Home Sweet Home

[Fireball]

Welcome back ...

[timvp]

Good to see you back man. I'm surprised they didn't have you on a Vancomycin drip at some point.

They did. When I didn't get better after a few days of the penicillin, some of the doctors got worried that I was fighting multiple bugs so they put me on Vancomycin and a few others (one was fungal). They only stopped giving me all the other antibiotics in the last few days when they concluded that the penicillin was finally kicking in. My infectious disease doctor insisted the whole time that I just needed penicillin and he told me I'll have to wait it out ... and he end up being right, thankfully. (He was quite proud of his concoction of 1 million units of penicillin per hour mixed with dextrose.)

Now that I'm home they have me off of any IV and have me taking the highest legal dosage of amoxicillin four times a day plus rifampin twice a day. My infectious disease doctor says the rifampin will help the amoxicillin penetrate any type of abscess.

I looked up the bacteria a couple nights ago and there really is hardly anything on it.

Yeah, it really is a mystery. One doctor said he had to go back to a case in England in the 1600s to find something similar.

Rest up bro, and you probably heard this from the Doc ad nauseum, but lay off booze for awhile (not sure if you even drink anyway)

Ha, I heard that a lot when I was being discharged. Funny thing is I didn't smoke, do drugs and very rarely drank (like three times in the last five years) before all this.

Going forward, I'm going to live the healthiest lifestyle possible because I never want to end up back there ...........

[baseline bum]

Wow. LJ's such a badass he beat a bacteria that had been preparing 400 years for him.

[DeadlyDynasty]

They did. When I didn't get better after a few days of the penicillin, some of the doctors got worried that I was fighting multiple bugs so they put me on Vancomycin and a few others (one was fungal). They only stopped giving me all the other antibiotics in the last few days when they concluded that the penicillin was finally kicking in. My infectious disease doctor insisted the whole time that I just needed penicillin and he told me I'll have to wait it out ... and he end up being right, thankfully. (He was quite proud of his concoction of 1 million units of penicillin per hour mixed with dextrose.)

Now that I'm home they have me off of any IV and have me taking the highest legal dosage of amoxicillin four times a day plus rifampin twice a day. My infectious disease doctor says the rifampin will help the amoxicillin penetrate any type of abscess.



Yeah, it really is a mystery. One doctor said he had to go back to a case in England in the 1600s to find something similar.

Ha, I heard that a lot when I was being discharged. Funny thing is I didn't smoke, do drugs and very rarely drank (like three times in the last five years) before all this.

Going forward, I'm going to live the healthiest lifestyle possible because I never want to end up back there ...........

Yeah, when they bring out the Vanco drip then you know they're not ing around...pretty much the most hardcore AB there is. Good god that's a lot of take home ABs. Antibiotics (especially those) are physically taxing as , but they're necessary--so look forward to PLENTY of bedrest.

The bacteria I was told is Streptococcus anginosus. Like I said there was a dearth of information on it. The only thing that kept showing up was that in the few presented cases of it, a good deal of those afflicted were alcoholics...so it's good you're not on the sauce

I heard there was pneumonia complications as well. Were you intubated and on a ventilator...if so, for how long? Sorry for all the questions, but now that you're mostly through this it sounds like an interesting case study from a medical standpoint.

[spursfan09]

I was wondering if there was something going around. I had some kind of bacteria recently and I ended up getting paro is. I went to the ER because my throat felt like it was closing up on me. Now this is in no way as severe as your ordeal TiMVP, I just admit I got kind of nervous about what I had or what caused this when I read what happened to you.

Anyway I am truly glad you are okay.

[timvp]

Consider yourself really lucky timvp. If the bacteria that infected you was not known, then of course it's pathology is not well known either. Thankfully, the fact that it is not common also points to the fact that the bacteria was not resistant to penicillin (which lots of types of bacteria have become increasingly resistant to). Random things like this affect people everyday and not many come out of their ordeal alive.

Yeah, I know that I got really lucky. If I didn't turn the corner when I did, I probably only had about a day or two before my body gave up.

You should get a lot of rest before doing anything. Your body just went through a brutal war, and you made it out alive, lucky guy .

I plan on doing a whole lot of nothing for a while. My lungs still need a lot of work and I'm weak so I'm not going to be able to do much even if I wanted to. They told me it could take a year before I feel completely well ... which is somewhat depressing until I consider the alternative.

[DAF86]

'Til the Wheels Fall Off

[DeadlyDynasty]

Yeah, I know that I got really lucky. If I didn't turn the corner when I did, I probably only had about a day or two before my body gave up.

I plan on doing a whole lot of nothing for a while. My lungs still need a lot of work and I'm weak so I'm not going to be able to do much even if I wanted to. They told me it could take a year before I feel completely well ... which is somewhat depressing until I consider the alternative.

You know this more than I, but time flies when you get older, so a year is nothing. At least you have an excuse now when Kori wants you to do things around the house.

[jjktkk]

Thank you to everyone who sent well wishes my way. A week ago, the doctors were waiting for me to die to free up an ICU room. Today, I'm resting in my own bed feeling pretty darn good. After a month of being sick and two weeks in the hospital, I can't describe how good it feels to just feel normal.

Thanks again and now it's time to start catching up on Spurs trade drama

Glad your back. Get well timvp.

[it's me]

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

I plan on doing a whole lot of nothing for a while.

One of us! One of us! Gooble gobble! Gooble gobble!

[BacktoBasics]

Before you get rid of that bacteria completely we should sneak you in to the Mavs/Lakers locker for a little licky licky.

[ElNono]

Great to see you posting... now get some rest, enjoy the kids... we'll handle all the trade nonsense

[ace3g]

This sounds like a case from the show "House". Good to hear you are back home, resting and recovering.

[timvp]

Good god that's a lot of take home ABs. Antibiotics (especially those) are physically taxing as , but they're necessary--so look forward to PLENTY of bedrest.

Yeah, I plan on being in this bed for a while. I also get some comfort by walking (albeit slowwwly) around the room.

The bacteria I was told is Streptococcus anginosus. Like I said there was a dearth of information on it. The only thing that kept showing up was that in the few presented cases of it, a good deal of those afflicted were alcoholics...so it's good you're not on the sauce

Yeah at first they thought I was a drunk even though I insisted I don't drink. Then they did some sort of scan and didn't find any sign of alcohol-related damage to my liver ... so they believed me after that.

And I believe that's the right name of the bacteria. Two experts they consulted said that the only explanation would be that I somehow picked up the bacteria from a horse. Apparently, a theory is that at some point I had a cut on my body that got in contact with something that had been in a horse's mouth. But that is so farfetched that my other doctors don't really buy it.

I heard there was pneumonia complications as well. Were you intubated and on a ventilator...if so, for how long?

I think I'm still fighting the remnants of the pneumonia. I was never intubated or on a ventilator but I was on oxygen for nearly the entire two weeks in the hospital. It was the only the last two days where I could breathe without the oxygen.

[ohmwrecker]

Welcome back, man. Good health to you!

[DeadlyDynasty]

Yeah, I plan on being in this bed for a while. I also get some comfort by walking (albeit slowwwly) around the room.

Yeah at first they thought I was a drunk even though I insisted I don't drink. Then they did some sort of scan and didn't find any sign of alcohol-related damage to my liver ... so they believed me after that.

And I believe that's the right name of the bacteria. Two experts they consulted said that the only explanation would be that I somehow picked up the bacteria from a horse. Apparently, a theory is that at some point I had a cut on my body that got in contact with something that had been in a horse's mouth. But that is so farfetched that my other doctors don't really buy it.



I think I'm still fighting the remnants of the pneumonia. I was never intubated or on a ventilator but I was on oxygen for nearly the entire two weeks in the hospital. It was the only the last two days where I could breathe without the oxygen.

Maybe a place you guys ate at served you horsemeat w/o you're knowledge. We all know how Taco Bell and various chinese restaurants like to cut corners...

Seriously though, thanks for the info and it's good to have you back.

[timvp]

This sounds like a case from the show "House".

That's exactly what my main doctor said. She said my case was her second favorite bacteria related case of her medical career. I asked her what happened to the guy who topped her list ... and she said he ended up brain dead. It wasn't exactly the most uplifting story at the time....

When I was getting discharged she said the main difference between me and the brain dead guy is that I'm young (I turned 30 in April) so I was able to fight harder.

[peacemaker885]

Welcome back timvp! Glad to hear you are well again.

[Bukefal]

Welcome back man.

[Brutalis]

Does it make you look at life any differently? When I was younger I had a close call.. ended up changing my life in more ways than just physically.

Stay up bro.

[timvp]

Does it make you look at life any differently?

Yeah, it really does. And I'm sure it will more and more as I get healthier.

[romsho]

I'll have to look up the name of the bacteria but the docs said it's extremely rare. Like there are only a few cases in medical literature. The bacteria was susceptible to penicillin but I had so much of it in my body by the time I went to the hospital, it took a long time to finally knock it out.

But yeah basically it was a huge fluke to get the bacteria in my body. And then it created a softball size abscess in my liver that had to be drained. Along the way I also got a bad case of pneumonia (which was also infected by the bacteria) ... plus it messed with my system so much that I got anemia and diabetes. I had to get five blood transfusions and they were shooting huge amounts of insulin in me to control my blood sugar. My heart rate kept going from like 140 all the way up to 180. Oh, and I had fevers everyday of at least 103.

The doctors really have no explanation on how I got sick in the first place. I guess it was just bad luck and I randomly came down with some ancient bacterial disease.

Thankfully now everything is a lot better. I just gotta pray for no setbacks and I should be good before too long.

Dear God..what an ordeal. Can't imagine how tough that must have been for your family as well. I would guess that one of the things that helped get you through it was having such a young family and little kids and needing to be around for them. No way it was your time. Good luck, stay strong.

[clambake]

the mavericks winning was just too much for ya.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Welcome back!