Disappointed … my left leg and foot after cellulitis

[RebelliousHoping]

The hospital doctors have just been round but I’m left frustrated.

They say bloods are constantly improving, things are really looking up getting rid of catheter yesterday so it makes me motivated to try and walk really it does and should be able to switch to oral antibiotics in a couple of days time.

Was ok until they started poking the black part which made me winch - I get that there is nerve damage in the toes I really do it was the one thing that me cry before surgery but as I said to the doctor today please can we get to the bottom of why the left leg is twice the size of right. (please no suggestion I’m an out of control diabetic bloods don’t prove this) No we probably can’t I heard.

I pay into Benenden, once I’m out can I go to the GP and say appreciate for 5 years we’ve never been able to establish why, can I get a referral for tests?

for info in the year 2000 an X-ray showed a stress fracture untreated and remains so.

Also the hospital have got incredibly funny about my parents and I taking pictures of the damage and now slight improvements to build a case but when they sent in the hospital photographer I was not asked to sign anything to give permission for them to take pics - I have looked online and trusts up north of the country indicate they do collect permission.

I got a private podiatrist coming to see me at home once out so we can look after the right but I don’t think she can do much for the lefty now except manage toenails.

How did the stress fracture happen, what's the black part? Have they ruled out a date. Have you ever been tested for crps which is a chronic condition after injuries which is badly understood.

Should I look to buy a Velcro boot? Got no hope of getting shoes on it and the shoes I wore I accept my to be destroyed due to risk that may have been a route into infection.

At the moment the ward have me in an anti slip sock over dressing as 2xl cut and taped as they have no chance getting it on whole and one of the nurses grabbed me a more of those socks today when in-house physio said I was only entitled to one pair.

It's a bit confusing, have you got a wound and swollen leg which has a dressing on it, have you been on antibiotics for an infection in your leg and some of the skin is black? Have you seen the tissue viability nurse, the physio isn't anything to do with slipper sox and if they think you need a boot then the staff should get you one., what is the case you are bringing that needs photographing, how did the stress fracture and infection happen. What surgery did you have and when.

When we were kids my parents/schools attended never got sprains really checked out, just frozen peas on it and then I did have a soft tissue injury in 2004 as a young lady when I went after hotel guests who had not settled their bill but I badly slipped.

The only tests GP done was iron and Ipswich hospital concluded no heart problem in 2023 after they couldn’t get past size of foot when having spinal surgery. There has been creams used over the years and my parents have desperately dragged me into the likes of Pavers stores and brought compression socks in a bid to help.

Hope the black part is just deeply encrusted blood, it looked like I had black spiders immediately after surgery where they did clips or stitches I can’t recall, the nurse used a small blade when those were recently taken out. The whole skin is orange peel (that is positive) with a mix of what looks black and blonde chocolate. I feel what feels like knitting sensation at night.

Mum said looking stuff up I might be able to get help with a mobility car if this is going to be long-term like my brother has to get out and about.

Blue badge I’m unsure of as they don’t do temporary ones anymore and I’m not sure recovered cervical myelopathy and cellulitis are long term knowns.

I was having such a good day I called into work sounding as cheery as I could this morning letting them know about the positives and then emailed my Manager but just got a reply they feel some way of talking about me returning to work, I know they mean so kindly.

Sorry I’m not being fair, I’ll try and find a medical forum, sorry to be a nuisance.

You're not a nuisance. It's just a bit hard to understand what happened and what your main worry is. You had stitched, the blade was a stitch cutter and you must of had pray, scans and full bloods

Xray not pray

Yeah I had an ultrasound day after surgery but I wasn’t particularly with it and the 2 ultrasounders keep looking at each other saying this is pushing on that and compressing - they were doing back of the of the knee socket.

Next day I go through the mri and later it was learnt it hadn’t gone to the bone.

Everything’s seems going well, then it keeps getting reversed.

I want to be strong I read yesterday a 6 year old after having appendicitis got an infection then had to have an amputation and then contracted sepsis resulting in death, I can’t imagine what they are going through.

I’m in an Essex hospital as that was quickest to get to when the leg was going red on 25th so the process is complicated due to area restrictions and it doesn’t help my parents and me are technically living in different counties and my Dad has it in his mind that once I get home I’ll be forgotten about because of the jurisdictions and less faith in my gp surgery but maybe they will come good.

A hca popped in and has calmed me down. We just hear different things and it has got to a point of not helpful. I wish I’d not said anything to the doctor now.

Can you talk us through what the situation is - it's very unclear. From what I can make out-

You were at home and developed cellulitis of one leg.
You were admitted to hospital (possibly on the 25/4) and had surgery- what was done and when?
The leg is still swollen and areas are black.
You're still on iv antibiotics
You've has an ultrasound (presumably to rule out DVT)

If the cellulitis was bad enough to need surgical debridement and over 2 weeks of iv antibiotics then I'm not surprised the leg is still swollen.

No one on mumsnet can tell you why you got bad cellulitis. The medical team would be able to offer an opinion - common risk factors are diabetes, obesity, skin breaks, infection elsewhere, being immunocompromised, being elderly, being unlucky and picking up a rare infection.

Bless you OP. I've no advice but it sounds like you're having a pretty shite time of it. I hope you get answers soon.

Thank you, even if rare I’d just like to hope a doctor/consultant 2 weeks down the line after so many viles of blood could say.

Unfortunately my parents believe they heard NF but I don’t recall this and are now saying how do I know it is cellulitis. This is what the nurses on the ward are coming out with in the doctor’s absence.

Unfortunately with bitter regret this hospital do not email you copy of the surgery consent form and when I’ve made enquiries been told there is no access to a portal or paperwork until discharge.

Yesterday I said could the weight loss injections have anything to do with it - no was the answer not unless you injected lastly directly into the area or top thigh of problem leg of which I know I didn’t as I’m tummy or backs of arms.

Had I been taken to a Suffolk hospital; Medequip under right depot could have delivered items direct to my address, as it was things like commode, perching chair toilet arms my parents had to take to my address as Medequip Essex will not deliver to Medequip Suffolk’s area.

I feel enormously guilty at times thinking well I’m in hospital but not clear why. Asking questions like when can I expect to go home but maybe that is out of date patient admission pack thinking. I really wouldn’t want to say this is wrong then after discharge it comes out as something else.

I’m equally stressed as my parents now have access to my home, moving things around and it could take years to find things again and they do swing from keep positive to worst case scenario’s even going so far as to say well the district nurses aren’t ideal in the area I live (based on the contact they have with my brother who manages to keep our parents at arms length)

I’m preying all becomes clear. Tonight when my Dad offered his accu-chek machine I’ve said I’m not a diabetic strongly and don’t believe this to be complications as surely test results for all things diabetic related would have shown up a long time ago ie. high blood pressure, high cholesterol, I’d have been on statins, known of diabetic neuropathy on at least three checks the surgery did do. How does someone on pathway to remission end up with diabetic complications.

Good to get it off my chest if nothing else here.

You could ask to see the Infectious Diseases specialist team, if there's one in the hospital

Why were you,admitted to hospital, the doctor and nurse can go through that with you. Usually a patient is given a paper copy of their operation consent form , are you sure you or your parents haven't got it.

Hello OP ,
I’m assuming that you have chronic health conditions in part related to the cervical myelopathy - poor mobility and obesity.
These can predispose you to chronic limb swelling and ‘lymphoedema or lymphovenoedema’ . You get inflammation or soft tissues and skin which then pre disposes you to recurrent cellulitis due to breaks in the skin and at worse necrotising fascitis.

It sounds like your US scan excluded DVT and the MRI excluded osteomyelitis. Cellulitis can be very severe and the bad news is that every time you get cellulitis, the chronic skin changes and swelling get worse.

The key to preventing attacks once the acute necrotising infection is resolving is ‘compression stockings and or bandages’ as long as your arteries are normal. High elevation of your legs ( feet above hips or toes to nose) and weight management are also important long term.

Your medical team and podiatry consultant will advise on whether or not you need ‘just’ a black surgical shoe or something more specialised .

It sounds like you need a conversation with a senior member of your medical team so you can understand what has been happening and build up some trust .

Thank you everyone, sorry I sounded so crazy (as ever)

reading the discharge notes there was a link to toxic shock syndrome with the cellulitis occurring. Hopefully one last blast of antibiotics is all it will take taking it to like a month spent on antibiotics.

the medical team admitted there was a query link to NF but this was only the first 48 hours and that they had to warn parents in case it got worse.

Got a fit note that is like so long winded.

When they dressed it one final time before leaving hospital today and handing me over to community, I do think in time swelling will vastly improve.

This sounds as best I can tell, because your narrative is really hard to follow, like what I had 3 years ago. My cellulitis went to sepsis and I was in hospital for 2.5 weeks and chunks of my calf were black (dead flesh that had to be removed with a scalpel.) Hurt like hell too. In my case, they thought as a PP said, that it was some weird infection but that lymphodoema had made it much worse (also being overweight, which is remedied now). My cure was about 6 weeks of antibiotics, then a wound vac (commoner in the US than UK, as it's expensive) and serious compression socks going forward. To be fully cured, it took a really long time (about 1.5 years over all, which was awful) I have an impressive scar there but the good news is that I've had no further occurrence. So be patient - these things take a long, long time but they are curable from my experience.