Chronic wound after dog attack, 6 months later

[TheBusyMoose]

ok so I need to know if I am being extreme to be so frustrated and annoyed with this situation.

long story short I was attacked by a dog in November and had surgery. It got infected and I had 3 further surgeries a few weeks later. It is now a chronic wound and simply won't heal, I've had 5 more surgeries and I go to the hospital every week and they umm and ahh and say come back next week. I have a hole in my leg, I am in pain and it seems endless. I will post progression photos but it looks worse if anything than when it first happened. I have never been under a doctors care, just see the wound care nurse every week and every so often she will get a doctor and I go back to surgery. I've had enough and not really sure where to go from here

I'm waiting to go down for another surgery. I'm feeling really pretty awful right now but hopefully once the infection is under control I'll be in the right place and have the energy to move things forward.

to the person who called me passive, I'm just completely exhausted and worn down. I know I need to get some big girl energy but I really just want someone to look after me

All the best with the operation, I hope it sortsa it all out and that this with the ivab make you feel better soon. Thank goodness you went to hospital.

Glad you’re getting looked after OP. Hope all goes smoothly and you feel better soon. Has your CRP spiked?

Oh, you absolutely need taking care of!

You’re not being passive, your body is fighting a major infection and your job is to let it do that. And that’s hard because your mind is tired but possibly also bored.

Let your body heal. Eat as well as you can, but mostly, rest, rest, rest and heal. Everything else can wait.

Sending love and support ❤️

It was me who used the word passive. I totally understand you are exhausted, it's been a massive physical and mental shock.

But somehow you or someone on your behalf needs to ask for more.

Of course you're worn down. We trust hcps, we expect them to know what they are doing and to seek further advice if something isn't working. To question and challenge is so difficult when we're feeling low and helpless.

You've been through a horrendous experience both with the initial incident and what seems to have been ineffective treatment since.

When on the road to recovery and have some strength do consider submitting a complaint. Particularly to your useless 'what do you expect you've a hole in your leg' gp.

Haven't any of them heard of sepsis and how something like this rumbling on with a constant temp, pain, a raised crp was absolutely going to make you very ill at some point.

I hope the op goes well.

Good luck OP. I hope you have a decent surgeon. It’s the weekend the NHS is known to he shit on the weekend.

I hope someone can fight for you. The whole experience is so dehumanising. A friend has PTSD after appalling treatment on the NHS for a situation that similarly got out of control and where nobody would take responsibility for her urgent issues. She felt so powerless and helpless. And she tried everything to get a response. It’s only when you are critical that things start to move. But why has it come to this?

You may need help to get over this mentally, not just physically. It can break you.

I hope you will soon be on the mend OP though. You deserve some good luck now.

Oh don't say that! . Ime surgical cover can be very good, once you get passed all the triaging juniors in assessment units or a&e etc it's the senior docs who do the actual ops.

It's just it sounds like she lives in the middle of nowhere in a rural place. I just can't imagine she's getting the quality of care she needs. God knows, to date, they've let her down badly.

I really hope things turn around. In a London teaching hospital I'd have good confidence but it's more hit and miss the further out you go.

Ive trained and worked in London. They also have their faults and share of incompetent staff.

You are better off researching individual doctors which tells you their place of training, specialist skills and knowledge , success rates.

Really hope you wake up this morning with some progress and feeling a little brighter, @TheBusyMoose.

No I agree but op did say petrol costs are a fortune as travelling to a bigger county hospital weekly so doesn't sound like a dusty cottage hospital set up.

If they're doing emergency surgery out of hours on weekends they'll have senior docs to perform ops and maybe a fresh pair of eyes is what's needed. They're giving IV antibiotics and doing NEW scores so that's reassuring!

I agree with this. Unfortunately when the system lets you down you need to start to research yourself and find specialists.

Even ChatGPT or Claude are good for this sort of thing.

Can your husband, friend or a relative advocate for you? This level of care is unacceptable.

Hope surgery went well OP and the antibiotics are doing their job.

Sorry all. Vitals are better ish, temp down to 38 and hr settled around 100. Surgery again in a day or two then probably a vac dressing. I am completely wiped out but hopefully this will all be successful this time

Good to hear, what surgery did they do,mis this the hospital you've been to before

Fingers crossed for you that this is the start of the end!

Have they done anything different this time?

I've had an X-ray, a ct and an mri done. They have excised a massive chunk of my leg hopefully to ensure they have everything. They're going back in tomorrow to take more and if my infection markers aren't completely down will go in again and again until they are, then I get the dressing.

according to the anaesthetists I have collect all my loyalty stamps and next time I fancy gas and air it's on them... think I'd prefer a free coffee 😊

Glad your sense of humour has survived intact! Will be thinking of you and hope this time they have finally sorted it and you have a straightforward, good recovery.

Was there any discussion about dermatology?

I’m so pleased to hear from you. I was thinking about you today.

Yes they want to see if the infection completely clears but I have a referral to dermatology anyway as the surrounding skin is hideous.

in other news I just sobbed at the poor hca because I haven't eaten since Friday and will be nil by mouth again tomorrow and they haven't accounted for my nut allergy so all they can offer me for dinner is a jacket potato with no topping. Despite me telling them at both breakfast and lunch and them having nothing I could eat. Poor lady I proper bawled