and things are worse... the stress of yesterday while it was hard on me, it was devastating on my hubby. His cellulites has flared again. He is currently running 104 fever and I only have enough antibiotics to get through noon today - so I have to get ahold of his 75 plus year old doctor to call in a refill before then.

I have had no sleep (ok, about three hours). A friend is supposed to come over today and help me pack... and get to the pharmacy to pick up hubby's meds...

I am going to try to catch another hour or two of sleep...

love and hugs to all!!!

yadlim (avatar is Sansa, 4lb poodle mix of my daughter's who is back with us now)

Take care and pace yourself. BTW Sansa is really cute :)

update - we caught his cellulitis episode in time and he is already on the mend and bored of bed rest!!!!! YAY!!!!!!

I am not a 4 lb dog person... but Sansa is great. She is 3/4 poodle, 1/8 Yorkie, and 1/8 Maltese so she does not shed at all - just matts at the drop of a hat. Things wound up that she went two weeks without getting brushed, and there is no saving her coat, so even though it is currently almost two inches long - by end of the week she will be shaved down as she was in this pic.

Love and hugs - I will be back tomorrow (Sunday). I am going to chill for an hour or so then walk the dogs and head to bed.

OH OH OH Lilly I saw a B-day card today with your picture on it!!! It made me so ridiculously happy!!!

yadlim

Chronic cellulitis...
I grew up with an RN mom...and...
...I hadn't heard of it before. I geeked on it a bit.
I'm not a doc, ok! seriously, no training here...just some picked-up knowledge and one community college biology 1 class.

What I'm worried is going on with him is this:

The bacter is lying around dormant in his cells until his immune system weakens due to stress. When he gets symptomatic, he gets enough antibiotics to kill MOST of the bacteria.

However...the most resistant bacteria are still there lurking.
Then he gets stressed, rinse and repeat.

Where I further speculate this could possibly lead is extremely antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
My wild guess would be that he might need a combined antibiotic treatment for a long while. The articles I pulled up mentioned antibiotic prophylaxis, even. I really honestly know just enough to find the whole thing quite worrisome.

****I'm just a nut on the internet!****

If he has no specialist he's got to find a way to get one. University-run big city poor-folk's hospital?
Now...
I have my own fun with a chronic, resistant sinus infection from hell, and I can say that from what I have read and taken myself?

Zinc supplementation is something that *might* help. Vitamin C, quercetin, and D2 supplementation *might* help. Especially with the D2-with that 5,000 milligrams a day, in perpetuity.

As I understand it, D2 promotes the apoptosis of bacterially-infected cells. Thus, taking D2 would slowly take away the bacterial hiding places that the infection keeps popping out of.

White tea boosts the effectiveness of antibiotics significantly in lab tests (admittedly, mouse models).
Taking all the above in sane amounts probably will not mess anything up, and might help.

Corticosteroids are said to be used to lower inflammation in cellulitis. this promotes healing.
Wellll...
I have found the supplement vinpocetine seems to help my sinus inflammation quite a bit. It is a novel anti-inflammatory substance. It takes about 3 weeks to build to dose and needs to be taken with food.

Remember, all the above is JUST suggestions and/or stuff I have found to work FOR ME. Doesn't mean it will work for anyone else.
I am so far from being a medical professional it isn't funny.

Best of luck. You two are good folks.

And I hope I did not come off as condescending or something. The intent was to be of usefulness, even if it's stuff you've already heard of a hundred times before.

First off, I never read any post as trying to come off as anything but helpful... EVER. So no worries.

He does have a specialist... One of the best in the Seattle area on immune systems and contagious diseases. The original infection was from a toenail removal that got contaminated by mule fecal matter - thanks to dogs tracking manure into the house on paws.

We are actually on our third antibiotic... One stopped working and another he became allergic to after a couple years. Periodic cultures make sure what he is taking is still doing the job.

Annoyingly enough, the bacteria have found a new hiding place on his skin... psoriasis. As the treatments for psoriasis lower immune systems, he can't take them. So it is absolute vital that he scrubs his whole skin daily with antibacterial soap... three days of using normal soap can bring on an episode.

He is on Vit C, D2, and a multi-vitamin. I will have to try the zinc!!!

Hugs and love!!

yadlim

wait, was it d2 or d3? I'm running on little sleep...the one that's typically made from sheep lanolin-D3.

So it's a *surface* thing...

...I wonder if straight peppermint essential oil, topically applied, would help as well. It is antibacterial and relieves swelling on contact. However, tea tree oil's both less irritating and a good topical antifungal... and both are a little, um, strong. I use them straight, but that may not work for everyone/everything.

The other thing about the essential oils, in my experience anyway, is they only seem to have an effect for a couple of hours. Then you have to reapply.
Different reason for applying here: I found peppermint oil to be even better at lowering pain and swelling in my brand new tattoo than a&d ointment.
I had it on me because I used to spike my coffee with a few drops of peppermint oil. I need to get more oil and start doing that.

ohhh.. we have not tried essential oils. I have peppermint oil - I treat respiratory infections with it in the goats and horses. So I always buy lots and the animals hardly ever get sick so it just hangs out in the cabinet.

Tea tree oil? Where do I find it?

yadlim - who has been informed by the dogs that their water dish is EMPTY!! Misha throws it at me.

Oddly enough? the Walmarts (here at least) carry it in the pharmacy section, this because a lot of people like to use it for athlete's foot.

Any Kroger's that has the natural food section might carry it. I imagine Trader Joe's does, I know Whole Foods does.
Amazon carries almost everything that can be legally shipped through the US mail, so they have it too.

Warning, it is stinky stuff.