KNEES: I've had some inquiries about my knees occasionally, so here's the update. Are they better? Yes... than they used to be. It's impossible without some SERIOUS knee surgery involving cutting and reattaching tendons and clearing out the torn maniscuses (manisci?) for me to ever have knees that are "all better." However, that being said, the injections I did a few months ago did improve things for my walking, and as long as I'm good with always exercising some but not too much or the wrong way they only bother me a lot when I first get up (from anywhere) after sitting for more than 30 mins or if I'm on them for too long at one time... Oh and stairs are still SUPER hard... and kneeling hurts so bad... but a lot of that can be improved with more strengthening and weight loss... that brings me to the next subject.
THYROID: Over the last year it's been really hard to lose weight, even when I'm on diets and exersizing I didn't see many results. Plus I was always tired and having serious mood swings. The weirdest thing was that I would often get food stuck in my throat. I didn't know if that was related, but turns out I had a swollen, underactive thyroid. For those who don't know, the thyroid helps with metabolizing food, so people who don't get enough thyroid hormone gain weight easily, have a low body temperature and require more sleep, among other symptoms. Well, after a few tests, I got approved to be put (back) on some thyroid medication. I haven't been very good at dieting lately, but I haven't gained weight since being on the meds, which for me is ALWAYS something to celebrate. I scheduled an appointment to see my doctor about how my body was handling the meds, but turns out I came down with a MRSA infection the same time, which brings me to the last subject...
MRSA (This gets really gross): So back around the 4th of July, my dad got a few little red spots on his right leg. Within a week, those red spots became large, infected holes. He got hospitalized, had the infected flesh removed (very large holes in his shin and calf) and was on disability for three months. My dad the work-horse was finally able to use his 600 hours of sick time. We (Ammon, Kaleb, Sasha and I) and my mom were the only ones who visited my father while in the hospital. Others would've found time except on the third day they determined it was MRSA, (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) a highly contagious bacteria. The hospital required every visitor to have full gownage on after that, so my mom recommended no more visits.
Well, early September Kaleb got a few little bug-bite type spots that seemed overly painful at the touch. Like a nasty pimple, we would "pop" them, cover them in Neosporin and a bandaid and they would get better in a week. Well, the 8th one on the 3rd week got to about the size of Kaleb's palm. If you look at the pic below, the pink was all the infection. We had to squeeze all of that puss and blood out and it was excruciating. He screamed. A LOT! We went to the doctor, who cultured it, and the week we had to wait for results, he got 5 more. Eventually, we heard he too had MRSA, he was put on antibiotics, and the spots went away.
In early october, I started coming down with flu-like symptoms, plus I had two very memorable pimples. Memorable because of how painful and puss-filled they were. By the 14th I was officially sick (I took a morning nap after a decent night's sleep. Nuff said). That night I noticed a strange pimple in a private area. My worries of MRSA grew stronger when the next morning it was about two inches in diameter. It was constantly painful and only ice packs brought any relief. Since I had a doctor's appointment for my thyroid previously scheduled for the next night, I waited until then to seek medical help. By then it was the size of a tennis-ball. I hadn't slept in two nights, and I was constantly nauseated. The doctor gave me a shot for the pain (isn't it weird when shots for pain are so painful?) and lanced it. She said the infection was really deep, but she was able to get enough for a culture. (The procedure was still SUPER painful because the area was so bruised and the shot was only for the surface cuts. sledgehammer to your crotch. oh it hurt) She put me on the same antibiotics kaleb had been given and some pain meds (Oh sweet wonderful sleep) with the suggestion to use heat to draw the infection out so it will drain. The next day was probably the worst between the cuts and since it had gotten to baseball size. That night it started draining and took another week to heal completely. The whole time, I couldn't walk very well (Ya know, cuz normally I'm such a super-model) and couldn't go 30 mins without painkillers. I went through 20 days of antibiotics. While mine was still healing, Kaleb got another spot, so the doc quickly put him on more meds. No more spots for either of us since, and so far Ammon and Sasha are MRSA free. FINGERS CROSSED!
A month later there is still an area I can feel some harder scar tissue. Kaleb has some pretty nasty scars from these suckers. I quickly became the go-to girl about MRSA worries around my extended family, so just an FYI about what to look for with MRSA (or at least the MRSA we had)
1. Pimples/ in-grown hair type of spots that feel bruised, more painful than usual.
2. Until it gets a head on it, doctors can only cut it open to test it.
3. Speed of growth, it gets bad real quick. Once it gets bigger than your thumb-print I would worry
4. If it gets opened up, neosporin can help, but only with that one. It can stay in your system even after a ton of antibiotics, so if you see multiples, see a doc (before it gets to the 8th)
5. Greenish puss was a common theme with Kaleb's bigger ones and my three.
All these things are little setbacks that make things a little more difficult, and yes I'm anything but a "healthy" person, but I do still have my health in all the ways that it counts most. The MRSA infection did remind me of that. So let's hear it to health! Woop Woop!!
