting my experience with Cephalexin as someone with a documented Penicillin allergy

#Infected Toe #Ingrown Toenail #Cephalexin #Health #Antibiotics #Chronic Illness #Text #Personal

[agingdisgracefully]

And like a true "genius", I forgot to eat before taking Dose #3 (in my defense, it was 5:30 am and I had finally fallen asleep) - here's hoping that eating 3 pieces of Peanut Butter and Jelly immediately after taking it is enough to ward off any nausea.

Edit: It worked for the most part. I forgot to work my PPI in there last night, so I woke up with horrific heartburn after just a couple hours. I also still feel vaguely dizzy, so I can no longer tell if that's the existing vertigo or a side effect of the antibiotic. My toe is still very red (maybe slightly bruised? I can't tell), but I'm doing everything I can to limp myself through until a podiatrist can work me in this week (even if it's not the one that I've been seeing; I'm desperate for relief at this point and want to get it fixed before any potential infection can reoccur/spread)

Don't mind me - just documenting my experience with Cephalexin as someone with a documented Penicillin allergy

#Medications #Cephalexin #Heath #Chronic Illness #Text #Personal

[agingdisgracefully]

One hour post-dose #2

A not-insignificant increase in nausea (but also not entirely unbearable), but mostly everything else reacted the same this time - I didn't get the same increase in heart rate, but my anxiety levels definitely went up for a bit. I know, push comes to shove, I can take Zofran for thr nausea and see if that helps (I actually remembered to ask the provider before I left the office for once!)

Still holding out hope that Cephalexin works out and that I'll have at least one antibiotic under the "This Works with No Reaction" category

Don't mind me - just documenting my experience with Cephalexin as someone with a documented Penicillin allergy

#Health #Cephalexin #Antibiotic #Chronic Illness #Text #Personal

[agingdisgracefully]

genuinely one of the saddest parts of this new era of the internet is how hard it is to rick roll someone now. with people's attention spans shortening so much, they wouldn't even get through the first few bait seconds before clicking off the video. like i saw a comment that ended with "btw i made all of this up" and the replies kept treating it so seriously because none of them finished the entire 4 sentence comment. and We're no strangers to love You know the rules and so do I (do I) A full commitment's what I'm thinking of You wouldn't get this from any other guy I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling Gotta make you understand Never gonna give you up Never gonna let you down Never gonna run around and desert you Never gonna make you cry Never gonna say goodbye Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

#Funny

[agingdisgracefully]

It's now 10:35 pm and enough time has lapsed for me to say that the first round is a success. I won't say anything about a potential allergy because I don't want to anger the karma g-ds you just never know, though.

My heart rate did eventually stabilize back to between 80-90 bpm while resting; it spikes when I do any activity, so I'm just going to use this as an excuse to not do much the next few days.

I had some very, very minor feelings of nausea throughout the afternoon, which could just as well be my stupid non-functioning guts and not any side-effect. It was never bad enough that I had to figure out where the nearest vom-friendly receptical was, so I'll count that as a win.

Next dose is due at 11:30 pm, so we'll see how that one goes (hopefully just as well, if not better, than the first).

Don't mind me - just documenting my experience with Cephalexin as someone with a documented Penicillin allergy

#Health #Cephalexin #Antibiotics #Chronic Illness #Text #Personal

[agingdisgracefully]

Took first dose (500mg) at about 5:30 pm - it is now 5:54 pm

So far, I've got a noticeably higher heart rate (went from about 80 resting to about 110 resting) which could also be attributed to my anxiety, and a touch of nausea - but thankfully, no fully anaphylactic reactions.

Going to check again in 30 minutes.

Don't mind me - just documenting my experience with Cephalexin as someone with a documented Penicillin allergy

#Health #Medication #Cephalexin #Chronic Illness #Text #Personal

[agingdisgracefully]

Don't mind me - just documenting my experience with Cephalexin as someone with a documented Penicillin allergy

#Maybe documenting it will help calm my anxiety somewhat #Medication #Penicillin #Cephalexin #Antibiotics #Health #Chronic Illness #Text #Personal