The latest developments with my feet have left me speechless. Speechless and in pain. I wonder if that speechlessness and that pain was necessary or could it have been prevented?! That’s how I am thinking about it. I think it could have but let me tell you what’s going on:
I had my first doctor’s appointment regarding my feet the Tuesday after Easter. That means that it was mid-April! (Just keep that date in mind as the story unfolds). I was diagnosed with ringworm at that appointment and as I wrote before, that was because I was sleeping in my chair because it was too painful to sleep in a flat bed.
My sores were open then and my Mom asked if I should be put on an antibiotic. I was told that they were clean and I did not need it. So then, holy Thursday was instituted in my house and that is when this whole ordeal started killing my Mom and me.
I was on medication for the ringworm so it was going to get better. But things have to get worse before they get better, I guess, right?! So the ringworm on my heels started getting worse and I started sending photos to my doctor asking about getting an antibiotic.
I was told to make another appointment. If you guys have not figured out by now, getting out of my house is a BIG ordeal for me and my Mom! It’s a lot of work on both of our bodies and I need to rent a van to go anywhere! We figured that I was on the medication and my Mom was washing my feet so vigilantly that it would be okay.
But then my Mom took my socks off one morning and just looked at my feet and said, “Hm.” That was a very concerning sound and I ended up making an appointment with a different doctor at a different location in dermatology. It was the first available appointment.
I was seen on Monday, June 6. I still have the same problem from April 19. My Mom has been keeping my feet clean this entire time and she again asked about an antibiotic for me. The student resident shook her hand and said that my feet don’t look infected. As she was consulting with the doctor she was working under, the doctor told her to take a culture.
I had been staying in contact with my doctor‘s office this entire time. On Thursday, I was notified that I have a staph infection. WHAT?!!!! Couldn’t does have been prevented with an antibiotic? That my Mom and I asked for? Multiple times?! Why did we have to wait for the culture results?!
As soon as I found out I had a staph infection, my feet irruptted into flames until my Mom went and got back here with my prescription. What happened to preventative medicine?! I recall getting so many prescriptions for antibiotics that I never even got filled! They used to hand those out like candy!
I’m really at a loss right now! Even with five doses of medication in me, my feet still really hurt!
I am left here questioning what is wrong with our system?! I feel like I am being punished because there’s so much drug abuse so they want to be certain that the medication is necessary. But in the meantime, I had two days of my infection ruminating and getting worse!
I don’t think the doctors in the dermatology clinic understood that a person who has had MS for 21 years has different needs and needs preventative medicine!!!
I am going to the eye doctor in a few days and I remember last year that they all marveled at how well I control to my power chair. Every single doorway in my house is completely damaged but it is a long learning curve to learn how to control the joystick on my power chair!
I’ve sat with this for a while and I am not sure how to feel about it. I feel like doctors should know what to do and in this instance, I’m really not sure that they understood or even understand for the future. I will be happy when my feet are better but I can’t see them getting there right now because everything in my body takes so long to heal! I’m just so tired and frustrated!