Newly diagnosed, sort of
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Thank you all so much for your stories and recommendations. I made it through the hospital stay (two days) and they did give me a little tramadol there and some to take home. I’m rationing it carefully and have a schedule of ibuprofen and acetaminophen as several of you have described. I’m on day 11 post-op and have had a Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection for the past week that seems to be getting better even though they’re using a non-recommended antibiotic for it (bactrim). The plastic surgeon is in charge of my care and refused to have me tested for any infection at all, never agreeing that I had an infection (yet still prescribed bactrim anyway). I worked for 20 years in the field of microbiology and anyone who has had that background knows what Pseudomonas aeruginosa smells like. I put it in writing that that’s what I suspected my infection to be, but I’m only the stupid patient, so they ignored me. So I went to my primary care physician (PCP) who I trust very well. She insisted on getting it cultured, and today it turned out to be a dense growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Luckily it’s sensitive to everything they tested (many types of antibiotics), which means that it’s not a nasty hospital superbug or anything. I could have picked it up either from the hospital or at home. I’ll never know. My PCP wants me to go on levaquin starting tomorrow morning, as my course of bactrim is finished anyway. She communicated that to my plastic surgeon, who disagrees and told me moments ago (on a Saturday night!), “No antibiotics“. I always feel like a drama queen on this forum. Impossible choices.
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I’m glad you are safely home but sorry that you picked up an infection. It’s good that your microbiology background helped you identify the cause and get a script for an effective antibiotic from your PCP. We don’t want to be labeled a “difficult patient” but sometimes we have to squawk to get proper medical care. I hope the infection clears up and you heal with minimal pain.
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Really glad you have a good PCP and it’s a readily treatable infection. Your PS sounds like a real a-hole disregarding your expertise and not ordering a culture for a suspicious wound seems very negligent. PS may be concerned that an infection being detected would give her some kind of demerit in the hospital rating system. I needed antibiotics after developing a complex infection and my PS was the one who immediately ordered a culture when I presented with it. Again so glad your PCP supported you and Hope everything clears up quickly.
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