Pseudomonas infection

[bananaskin123]

Just to give a brief history my DH was involved in a freak accident which resulted in a fractured skull. He had emergency surgery the same night and came home nearly three weeks ago. The wound was being looked after by the District Nurses. However after two weeks it was oozing really badly and we were advised to go to A&E. He was admitted from there and had surgery the following day. The wound was infected so they removed the titanium cover which they thought might be colonising the infection, did a wash out and stitched the wound back.
He was started on IV antibiotics x 2. They took samples to test for infection and these have now come back as pseudomonas. Had a brief conversation with the Registrar and he says the plan is to continue IV indefinitely at home (not just yet) as oral antibiotics are not as effective.
Really my question is: does the district nurse have a huge machine like they have at the hospital? Will he ever be able to go out/lead a normal life if he's on a drip? He's been through so much and has stayed so positive. We really want him to get better.

Sorry for the long post but just wondered if anyone had had IV antibiotics administered at home and how?

[BronwenFrideswide]

My husband recently had six weeks of IV antibiotics, he had to attend the hospital every day for this for an hour. We were advised that it could not be done at either the doctor's surgery or by the District Nurse, I think you need the Registrar to clarify what he means by 'at home' and 'indefinitely'.

Sorry to hear about your husband's accident and the fact he has pseudomonas, it is a bastard of an infection to clear.

[Hiphopopotamous]

Yes it is quite standard to have iv antibiotics in the community now, usually via an OPAT team or similar (outpatient antibiotic team).
Your DH will need a long term line in for this (they might already have one if they've been in a while) like a PICC or a Hickmann line.
The team should be able to talk it through with you. You won't have to stay in for the whole duration of IVs!
(Doctor)

[BronwenFrideswide]

Wish they'd had an OPAT team in our area Hiphopopotamous, back and forwards to the hospital every day for six weeks was a nightmare.

[bananaskin123]

Thanks everyone. I'm glad at least that they have isolated it even though it might be a long haul. Hiphop in your experience can you still get out and about if you are having the treatment at home.

The hospital where he is being treated is in London and we're over two hours away so it would be a nightmare if we had to go everyday. Thanks for letting me know about the OPAT team.

[Hiphopopotamous]

Our area is quite well set up for it, people can attend the hospital or more local day units or be seen at home - it would be unreasonable to travel 2 hours to London every day surely so I'd imagine they could set it up with a team closer to your house.

[MEgirl]

Sorry to hear about your DH. I had pseudomonas following breast surgery last year. I was started on oral antibiotics before the swab. Medication was changed after the results came back. I was only on the medication for a week. Just wanted to let you know that it can clear up and maybe your DH won't need the IV for as long as the registrar is currently suggesting. Fingers crossed for you.

[MountainDweller]

Just wanted to say my mum has pseudomonas after heart bypass surgery and while it was a frightening time initially she did get over it eventually. It took about 18 months but mostly because a running stitch was accidentally left in after one of many subsequent surgeries (long story but she had a wound cleaning pump and a lot of surgeries to try to reclose the original incision). Once the stitch had worked its way to the surface and been removed she recovered pretty quickly. So if the titanium cover was partly responsible, the antibiotics may be able to do their job better now it's been removed.

[EKGEMS]

The IV pumps can be normal like hospital,smaller or none at all-my son actually had IV antibiotics infused by a balloon type set up that released the pressure over a set time to inject the medicine it.