What Happened to My Hand

Somehow, during the initial surgery on my right hand for trigger finger release, I got an infection, actinomyces. Never heard of it? Neither had we. It's a form of bacteria that is common in the mouth of humans and many animals. Normal old bacteria, they're everywhere and usually don't cause any trouble. Not this time.

The infection showed up in the palm of my right hand when the incision reopened and started weeping a clear, plasma type liquid about two weeks after surgery, about mid December, 2015. The surgeon had already seen me again and cleared me for all activities indicating it was healing very well. We went back to see him and his concern was there was some kind of particulate that was in there causing problems. The hand never got a nasty, pus-like infection, just this clear weeping. They ran blood cultures and all kinds of things, but everything came back negative.

My hand before it broke open and started weeping the first time.

We had scheduled to have the trigger finger on my left hand fixed in late December, so he went back into the right hand as well and 'cleaned it out'. That seemed to work fine until about mid February when it swelled up and got very painful. Back to the surgeon we went. He was very concerned. You see, we liked this surgeon, he was young, very intelligent and a prepper. We had already discussed some of the books his dad made him read which started him down the path of preparing for a collapse. Interesting, huh?

Well, he put a steroid shot in the hand for the swelling, began to massage it in and the incision opened up again - six weeks after the last surgery. He knew something was very wrong and we scheduled another surgery for the next day to take a tissue sample and send it off to be cultured. That took about a week. Then we got a phone call on March 4th, three months after the original surgery in early December.

'You need to come to the hospital right now and start a week of IV antibiotics'. What? And have another surgery for a debridement - removal of the tendon sheath material surrounding the surgery site of the trigger release. Well, we quickly took care of the animals, packed up some necessities and went to the hospital, 60 miles away. Needless to say, this was rather scary. The infectious disease doctor that met us in the ER scared us to death. He couldn't tell me if I would lose my hand or that the infection hadn't spread all over my body.

I was put on high doses of IV penicillin for the week I was there, had a fourth surgery on that hand where the surgeon roto-rootered out the area in the palm and up and down the finger to try to clean out every last bit of that infection. Frank drove back and forth everyday to take care of the animals and be with me at night. He was beyond exhausted and never complained once, not once.

Upon release from the hospital, I was sent home with a pic line in my arm and arrangements for home health to assist us in another three weeks of IV antibiotics. My loving husband got to change the penicillin and put another syringe of antibiotics in my line everyday. All of this made me very sick, along with

trying to recuperate the use of my right hand. Yes, I am right handed. During this month I was basically quarantined. I could not touch an animal and wouldn't go around people to minimize the risk of infection through the pic line. Pic lines are scary things, giving access straight to the blood stream and heart if anything gets through the barrier. I didn't take a shower, just did sponge baths for a month. Frank helped me wash my hair by spraying it with the shower head as I knelt beside the tub and used one hand. The release from that pic line was one happy day. After the nurse left that removed it, I went straight to the barn to see my dog and goats. Up until then I had only been able to look at them through the fence for a month.

All through this, we had weekly trips to the infectious disease doctor, with first daily, then weekly blood tests. This doctor wanted me to stay in the hospital for the whole month. We refused and went with home health and frequent 60 mile trips back to see him and run the tests.

Following the IV antibiotics, were five more months of very strong oral antibiotics that also gave me headaches and made me sick. Because of the long term doses of the medication I did a lot of research on digestive track damage and recovery. I took a probiotic capsule everyday, drank gallons of kefir and started adding inulin to our coffee. To this day, I feel that my digestive track hasn't returned to it's former state. We do what we can diet wise, but what is done is done. 

After all of the antibiotic treatment was finished, I had a bone scan, CT scan of my heart, MRIs of my hand, abdominal organs and brain. All to make sure the infection had not metastasized during the three months it was active before detection and that the antibiotic treatment had been effective. The constant blood work throughout the treatment was to make sure none of them were causing liver or organ damage. 
 

In the end, the surgeon was surprised how much flexibility I regained in my hand and finger. He said most people that have had four surgeries at the same site, don't have near the range of motion. I told him it was hand milking goats that did it, along with hours of self physical therapy. It took a long time and I still don't have full range of motion or a strong grip. I drop things a whole lot more, but after about a year my brain adjusted to the new 'normal' of my hand.

Now, life goes on. I can't say I dealt with it very well at the time, I was angry for a while, felt so sick I couldn't and didn't do much, got fairly depressed while quarantined, but finally came out of all of that. Life is what it is and sometimes dishes up some fairly unpalatable experiences. I just had to remind myself that it is not the experience in and of itself that is most important, but what you learn from it in the process. Being a willing learner is sometimes the most difficult part. That is true of what is happening in our world and country. Take it for what it really is instead of what we wish it was. Learn and accept, this is where we are. Then get on down the road.

Until next time - Fern