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She's developed flu like symptoms including chills, fever, and aches and pains. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasnt for her copromised immune system.
It could also be a negative rection to one of her meds. Her doctor recently switched her to Lipitor from another cholesterol drug.
She called the doctor's office and the nurse said she should go to the emergency room. i'm really worried.
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I hope everything turns out ok, I'm sure it will. Keep us updated. You and your mom are in my heart. -liz
Posts: 208 | Registered: Aug 2004
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I completely understand the compromised immune system worries (my mother also has several autoimmune disorders). My thinking was along the lines of it perhaps being and illness (known to be going around here in town), which may or may not be easier than it being an adverse reaction to medication.
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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eMedicine blurb on cellulitis I have no degrees, Derrell, so I can't offer much info. As you can see in my link, diabetes and immuno compromised are both risk factors for cellulitis.
It mentions spread through the lymphatic system. In case you don't know what that is, the lymph system shadows your system of veins. The lumphatics are like veins except that they don't get their contents from the arteries (via capillaries). Rather, they pick up fluid and cellular waste.
In a healthy body, this cellular waste is "analyzed" in the lymph nodes where anti-bacterial and anti-viral manufactur can be triggered. It is, in essense, the immune "system". In the end the lymphatic content is emptied into the bloodstream near the heart. So that could be why she has a whole body infection from a skin rash. Hopefully the hospital got her on some good drugs. How are things?
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Well, she's going to be in the hospital for at least a couple of days. They have to find out the exact cause of the cellulitis. Her immune system has been weakened by the cancer treatment , and she's Diabetic.
They have her on i.v. antibiotics. The good thing is that they did an ultrasound and didn't find any blood clots. Yay for the small victories.
Thanks, for the information, pooka. (((pooka)))
Posts: 4569 | Registered: Dec 2003
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My mom is home from the hospital. She came home Monday afternoon. She's taking I.V. antibiotics, but is doing better. The antibiotics are fed through a small pump directly into her port. A port is a small resevoir that's implanted just under the skin. At least I think that's what it is. It serves as a semi permanent injection sight so she doesn't have to get jabbed with a needle every time.
Thanks again for the love and support. (((Hatrack)))
Posts: 4569 | Registered: Dec 2003
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Now ports I know about. They are a way to get injections into a deep vein, because the nature of some drugs (like vancomycin, which was the most toxic antibiotic, at least 8 years ago) will destroy a vein if there isn't lots of blood to dilute it pretty quick. Chemo also needs to go into a deep (large) vein. In some odd cases, people who have bad/missing intestines actually get all their nutrition injected into a port. They are interesting, but I hope never to need one. I used to work at a company that makes them. [/showing off]
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Yay for the small victories.
