We did!! Head hit the pillow and Alex and I didn't move until 8:00 am! And we went to bed about 9! :eek::eek::eek: He is sleeping in the room with me and DH so we can make sure he don't mess with his knee. He didn't seem to mind. :) Oh, and I had two very happy little Yorkie girls!!! :D:D

I bet you feel sooooo much better now!!!

I know you are so glad to be home!!!!!!!!!!! and got to sleep good to boot!!:cheer:

So glad your home :)

Happy that you & Alex got a good nights rest :)

We have to go every day to have his dressing changed. I will be crazy by the time this is all over with! :crazy: But at least we are home!!!! :p

I'm glad you are home and I hope Alex is feeling better!

Yelling "woohoo" seems like it would normal at Dollywood. :D I love Dolly Parton and have always wanted to visit Dollywood. I'm envious!

Rhonda, hoping all is well with Alex today. :)

So happy you got to go home!:)

It was like winning the lottery!! :eek::eek: Just kidding, but I did get pretty excited when they said we could. :D We have to have the dressing changed daily which means a trip to town everyday for me. But sooooooo worth it to get to sleep in my own bed! Alex is much happier at home too!!! Bless his heart, he has been through it with this!!

Great news!

Yay! I pray Alex continues to recuperate nicely and that this ordeal will soon be a distant memory. :)

Was this from his post-op infection you posted about a while back? Did the surgeon do an I&D on that knee? I must have missed the post about what he was having done. At least the surgery has been done & is over. I hope he is doing so much better now.

Girl I have been dealing with this for 2 months!!!! Yes, it was the post op infection. I kept taking him back in and they kept telling me it was just fluid. Then the fluid starting draining and it was clear and reddish. The Friday before I went to the ER, it was cloudy looking and he had two bumps show up on his knee. Saturday it was draining a blood looking fluid and was red red red. So I went to the ER. They admitted us with the thinking that it was a staph infection.

What is an I&D?? Right now he has the two bumps "open". They are cleaning them daily with peroxide on a Qtip, using Iodoform Packing Strips, and then covering with gauze and coban. He is also on an oral antibiotic. I know we are continuing this process up to Monday and he sees the doctor on Tuesday. I really think they let it go to long. :(:( No one was listening to me. :(

I & D is incise and drain. The iodoform gauze will help the wound heal from the inside out. You and Alex have been thru so much and I hope Alex is feeling better soon.

Thank you. Yes, I guess that is what he did then. I am waiting to be able to access the records. I haven't even been told that is was staph for sure. :(

Rhonda, so glad to hear that Alex is finally home and doing better! Will continue to keep you both in prayers.

Staph? That's often what it is when it lingers & won't go away. Glad it's not MRSA! Poor little Alex. No one who's had surgery deserves to have to deal with that. I am so sorry to hear about this - I was praying the doc's conservative tx. had worked. Well, at least you all are home & his treatment is continuing. Will he have to have any PT after this? Prayers & hugs are coming you guys way until I read he's been released from the surgeon's care.

That is what they were telling me they think it was staph. They did send the tissue for a culture but I was not told it was MRSA so I am assuming it was their original thinking, staph. I was also told this is common in knee surgery patients????? I don't think he will need PT after all this. He really is doing well considering all he has been through!! We see the surgeon on Tuesday so maybe I will know more at that time. Thanks for the prayers and well wishes everyone!!

Oh, I am so sorry to hear that. But at least most kinds of staph are treatable. P/O infections are not common after surgery on joints but they do happen from time to time in orthopedics. Was Alex' original knee surgery one that involved going into the joint capsule - such as a meniscal tear repair or debridement/partial excision or ACL repair? The culprit often turns out to be the O.R. room used or an O.R. staff member. Most po staff infections are picked up in the hospital setting, especially among patients with weakened immune systems. Years ago, the hospital where the orthopedic surgeon I worked for was on staff, had multiple post-op staph infections & the Health Department had to close one of their O.R.'s down for a period of time & 5 of our knee surgery patients were victims of it. We had to have our own clinic where those patients were followed up specially cleaned & take all kinds of precautions to avoid its spread to other patients. It was a nightmare. All surgeons have patients with p/o infections & that doesn't mean they did anything unsanitary, etc., such as in my employer's case. It it just one of the known hazards of surgery and/or being in a healthcare facility. You might check your surgeon & the hospital's p/o staph infection rate in the last year if you want before he has any other procedures under similar circumstances. Management of p/o staph can be tough. Keep a close eye on Alex' wound & knee & him generally, watching other cuts, if urination is burning, sniffles, etc. Take him into an E.R. at the first sign of anything untoward. If need be, you could always see a specialist in Infectious Disease for a second opinion. I wish Alex an uncomplicated recovery.

Alex had a fatty tumor come up around his knee area. And yes, they said it was growing into the joint area. I don't necessarily blame the surgeon for the infection but I do think he should have been more aggressive over the last 2 months. I think this infection has been there the entire time. How do you check the staph infection rate? I would really like to know that. Honestly if he has to have anything else done I think I will use a different hospital. I hate to say that but there are many reasons for that decision. I appreciate you listing the things for me to watch for. I am clueless when it comes to things like this. :( I have considered switching to the other hospital for his wound care. I have a friend who works there and she has done a lot to help me with this. I may do that after my visit on Tuesday. Thanks for all the advice. You have been a sweetheart!

I will admit I was a bit shocked to hear he is just recently having an I&D, as most surgeons will usually undertake that fairly quickly with a pus-y wound but maybe he had his reasons. I would check with your City's Health Department to see if they can give you guidance about how best to check infection rates. I am pretty sure Consumer Reports Health does this but you have to be a subscriber. You might also try 1-800-CDC-INFO to see what they can recommend about checking. The CDC monitors hospital rates through several associations. Ask them about how to check on the surgeon as well. Checking him over daily, taking temp, palpating lymph nodes, belly, looking for swelling, redness, streaking of red, sore throat, nausea, skin eruptions - any sign out of the ordinary would warrant getting him checked out. Poor sweetie - he's sure been & still going through it. And you, too. I will be praying for you guys. Here's a hug! ♥♥♥

Thank you so much!!!! I will see what I can find out.