Necrotizing fasciitis - any positive stories?

[VerityBrulee]

My lovely aunt has been in hospital for about 2 weeks, she was on holiday in Spain and was suffering with a very painful hip. To cut a long story short, she was air ambulanced home on Sat, and rushed to theatre as she has necrotizing fasciitis which was misdiagnosed. It has not spread to her organs, which is good, but she has had large areas of damamaged tissue removed. I am trying not to think the worst, but it is quite a shocking diagnosis. She is 68 and has underlying lung problems.

I'm so sorry to hear about this. Go here for survivor stories. :)

oh, thank you That's just what we need, will have a read now.

Please do not read the ones with pictures if you do not have a strong stomach. Good luck to you and your aunt.

No, no pictures! We are going to see her on Wednesday, and I just want to be prepared, and also to have some positive stories to tell my mum would be great.

Well the odds are not great to be honest with you - she will have a long (as in months) hospital stay at the very least and constant antibiotics for at least a month. The chance of further surgery is high and obviously amputation is a big risk.

If her temperature starts dropping though that's a really good sign.

Please warn your mum, NF smells really, really bad. People expect the gooey bits but the smell makes some people vomit. Also they don't usually cover the infected bits as they need to keep observing them and also need to let them fall off (sorry to be graphic but if you are going to see it you need to know what to expect).

Oh God, that sounds dreadful, but thanks for telling me. Better to be prepared.

She has been on ABs for 2 weeks, they thought she had cellulitis cased by an abcess, she had one surgery in Spain and then a major one yesterday. Her daughter is coming home from abroad, I might try to have a chat with her first so she doesn't get a major shock.

I know it's impossible for you to tell, but given that she has survived this long, do you think she has a better chance of surviving it. What I mean is, if she was going to die from it would she have gone already?

Depends - the fact she hasn't had liver failure is a good sign. If she's had a lot of the tissue removed, inadvertently the surgeons may have done her a big favour. The trick is to find the right combination of drugs and then it stops it in it's tracks. But I will warn you - the skin and tissue literally falls away from the legs again and again for a very long time.

She needs to avoid secondary infections and prepare for the long haul but yes, generally people are dead within 72 hours or survive so while she might end up in a wheelchair she has a chance. :)

Thinking about it, if she's been on broad spectrum antibiotics for two weeks there's a good chance she's been on a combination which has stopped the spread. There is nothing to be done with the bit which is already infected, but if it doesn't get any worse, and her major organs hold up she should be okay.

Thanks, WMMC you've really helped a lot

No problem - hope it works out for you all. :)

FWIW this is a totally abrupt illness for everyone and the shock factor for the patient is very high. Your aunt may be very low or just plain stunned and out of it. Take it steadily. Could happen to anyone at any time though. It's not well known and it's quite common for it not to be recognised by the medical community in a lot of places.

Really good luck to you all, I hope you will be all celebrating next Christmas at home together.

They have kept her sedated and intubated for more than a week, I think they are planning to bring her around mid week, which is why my mum is keen to see her then. Given that my aunt will probably be in shock, I wonder should we wait to go and see her. When she was last conscious the thinking was that she needed a hip replacement, but to come around to this scenario will be quite shocking. I'll have a think about it. My mum is also, understandably, shocked so I'll try to prepare her. Thanks again for your advice and good wishes.