post surgery infections - diagnosis/treatment?

[KL Aguilar]

When I had minimally invasive spinal surgery, the surgeon told me that they always put antibiotics in the IV. I asked due to the experience I'll describe below. I will always ask prior to any surgery.

I had an emergency C-section in 1978 at Cedar Sinai in Los Angeles. Within a few hours, I developed a very high fever. I have a vague memory of my rolling hospital bed being rushed down a hallway and I was put in isolation. It took them a day or two to determine that I had a blood infection called klebsiela. For forty-eight hours they took blood every hour, first to identify the problem and then to monitor how I was doing. They ran out of veins and had to go between my toes. I was in ICU for seven days and in the hospital for ten days, with two IVs the entire time. Eventually, the veins in my arms did not cooperate and they put the IVs in the backs of my hands. I have scars on my hands to this day. I had to take antibiotics for six weeks after leaving the hospital.

Not surprisingly, I am still needle phobic. And of course, I have terrible veins which only make it worse.

[mmglobal]

They named a sausage after an infection?

[Maria]

www.NetCe.com
Nosocomial Infections

This is for Continuing Education units for Nurses. The Nosocomial Infection CEU has a good amount of information that may be of interest to those reading here. I'm not sure if it's Ok or not to do this however, if one would like to read the content of this CEU course which is quite informative, just go to the website, click on Courses on the left hand side, put in Nurse Practitioner (or whatever ~ my license is for RN,FNP) for job title and California is the jurisdiction I entered.

It's a pretty good read~ check it out. If I've directed anyone to do something that's not kosher please let me know Mark! I don't know how to get the content on here otherwise~

[mmglobal]

Maria... as kosher as kielbasa!

This is a great find... I was pleasantly surprised to discover that you can get to the content without buying anything... This is a great resource.

Thanks,

Mark

[ans]

I agree. What a great info. source.

Thx - ans

[sahuaro]

Yes, thanks, Maria! I am just about to schedule a routine colonoscopy and never thought about the possibility of infection--something else to get anxious about! But now I know why the nurses wrapped me in those cozy, warm blankets after my shoulder surgeries!

K L Aguilar: Your experience sounds really frightening--and such an awful way to enter the postpartum period with your new baby. Do you think that your surgeons are more watchful now with any other procedures/surgeries, given your history, or that their care provided for you is just their standard?

[KL Aguilar]

Sahuaro,

My experience was made even worse by the fact that I used to wear contacts (have since had laser surgery) and was not permitted to in the hospital. I had glasses, but the prescription was very old and the glasses were basically useless. They would bring my baby to the doorway of the ICU unit every day, but not bring her in. I could see there was a baby, but nothing to identify her in any way. She went home after a few days and I stayed in the hospital. I did not meet my daughter until I went home ten days after her birth.

As I said, my standard procedure is to ask about post-op infections. It is not that I am in more danger of a post-op infection, but that I am paranoid about one. Every time I have done so, I have been told that the surgeon always has antibiotics administered thru the IV. I am not sure if all surgeons do this, but every surgeon I have talked to since 1978 for any family member having surgery has told me the same thing.