Tell me about antibiotic treatment

[geekmama]

I am in the hospital after a second surgery.  I had surgery to remove my AN in April and then about 19 days later I noticed that my head was leaking a bit from the incision.  I was told to come back to the original hospital and the surgeon removed all of the packing, mesh, plate, etc. from the original surgery.  It was all sent off to see what bacteria/infection grew.  It has been growing now for more than 72 hours and nothing is growing.  In the meantime, I am on the heaviest duty antibiotics (vancomyecin) in the hospital. I am told that the doctor wants to put in a PICC Line and have me pump in these very strong antibiotics at home.  I am having doubts, though.  There are no growths on what was taken out of my brain and although I want to be on the safest side, I feel like my immune defenses are being destroyed without much evidence of need.  It's not like I haven't been pumped full of the antibiotics already.  I have seen very little on these forums about this issue of infection.  It does not seem to be a CSF leak so I'm wondering what experiences people have had with these infections?  Have some of you run into very big, very scary infections and what has been done?

[leapyrtwins]

Aileen -

sorry to hear about the CSF leak.

We've had a few on the Forum who had to have PICC lines - Kathy M and Kaybo come to mind.  Possibly Priscilla (msmaggie) also.

Search on "PICC line" and you'll find several posts.

Hope things get better fast,

Jan

[Lizard]

If the Dr had to reopen the original incision your brain is again exposed to many possible infections from the incision as it heals.  The PICC line is a good way to get the antibiotics you need and still go home.  Its hard to trust the Dr's when everyone's talking about "super bugs" and "antibiotic resistant infections", but honestly you are very susceptible right now and they want to make sure that as the incision heals you do not contract anything.  In my nonprofessional opinion you DO need these antibiotics.  After you are done with the antibiotics try to get lots of fruits and veggies and take your vitamins and whatnot as to help your immune system to recover.  Its working in overdrive right now and it might need some extra care too, just like you.
Try to relax and heal, its important you listen to your body.
Hang in there and let us know how things pan out,
Liz

[geekmama]

The update is that the bacteria cultures are finally growing slowly.  I had the PICC Line put in and it wasn't painful or uncomfortable at all.  It helped that I had a very funny two-woman team keep me entertained with stories of relationship drama because I was feeling so scared.

I will go home with a twice a day IV antibiotic regimen for 6 weeks it seems.  The biggest problem is that the antibiotics make me shaky and unable to concentrate on anything.  I ordered some Lego sets and will just try to focus on doing small hobby-type things while I am going through this. 

I am glad that my doctors are working on being completely safe and conservative. 

[Lizard]

I'm glad to hear everything went well, have fun playiing with your legos...
Hang in there.
Liz

[Debbi]

I had to have a PICC line "installed" several weeks after my surgery when I developed an infection.  I actually got very adept and hooking myself up to a drip twice a day, changing dressing, nozzles, etc.  BTW, I recommend Glad Press'n'Seal to keep the nozzle dry when you shower - stuff is amazing!  At first, I was using masking tape to tape a plastic bag around my arm, but that was just a mess. Hang in there!!

[Lizard]

LOVE PRESS AND SEAL!!!!!
Never had a PICC line, but that stuff really is AMAZING 

[moe]

LOVE PRESS AND SEAL!!!!!
 

Totally agree with that! Multiple, multiple uses.
Kind of like duct tape (or duck tape as some people call it). It even holds cars together, I've noticed as I'm driving down the freeway!

Aileen,
Sorry to hear that the vancomycin is giving you the shakes. Hopefully those side effects have calmed down, and you can go about your business. Yes, vanco is like the creme de la creme in antibiotics I think, but better to be safe than sorry later, right?

How often are you getting your blood drawn to  check your vancomycin blood level? (I'm recuperating from my face surgery and am a home health nurse. So I gotta stay in practice!) Do you live near Seattle?!
Maureen

[geekmama]

I actually ended up in the hospital YET AGAIN with allergic reactions to the Vancomycin.  They changed me to Penicillin, which is infused into me differently.  I have this pump in a bag that pumps the medicine into me every 4 hours all day long.  I only have to change the meds once a day.  It's quite a bit more convenient, but I still have something attached to me at all times, sigh. 

I see the Infection Diseases specialist in three days and I can't wait to find out whether he thinks the infection is gone or not because I'm very tired of the side effects and being attached to a cord.  I do want to be very safe, though, since I read about a number of people on this site getting second infections.  I've been on strong IV antibiotics for 4 weeks now, so I'm hoping I'm in pretty good shape.  No symptoms other than side effects from the antibiotics.

The good thing is that my bacteria seems to be wimpy and slow to grow, not something strong or resistant.

[moe]

Aileen,
Sorry to hear about your allergic reaction to the Vancomycin and back to the hospital. no fun
 Good ole penicillin to the rescue Hang in there, maybe just a couple of weeks more of antibiotic, see what the doc says. Better to get it all NOW
Maureen