Saturday, December 30, 2006

Getting Better... Or Worse...

The swelling has gone down even more, but the skin is still quite purple. I was able to raise my hand above my head and stretch my arm out completely without any difficulty for the first time since this mysterious swelling started ten days ago.

I know the infectious diseases specialist is going to attribute this reduction in swelling to the antibiotic drips she put me on, but I think this is not an infection, but bleeding caused by ripped scar tissue. The swelling had started improving before I was put on the IV drip, so I doubt it was the antibiotics.

Now I have a new problem. I was giving my right arm and chest muscles a rest so if this WERE ripped scar tissue, I could let it heal. So I was doing everything with my left hand, which was pretty hard since I’m right -handed. But now that I have a catheter in my left hand, all wrapped up in a bandage, I can’t use my left hand at all and have to do everything with my right hand, which I’m not supposed to be using. So treating it as an infection is making it worse for me if it turns out to be ripped scar tissue instead. Lordy, I just can’t win!

No comments: