and -infection musings

[Guest guest]

Interesting that you are facing the same question in a way

. I hope for your sake that it is not an infection but, I

guess there is always that possibility. I know that a friend of mine

had a small infection from an internal stitch that didn't dissolve

like it was suppose to after a lap chole. She had fever, malaise

and some tenderness and six months later the surgeon went

back in to drain it. She has been fine since. But that incidence

can both prove and disprove my musings. Prove it by saying that

she was able to live with an infection for six months without it

becoming critical....that is to say, that her body was able to keep

in in check even if it was not able to get rid of it completely....and

disproves my idea because she had some of the classic signs

of infection: pain, fever, fatigue, etc. So, I guess a person could

argue it any way she wants. My imagination is conjuring up this

pus pocket left over from my surgery from five years ago that is

walled off in a cyst-like sac that occasionally leaks...causing me

to have the pain and sick feeling every so often. But if this is true,

then taking oral antibiotics shouldn't effect it because I do not

think a walled-off cyst has a blood supply (?). Oh well, I know

that I am really stretching my imagination, but I have to say my

friends experience with her antibiotic use and my very casual

experiment has piqued my interest. If it is something as " simple "

as an infection causing all this misery for all these years, it kinda

gives me hope that maybe there is a cure out there for me

afterall. But I know that I am dreaming and in denial......

......if that is what it takes to get you up here, I will keep

not taking my antibiotics!!!! No, your point is well taken but I have

to admit that they were not my left over antibiotics but my

husband's. He was taking daily antibiotics for a couple of years

for a skin condition and the doctor kept changing them until he

found the right ones so he had a lot left over. The bad thing is

that they are quite old and I know that this is not good for the liver.

so, I do not deserve the left-over comment but I do deserve the

taking expired antibiotics lecture (LOL) I humbly bow my head to

your tongue lashing...........

But as far as our hypothesizing.......the only thing is that " itis " can

just mean a general inflammation without an infection....and if

this is so as regards to my pancreas then a). the antibiotics

shouldn't make a difference - although my friends doctor said

that antibiotics do have an anti-inflammatory action separate

from the anti-bactericidal one and again, shouldn't the ESR

and CRP be elevated if there is a general inflammation of the

pancreas?....cause like you said, it is a fairly significant organ.

And if it is a general inflammation then I would have thought that

my couple of months of using vioxx would have also reduced the

pain to the same extent that two weeks of antibiotics did. see

how confusing this all is to me? I am just making things up, I

think, as I go along (or is this obsessing?)

And now that you mention it.....Since my surgeries I have also run

a fairly low grade fever by textbook definitions (99.8 to 100.2) but

the problem is, I never tracked it prior to my being sick so I really

could be one of those people who just run higher than the

average (although I will not concede that a temp of 102.4 is

normal no matter what that bad surgeon says!).

But your point about antibiotics attacking all infectious agents int

he body, not just the ones you are taking the pills for is what is

keeping this thought in my mind...that is, no doubt the pills

worked to get rid of my pneumonia, it took the full 14 days to do

so, but they did....same with the two days worth of the

erythromycin that I just took for my boo-boo in my mouth. So if

there was some kind of subclinical infection maybe these

antibiotics worked enough to give me temporary relief in the

abdomen too. But then my more rational thought keeps circleing

back to the whole idea that there is no way that I could have a

hidden pus pocket in my abdomen for five years without blood

tests and / or CT, MRIs, USs showing it or it becoming critical

during times of medical stress. I am just not that healthy

anymore to keep fighting it off..........at least in my opinion (my diet

sucks, I know I am not getting the right nutrition). You should

throw that out to your surgeon friend...ask if there is a way to have

a hidden,walled-off abdominal pus pocket (occult? is that what

they call it?) without knowing it.

Oh well, speaking of resistance....we are having significant

community acquired MRSA infections here. My husbands mother

was just diagnosed with it. No hospital stays or nursing home

exposure nothing. The literature that I glanced at mentioned that

wisconsin is an area of concern for this.....and I just read a

couple of articles that said that the alcohol based hand

sanitizers that hospitals use now instead of soap and water is

not killing C diff and that there are increasing rates of a virulent

strain in several areas of the country and they think it could be

because of the dependence of those type of sanitizers in

hospitals. Infection control officers are recommending that

health care go back to old fashioned soap and water it seems.

Interesting..........

Thanks for the input......we need to keep musing I guess.

Laurie