Necrotizing fasciitis

[Tripodmvr]

The heading will become clearer as I tell my story. Google the name above for more info.

A granddaughter of friends lost her kitten to a Staffie attack. I had a similar looking kitten and arranged for it to be collected. Met at a large parking area and got out of the car with the cat in my arms. The traffic noise and strange people set her off and she tried to escape. Scratched my right hand and eventually bit it. My hand went lame and I dropped her. She ran off.

The wife and I then went to dinner and got home just before dark. By 8pm (5 hours had elapsed) I had severe pain in my hand and went to the emergency department of a local hospital. They gave me tetanus and rabies injections and put me on a drip of antibiotics. Got home after 12. By Wednesday my hand was like a balloon and went to a doctor. Sonar showed an abscess in my wrist.

Late afternoon they cut open my hand and cleaned it up. The bacteria had destroyed the tendons that lift your fingers. Got hammered with more antibiotics and by Sunday the bacteria was identified. Now got a cocktail of 3 antibiotics that were effective against it. Got home late yesterday and am still on antibiotics for a month. Reconstructive surgery is still waiting in the future.

Be very careful with animal bites and a quick onset of infection.

[oafpatroll]

Sorry to hear. Wish you all the best with the surgery and your recovery.

[BBCT]

I have twice had similar but less severe experiences with spider bites on my legs. Ended up overnight in hospital the second time, which was about 6 weeks ago. I still have an obvious hole & scab in my thigh.

Hang in there Tripodmvr. Hope your surgeon has a sense of humour like mine did when in answer to my query he said that the only alcohol I could consume should be single malt over ice! I took his words to heart and seem to have recovered other than the occasional urge to climb walls.  ;-)

He also pointed out that we can sometimes infect these wounds ourselves. The example he provided was maybe going to the toilet, wiping your arse, then scratching the insect bite without having washed your hands properly. I guess stale food particles under your fingernails would be another example, or even picking your nose.

As per the OP's warning, be careful.

PS: They cleared out a cavity full of puss in my leg that was about the volume of half a coffee cup. I was under general anaesthetic, not just local.

[Mohamed]

Thank you for the info Tripodmvr. Passed it on to my family as they like playing with cats and were unaware of the dangers. Hope you recover soon and all goes well.

[Treeman]

Thank you for the info Tripodmvr. Passed it on to my family as they like playing with cats and were unaware of the dangers. Hope you recover soon and all goes well.

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Please do not put fear into family, this was an avoidable situation and pets do not usually just bite. I "with respect to my senior and better", feel Tripodmvr should have known better and used a cat box or just a box when putting a cat in a stress situation.

[Treeman]

The heading will become clearer as I tell my story. Google the name above for more info.
 By Wednesday my hand was like a balloon and went to a doctor. Sonar showed an abscess in my wrist.

Late afternoon they cut open my hand and cleaned it up. The bacteria had destroyed the tendons that lift your fingers. Got hammered with more antibiotics and by Sunday the bacteria was identified. Now got a cocktail of 3 antibiotics that were effective against it. Got home late yesterday and am still on antibiotics for a month. Reconstructive surgery is still waiting in the future.

Be very careful with animal bites and a quick onset of infection.

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Ey ey my friend, hope this turns out less severe than it sounds, it sounds very bad indeed and this is usually an matter that has permanent repercussions - Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus a very fkd up bunch of thingee's found in cat bites, Pasteurella multocida is the common one ( u did not have this one) Multocida is the one we bird rescue people know, its why most birds rescued from cats die, even when almost unhurt.

 This mean little fkr ,Staphylococcus is one barsted of a thing that gets into a wound mosquito size and then just like destrys you.
Cody bumped his leg on a kiddy play park wooded animal, it almost bled it was so small th cut and he could have lost his leg, its another story, but it was bad.
I also got bit by a hurt cat I helped and also had pork sausage fingers, cat bites are bad - almost as bad as human bites which are really prone to infection and the reason why sex molesters who get bitten by their victims are very often caught.

I have been bitten and stung by almost every thing that does so, I have even been bitten and scratched by a Bengal tiger (shit you not), cat bites hurt much and plenty, the after burn is much worse than a dog or non venomous snake.

[Treeman]

I have twice had similar but less severe experiences with spider bites on my legs.

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People of the modern world are so far disconnected from the fears of the past and do not really understand toxins, venoms and how absolutely devastating they are. Venom is a Godless, merciless, unimaginably terrible stuff - we are so far disconnected from these things in our modern world. 
A littly spider bite bump, turns into a swollen crater and it does not stop, it just keeps on eating, rotting away at the body, if you have ever seen a bad one you will always carry the image with you. The Adder family as well, you rot away while alive in some cases, venoms are not to be played with, just like bacteria.

[Treeman]

Tripodmvr, how are you doing now ? Wishing you best luck friend.

[Tripodmvr]

Thanks, on the mend. Still have to go through the reconstructive operation/s.

[janfred]

The wife was right. Cats are evil. They dont have owners; they have servants.

[Ds J]

Has anyone done ozone treatment on wounds like these?

[Treeman]

such a fearful word, "Necrotizing"

[Treeman]

Oom Drie, please tell us about the hands recovery, the info just stopped coming.

[Tripodmvr]

Hand's recovery is slow. The final scabs that were on the edges of the skin graft finally came off during last week. I have limited use of my hand and the nerve damage relates to a numb sort of sensation when touching items. The three middle fingers tend to fold over one another and I do not have the strength I used to have. I still need to test my trigger finger. The finer motor movements are still not as smooth as they used to be. I will be seeing the occupational therapist on Tuesday and can then get her opinion on progress.

[oafpatroll]

Horrifying to hear of the harm you have experienced from such an apparently benign source. Sounds like there are improvements and I hope they keep on keeping on and that you have a complete functional recovery. A mate of mine who had unrelated tendon and nerve damage in his hand surgically addressed a couple of years ago was here for a braai yesterday. When I saw him last 6 months back he couldn't load a pistol mag but after rehab under the supervision of a biokineticist he has now regained most of his strength and fine motor control. I trust you will have the same outcome.