Great Appetite, Crummy Infection

 Horse Pen Creek Crabs: Sara, Andrew and Bennett

Bennett continues to improve and he has a great appetite.  When he first started eating he was craving lots of fruit.  Now he'll eat just about anything (but hospital food).  Last night was sushi.  Night before Thai.  Each morning he has a big bowl of berries and some yogurt and he’s loving his smoothies.  Just a minute ago he ate a variety of about 6 Christmas cookies that folks have brought (we have a multitude of sweets and have been trying to fatten up the nurses).   It’s getting expensive eating out so today I went to the grocery store.  Mama B’s gonna have to start cooking again.

The biggest struggle for Bennett is pain.  Tomorrow he has a consultation with pain specialists.  Hopefully they'll be able to figure out a formula that will consistently control the pain.  Right now it seems like he is often chasing it. 

Wednesday morning Dr Reynolds (plastic surgeon) came in with some bad news.  The cultures that had been taken from Bennett’s inner thigh and up into his pelvis area had grown out an antibiotic resistant staph infection.  Now Bennett has added Infectious Disease Specialists to the long list of caregivers.  Things could be a lot worse.  While this is a resistant staph, it’s not resistant to everything and it’s not one of those flesh eaters.  It’s actually the staph that lives on our skin, Staphylococcus Epidermidis. Needless to say, it should not be inside Bennett.  The big concern is that it’s by the metal plates and screws in his right femur and pelvis.  Bugs love to live on metal and the antibiotics have a hard time getting there since there’s no blood flow.  Bennett is on powerful IV antibiotics for 6 weeks.  Luckily this will not keep him from starting rehab. 

So, what happens if the bacteria is on the metal and the antibiotics don’t kill it?  We haven’t spoken to the Orthopods about this yet, but the Infectious Disease Specialist says that if it’s there the plates will start acting up and could come loose.  This would be a sign that the bacteria is still there.  The solution would be to go back in and take out the metal.  Hopefully this would be far enough in the future that the bones will have fully healed and the hardware is no longer needed.  Sheesh.  If it’s not one thing it’s another.  Right now the important think is to control it so the bones can heal.

When I first learned about this new infection I was terrified and I think Bennett was too, but the ID Specialist sees this type of infection every day and seems confident in his ability to successfully treat it.  I’ve learned to roll with each new crisis.  One of Bennett’s orthopedic surgeons once told me that there comes a point when you have to quit worrying about the science and have faith in the miracles that our bodies and God perform.  I found this so interesting coming from a man that loves science and works with such precision.

Now, it’s time for me to go perform a miracle in the kitchen because I laterally haven’t cooked in over a month.  Tonight, garlic clam sauce on wild mushroom ravioli and a salad.  I wonder if cooking is like riding a bike?

Much love and gratitude, 

Libby