Essential stuff for fans of Lee Jackson

[leejacksonaudio]

Hospital Update 6/15/2022:

 

I have been offline for way too long, trying to recuperate from this cellulitis infection and edema. During this time, the infection started to run away on me, giving me a fever of 99.4 with a low blood pressure reading of 90/50. Granted, this isn't much of a fever, but know that I extremely rarely run any kind of fever, and that my standard temperature is a low 97.4. In other words, 99.4 is moderately high for me.

 

Anyway, everything started peaking this past Friday. My old antibiotic trio wasn't handling it. I asked the Infections Diseases person to switch one of them *back* to vancomycin, which is what I was on in the beginning and was working before they switched me away from it (my "vanc trough" value approached toxic levels). She did the switch. Sometime during the night on Saturday, my fever broke, and my blood pressure went back up to normal. I'm thanking the vancomycin.

 

It's Wednesday the 15th, and I'm just now recovering sufficiently to be lucid enough to type this update. The double vision and jitters I've suffered are temporarily on hold, and I'm doing my best not to pass out in the middle of typing. I'm still fighting the pain in my right arm, counting the minutes until my next Dilaudid injection comes and provides some relief. However, the doctor in charge of Infectious Diseases says I'm not close to being ready to leave the hospital yet, as the antibiotics haven't finished doing their job on the cellulitis infection. I don't have a tentative discharge date at this time. Once I do, I'll let you know.

[Murdoch]

3 minutes ago, leejacksonaudio said:

Once I do, I'll let you know.

 

Good luck Lee, keep fighting.

[leejacksonaudio]

I was sadly negligent yesterday - I failed to thank everyone who sent get well wishes while I was offline. Thank you very much. It was very nice to read your messages of support. Very much obliged.

[leejacksonaudio]

No sooner do I get back online than I'm running a fever again. 99.2 right now - low for most, mid-grade for me and my cold metabolism. They're calling my doctor and the Infectious Diseases coordinator. They're also running a potassium drip on me (60 mEq of potassium chloride). My numbers last night were 2.5, when they're supposed to be between the mid-3s-to-mid-5s.

 

Not a good day for me, medically.

[Murdoch]

8 hours ago, leejacksonaudio said:

I was sadly negligent yesterday - I failed to thank everyone who sent get well wishes while I was offline. Thank you very much. It was very nice to read your messages of support. Very much obliged.

 

All good Lee, you have bigger things to worry about.

[leejacksonaudio]

1 hour ago, Murdoch said:

 

All good Lee, you have bigger things to worry about.

Yeah, I do. My fever is up to 99.4 now. Turns out my vancomycin has been on hold for a couple of days due to my "vanc trough" numbers being too close to toxic. I could be off the stuff for a couple more days while I wait for the numbers to go back down to the safety zone. In the meantime, my fever gets to have its way with me. Good lord.

[Caffeine Freak]

Stay strong, Lee. We love you.

[leejacksonaudio]

5 hours ago, Caffeine Freak said:

Stay strong, Lee. We love you.

Thank you. Kinda had to this morning.

 

My fever broke earlier today, dropping all the way down to 97.4.  Just a couple of hours prior to my fever breaking, the doctors put me back on vancomycin 2x a day. I wasn't on it long enough for it to really have had such a big difference (was I? Is there a doctor in the house?). I'm still in recovery mode, so typing this up is a grueling pain in the arse. At least I'm not getting the big BP swings this time around.

[Gez]

Glad to read that things seem to be getting slightly better at last!

 

Sometimes it feels like you're caught in some medical catch-22 where the cure to every problem causes another problem that needs another cure that causes another problem and so on.

[leejacksonaudio]

On 6/18/2022 at 12:17 AM, Gez said:

Sometimes it feels like you're caught in some medical catch-22 where the cure to every problem causes another problem that needs another cure that causes another problem and so on.

Brother, you said a mouthful.

[Murdoch]

On 6/18/2022 at 5:17 PM, Gez said:

Glad to read that things seem to be getting slightly better at last!

 

Sometimes it feels like you're caught in some medical catch-22 where the cure to every problem causes another problem that needs another cure that causes another problem and so on.

 

Yeah, I have a friend like that. She was and still is on so many bloody pills it sometimes feels like the cure is worse than the disease.

[leejacksonaudio]

2 hours ago, Murdoch said:

 

Yeah, I have a friend like that. She was and still is on so many bloody pills it sometimes feels like the cure is worse than the disease.

 

I've got so many prescriptions that I have to have my wife help me keep track of them each week. I can't put them out without forgetting or missing some in my pill minder.

[Dusty_Rhodes]

Keep in there Lee. You're courage and wit are admirable. Like others said, I'm also glad there's some relief. 

[leejacksonaudio]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

<drum roll>

I'm leaving the hospital and coming home at last.

</drum roll>

 

The redness in my legs has retreated to a level where IV antibiotics are no longer necessary (I'm on pills only now). My edema has gone down a bit and is now being treated by application of ACE bandages on both legs along with pill-based diuretics. My PICC line was replaced a few days ago with a midline, which is about to be removed altogether either today or tomorrow. I am being weaned off of the Dilaudid IV injections in preparation for leaving. I have but one left.

 

My departure date is scheduled for sometime Friday, according to the doctor in charge of my case.

 

I guess I am ready to leave this hospital, physically. I am *damned* sure ready to leave, mentally. I've been in this hospital just a few days shy of five weeks, cooped up in a tiny room, tethered to an IV pump most of the time. I can't wait to leave the confines of this cell. I don't know how long it'll take for me to adjust to life back at home, but adjust I will.

 

Please wish me luck. I don't want to wind up back in here.

[Biodegradable]

3 hours ago, leejacksonaudio said:

Please wish me luck. I don't want to wind up back in here.

 

If I were at all religious, I'd be praying until my clasped fingers turned blue. I truly hope this is the beginning of a long and prosperous recovery for you, Lee.

[Murdoch]

4 hours ago, leejacksonaudio said:

Please wish me luck. I don't want to wind up back in here.

 

Good luck man. Fingers crossed.

[Chezza]

Well that's good. I wasn't feeling particularly confident in your situation, it looked to only degrade based on your updates.

 

Did Hugh Laurie appear with his cane and took your case? 

 

I'm glad you're getting better.

Edited June 24, 2022 by Chezza
Hugh Laurie, not High Laurie

[Murdoch]

3 hours ago, Chezza said:

Did High Laurie appear with his cane and took your case? 

 

Best misspelling ever.

[Daytime Waitress]

Wish we could do more for your health than just wish, brother.

Maybe getting you some of the good stuff that High Laurie's on would be a start?

[leejacksonaudio]

Thanks a ton, folks. Thanks a ton.

[leejacksonaudio]

I've spent my first night at home after an interminably long hospital stay. My wife timed it out for me - I'd forgotten about the week I spent in a full hospital before moving to the LTAC hospital. All told, I spent almost 6 weeks hospitalized. Please, powers that be, no more this year. :)

 

Anyway, the operative word here is home. I can't wait to order a pizza. Alas, my wife had a chef's salad waiting for me for dinner. Sigh.

[leejacksonaudio]

Just had my first doctor's appointment since arriving home, a telemedicine appointment with my pain management doctor's assistant. We discussed the pain in my right arm and how it was treated in the hospital. They're switching me to 4mg Dilaudid every 4 hours and discontinuing my oxycodone. Hope this works.

[Codename_Delta]

It's an amazing turnaround from those 6 weeks in hospitals.

 

Great to hear it Lee!

[leejacksonaudio]

Please check out my latest release - "DeadBeard Fantasia," now available on Bandcamp! It's one of my commissions, done before I got sick, based on "DeadBeard Theme" by Corey Burton. Grab a copy today!

 

https://leejackson1.bandcamp.com/track/deadbeard-fantasia

 

[leejacksonaudio]

Bob Gammage.

I'm headed back to the Emergency Room.

I woke up this morning to red, swollen, warm legs - not the kind of thing you want to see when you're already on two strong antibiotics. I wound up having to send pics over to my infectious diseases doctor, who told me to get myself into the ER for intravenous antibiotics.

Looks like my weekend is farked. Sorry, folks.

[Gez]

Oh man... Hopefully they find something that works this time!

[Murdoch]

Damn :(

[Biodegradable]

Son of a... [Breaking_glass.mp3]

 

 

[Daytime Waitress]

1 hour ago, Biodegradable said:

Son of a... [Breaking_glass.mp3]

 

As if Lee doesn't have enough to deal with, now he's gotta have a match against Steve Austin, too?!

[leejacksonaudio]

It's starting to look like I *might* be on another long course of IV antibiotics again, long being anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks per the infectious diseases doctor. How and where I get them (hospital, LTAC, skilled nursing center, home) is up in the air at the moment, thanks to Medicare's limitations. I should know more by Tuesday at the latest.

 

If I do get long term IV antibiotics, I'll probably wind up with yet another PICC line (ouch). I'm getting 3 IV antibiotics right now, which they're having to administer one at a time. I'm sure they'd like to give me two at once if they could (there are 2 leads on a PICC line). And as much as they hurt for me going in, I'll admit that PICC lines are more comfortable for the first couple of weeks once they've been installed. They get a bit itchy after that, but if they're still administering two or more IV antibiotics, they're worth that small problem, IMHO.