Your mother was right. So read this!

Many moons ago we had a lady, Mrs Carruthers, working in my parent's shop. She had a false hand, mum always told me she had lost her hand because she didn't attend to a splinter and it went septic causing gangrene. I found out many years later she'd actually lost it in a munitions-factory accident during the war, but let's not allow facts to get in the way of motherly advice.

Of course, as a boisterous youngster I was forever getting bangs, scrapes, splinters (of course) and the odd broken bone, always attended to by a loving mum (ok not the broken bones). Never really thought more about her splinter advice and in later life poo-pooed it as an old wives (mother's) tale.

Let me tell you, she was right!!

The story.

Whilst working in the garden over the long weekend I acquired a small friction blister on my second toe (poor fitting flip-flop), thought nothing of it, washed it (but no antiseptic) and stuck a band-aid on, like I've done zillions of times in the past. This was Tuesday.

Fast forwards to Thursday, got up as normal, the usual 3 esses and a blissfully late start as I had to get my health check for my work permit. No issues, in and out of the clinic in an hour and off to work. Assorted meetings etc. and then home for dinner and a couple of cans with Wifey. Some TV and then off to bed.

At about 11.30PM I woke, shivering (complete with chattering teeth), with a slight fever and feeling ruddy awful. Finally, after an hour or so (felt like 10) and a fist full of Tylenol things calmed down and I finally went to sleep.

5AM Friday, woke to go to work, ached all over, every joint hurt (not severe, just enough), sod work, more Tylenol and a day in bed. Felt much better by late afternoon, still a muzzy headache but felt on-the-mend, must have been a "24-hour bug".

Saturday 6AM, wake up, hmmm, right knee and ankle are a bit stiff, swung round to head for the bathroom, put my feet down. BAM!! What the ... I won't say it hurt somewhat, that would be an understatement, not a localised stabbing pain, think pins-n-needles ^10, it hurt a lot! Sat on the bed and things subsided enough to head to the bathroom (when you have to go, you have to go).

Safely seated I perused my right leg to locate the source of the agony. What I saw did not instil confidence, slight swelling and a bright fire-engine red from toes to just below the knee. Not good. Poking the red bits made them go white then back to red when the pressure was released, it also hurt rather.

By the time I'd had a very quick splash in the shower the pain had subsided enough that I could walk fairly normally. Wifey looked at the leg whilst we were drinking tea and informed me that we were going to the hospital, no choice was given (thank you Babe).

Local private hospital is a 10 minute drive and we were safely seated in Out Patients at about 10AM. Reception staff had put me in a wheelchair despite my being able to walk, not going to argue, the driver was a big Thai orderly.

Young doc (can I really tell how old Thai's are?) excellent English, quickly diagnosed cellulitis, an infection under the skin and quite a severe one (Google was my friend later). Standard treatment is antibiotics, but as this was a serious infection he recommended intravenous as he didn't think oral would cut it. He wanted to admit me, but relented when he found we were literally 10 minutes away (still had to sign the disclaimer).

Three IV sessions, 11AM, 7PM and 2AM (Sunday), about an hour each, cute nurses, Candy Crush (how did we survive these things in the past, I would have died of boredom?) and the room had a nice soft-toy mobile of sea-creatures I could bash, much to the amusement of the nurses. Fresh appointment to see the doc Sunday 9 AM.

Sunday, awoke, examined leg. OK the redness in the calf had gone down significantly, BUT, my big toe now had a nasty purple blister which wasn't there when we left the hospital at 3AM. Still pain on standing (luckily the blister is on the upper side of the toe), seems only to occur after a couple of hours with my legs up as it never happens during the day when, whilst resting as instructed, I have been moving around getting drinks despite Wifey fussing around being a loving (and worried) wife.

Back to the doc as appointed. He didn't like the toe and said he was worried about "necrotising fasciitis" (the flesh-eating bug [not his words, Google again]) and he wanted a surgeon to look at it. This frightened me (OK I was petrified), I'm very attached to my appendages and don't relish having bits (or all) of them cut off. After 30 minutes of terror waiting to see the surgeon I was wheeled in to see a very nice older guy, not so good English (but 'my' doc was there too). Careful and painless examination and lots of doctorly humming and mmming with loads of notes (my records are getting quite thick now) and diagrams, discussions with doc and wife. Finally they determined that a second course of different (more potent) antibiotic would be tried, before they started butchering anything. Phew! The relief was ... Nope can't think of a suitable word.

Of course, the nurses all know me as being fairly bomb-proof by now and I was given to a tiny, very pretty and somewhat nervous student to practice her IV skills on. Poor thing was getting more and more flustered and giggly, by the time the drip was in I felt like my mum's pin-cushion. But we all have to start somewhere


So here we are Monday morning, just heading off for the final session of IV (this is a 4 session treatment) then back to the doc this evening.

I'll report back then.

The moral is, in a tropical environment, even a minor break in the skin needs to be properly looked after. No just banging a band-aid on, you may get away with it as I have many times in the past, this time I didn't.

If you haven't already, best to get a tetanus injection as well. Also a risk from small cuts, and gardening.

Yup, tetanus was included in the initial session, good advice.

One of the basics of living in the tropics take care of even the slightest wound / scratch especially if in contact with the earth.

I have a bottle of Dettol handy for such occasions.

Good you got it sorted before loosing any bits, could have spread up between your legs

I use tincture of iodine on any cut immediately. A friend fell into a hole and tore up his leg and at home cleaned wound with peroxide next morning could barely walk. Took him 2 weeks to overcome the infection!

Don't cut yourself shaving, Crossy. Although, if excision is required, you won't notice it much.

Good luck Sir

Good thing it is your toe Crossy.....you would not want something else dropping off...

Seriously look after it..and make sure you get third and fourth opinions before letting them cut it off, losing a toe is not a little problem.

Good you got it sorted before loosing any bits, could have spread up between your legs

If you Google "necrotising fasciitis" and select images (do not do this before, during or after eating) there's one poor chap who appears to have it just there.

Not something to be trifled with.

Good thing it is your toe Crossy.....you would not want something else dropping off...

Seriously look after it..and make sure you get third and fourth opinions before letting them cut it off, losing a toe is not a little problem.

Don't worry Harrry, nobody is taking a scalpel anywhere near any part of me without several opinions.

Glad you're feeling better, Crossy!

Yes, proper wound care is important.

Serves you right for buying cheap flipflops you tight B.......

Take care of that foot Crossy, you will need it for kicking ugly old .... like me of TV when we get to obstreperous.

Cheers

Garden spores, injected by splinters sure can be nasty...

Lucky it wasn't some big bad spider. Coulda' been worse

Back from the doc.

Looks like these chaps are tough little critters and have a good hiding place, even though things are looking a lot better I'm in for at least two more days of 8 hourly IVs

Oh, and why, when I'm so packed with antibiotics that nothing should be able to survive, do I now have a sniffle and runny nose?

Back from the doc.

Looks like these chaps are tough little critters and have a good hiding place, even though things are looking a lot better I'm in for at least two more days of 8 hourly IVs

Oh, and why, when I'm so packed with antibiotics that nothing should be able to survive, do I now have a sniffle and runny nose?

Now you are going to get HIV from all these needles!

At least that's what you can tell swmbo.

555

Take good care mate.

Chok De na

Back from the doc.

Looks like these chaps are tough little critters and have a good hiding place, even though things are looking a lot better I'm in for at least two more days of 8 hourly IVs

Oh, and why, when I'm so packed with antibiotics that nothing should be able to survive, do I now have a sniffle and runny nose?

Because it is viral. (the cold, not your cellulitis)

Any break in the skin can potentially become infected. Feet are especially susceptible. In addition, as one ages, the risks are greater because the immune system ages with you.

Once cellulitis sets in things quickly become very, very serious. If it had gone on a day or two longer you truly could have lost that foot.

Glad you are on the mend.

Yeah Sheryl, I know about colds being viral, tongue was firmly in cheek

It's really scary how such a tiny injury can get mega serious so rapidly

Just been hooked up for the 1AM session. Place is empty so I get the staff to myself

Slightly related:

Jack Daniels died following an infection he contracted after breaking his toe...

Slightly related:

Jack Daniels died following an infection he contracted after breaking his toe...

Oh No, that's terrible news. RIP Jack.

What the hell am I going to drink now?

moral of the story should be Don't Do The Gardening

Apart from the OP containing some good advice, it was a well written and humorous tale

Hope to hear more, just not about medical problems...

Speedy recovery

It funny how thing like that can so easily be missed, recently i've had 2 fine copper wire splinters in my toes.

The first one i thought the pain was from a toe nail and figured it would pass, but no, over a week before I discovered the ball of pus

on the bottom of my big toe.

The second, i realized after a day or 2, both tiny lengths of copper wire (i'm often cutting, grinding, soldering)

To the op, you took a number of pricks just to flirt with the cute nurse? Dear oh dear! 555

Your tetanus must have worn off, must be renewed periodically.

Thanks Crossy for sharing your experience with us and special thanks for this good advice which can save lives!

I'm Diabetic and have to be extremely careful when it comes to the slightest injuries at my feet and legs. Can you second this, Sheryl, please?

One of my best friends had both his legs amputated a few years back. He was also a diabetic and wasn't careful enough. Unfortunately, he died about a month ago of renal failure.

Get well soon.

Thanks Crossy for sharing your experience with us and special thanks for this good advice which can save lives!

I'm Diabetic and have to be extremely careful when it comes to the slightest injuries at my feet and legs. Can you second this, Sheryl, please?

One of my best friends had both his legs amputated a few years back. He was also a diabetic and wasn't careful enough. Unfortunately, he died about a month ago of renal failure.

I'm sure Sheryl will be along with sage advice, but I can confirm that my doc said it could be much worse if I was diabetic and tested to confirm that I'm not.

Sorry to hear about your friend

I'm certainly re-thinking how I manage minor irritations / cuts / blisters etc. after the events of the past few days.

Over the years one becomes blasé about minor nicks, it takes something like this to make you realise that yes, you really can die from a tiny blister / splinter / insect bite

Thanks Crossy for sharing your experience with us and special thanks for this good advice which can save lives!

I'm Diabetic and have to be extremely careful when it comes to the slightest injuries at my feet and legs. Can you second this, Sheryl, please?

One of my best friends had both his legs amputated a few years back. He was also a diabetic and wasn't careful enough. Unfortunately, he died about a month ago of renal failure.

I'm sure Sheryl will be along with sage advice, but I can confirm that my doc said it could be much worse if I was diabetic and tested to confirm that I'm not.

Sorry to hear about your friend

I'm certainly re-thinking how I manage minor irritations / cuts / blisters etc. after the events of the past few days.

Over the years one becomes blasé about minor nicks, it takes something like this to make you realise that yes, you really can die from a tiny blister / splinter / insect bite

Maybe renew tetanus shot? Thinking about myself, too. The only one I ever had was during my military service. Would this help. Sheryl?

I use Betadine (Thai brand iodine).

Ouch hope you are feeling better. Remember eat lots of "live" yoghurt to replace the gut bacteria if you can find it where you live.

I always wonder if "putting a band aid on" is in fact worse in this climate as the wound doesn't dry. I have never had an infection when left to open air but things have got messy if I try to plaster it up.

Anything that seems to be turning nasty I put on Mercurochrome as a last resort, it seems to be pretty potent stuff.

I seem to remember every 10yrs for tetanus and every 5 yrs for Rabies. I am good for both !

Sorry to hear about your current foot problem. A small piece of advice from one who is suffering.

Was an in-patient for a week in a local hospital for 2 operations to remove abcesses. Shortly after release from hospital, my right foot turned blue. A week later all my toes on that foot had turned black. The surgeon/doctor was very good, and said that he would try to stop the gangrene from spreading to my foot, otherwise it would be a foot amputation. Not a good idea I thought. However, although after many daily visits to the A & E, they managed to remove the black from my toes, when he went to cut away the black on the big toe, their was a lot more damage than he had at first thought. Consequently he amputated my big toe in A & E. Only took 30 minutes, but not stitched, I was told it would heal eventually. Still going back to hospital for dressing changes to the operation wounds and the toe, after nearly 4 months. Now I know the staff in A & E very well.

Look after your injury. The time taken to get serious is very short.

Good luck.

WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES!

 

Note to everyone, the images above are NOT me (some people don't read, just assume).

That is truly scary Geoff

Take care of it and get well soon.