My mom is in the hospital with a hand infection

[Aunt to sweet baby boy]

Well the subject says it all. I have not been posting here because i have been at the hospital since tuesday night when my mom was admitted. This whole thing started in november. My mom fell and broke her hand. It was the 5th metacarpil, your pinke. Her hand was so swollen that the cast was not keeping the bone in the right position, it would go down a touch and the cast would not be doing its job so on november 21st (2 days before my bday) my mom had a pin put into her hand. During the surgery the doctor drained the blood from my moms hand so it was not as swollen as before. Last wednesday i went with my mother to the doctor to see about removing the pin. They did an x-ray and the bone was healed. The doctor removed the pin and gave her a splint. She was supposed to start her 24 sessions of OT on tuesday. Over the weekend my moms hand had a rash that kept on moving but we thought it was from the splint and the rubbing. On monday i did not work and i came home in the afternoon and my mom had a fever of 102. She got the flu shot last wednesday as well and we thought it was just from that and she works with young children so you never know where you could get it from.

Tuesday she woke up and her hand was swollen and red. She decided to go to her OT appt and see what they say about her hand. The OT told her to go to the doctor that day! She called them throughout the day but her hand doctor was in surgerys after the long weekend. Finally around 3 pm when the redness started to go up her arm and she had a fever of 102 again they told her to come in. She went to the DR and they told her that she needed to go to the hospital for IV antibiotics. We went and sat at the ER until about 10 when they finally had a bed ready for her and she has been in the hospital ever since. They swabbed her hand because there are some scabs and the results came back today. They started my mom on the two strongest infection antibiotics that they have. The result of the swab is Strep A. This is the same type of strep that you get when your throat is hurting and you are not feeling well. They are going to be giving her a specific medication for strep starting today and hopefully by Sunday it will be much improved and she will be able to return home. I slept at the hospital last night to give my dad a little break and i will be sleeping there again tonight.

My mother has had many other health problems in her life but never anything in the hospital that she has to stay there for, everything has been outpatient. I am very worried about her. She is feeling better and eating and walking around. I know that the time will come that this will be a distant memory and i hope that time is soon.

If you read all of that thanks so much. I just needed to put my feelings down and if anyone wondered where i have been it is the hospital sitting with my mom, keeping her company.

Thanks for listening and i hope everyone else's week is going better than mine so far.

Ilana

[knaidel]

wishing your mom a refuah shelemah! you can send me her hebrew name, if you want (email me through the boards).

[mommy_someday]

I'm sorry to hear about your mom's situation. It must be very stressful for you and your family. I hope she gets better soon. I will keep her in my thoughts.

[thomma]

What a tough week! I hope your mom feels better soon.

Kim
t&e 5/03

[Dcclerk]

Your week has been a doozy. I hope that she recovers quickly and that your worry can ease up a ton. (((HUGS)))

[crayonblue]

My brother recently had what sounds like the exact same thing. He first thought he had been bitten by a spider based on his swollen and red hand. Ended up being an infection that required surgery and very strong antibiotics. He is fine now. Hope all goes well with your mom!

[buddyleebaby]

Ugh, sounds awful!!
Hugs to you and your mom, hope that she is feeling better soon.

[bcky2]

i hope that your mom gets better soon and that her hand heals well.

[bcky2]

i hope that your mom gets better soon and that her hand heals well.

[SeekerMage]

Im so sorry to hear about your mom. Being in the hospital is never fun, let alone with a nasty infectioin that just came out of no where. The same thing happened to my dad on the way home from vacation! HE was bite by something on the plane in his knee, ended up in the hospital with a drain put in, iv antibiotics etc etc. My had has heart problems so it was a major concern....so much for all that great vacation time! Tell you mom to take it easy. Let them pamper her there, some hospitals have great staffs and will go the distance to make you feel welcome and cared for. Does she belong to a church group or anything? If so perhaps you can contact them and they can bring the welcome wagon and help keep her company and comfortable. I hope she is back on her feet soon. you took take care of yourself, you dont need to be stressing so much that you make yourself sick. Be well. we are all thinking about you and your mom :)

[lmintzer]

How scary, Ilana. I hope that she is doing much better by now. I mentioned this to dh (who is a physician) and his thought was that the infection was probably from the pin. That's not a super uncommon surgical complication. With the pin out and the antibiotics, she should be on the mend soon. I'm glad they reacted quickly and got right to the ER. I'll keep her in my thoughts!