Broken Ankle Saga continues

The night Shel fell down we went to outpatients. We saw Doctor #1. Doctor #1 requested an x-ray and said that because of the swelling in Shel's foot she was unable to put a full cast on. she put a cast on the back half of Shel's leg and then wrapped it in a bandage and sent us home. She wrote a prescription for pain and told us to return in 7 days. Shel points out to this doctor that there is an unusual bump on her foot. The doctor doesn't make any comment about it.

The swelling never went down, the pain never went away. In seven days we returned and we saw Doctor #2. Doctor #2 took off the half cast and said the thing NEVER should have been put on. He said he looked at the x-ray and there was no break and what Shel was experiencing was tissue damage- probably ligament and tendon tears and she would be in a lot of pain and he gave her a walking cast. Shel told him her pain prescription had run out and he said that particular medication can cause stomach bleeding and so she should not take it for more than 5 days. The nurse made a comment to Shel (seeing how much pain she was in) that she needed to tell the doctor that she was in pain and get something else prescribed. She told him about the pain and he prescribed Tylenol with codeine - the one thing she said she did not like to take because of her reaction to it.

The swelling has not gone down, the pain has not gone away. Fast forward to week number three. Doctor #2 calls Shel and asks her to return to the hospital in the morning for a 3rd x-ray. Someone has apparently looked at the x-rays and believes there may indeed be a break and would like to get another look at it. Shel returns to the hospital for an x-ray. Doctor number 2 tells her she does not need to take the boot off for the x-ray and she says she would like to take it off and have him look at it because of the pain and swelling. She takes off the boot, he takes one look at her foot and says she has a SEVERE case of cellulitis and she needs IV antibiotics IMMEDIATELY. She needs IV antibiotics twice that day ( yesterday) and three times today and again on Saturday morning. She also goes back to x-ray to get her foot xrayed again. The X-ray tech goes and asks the doctor if she can xray not only the ankle, but the foot because she thinks something is wrong with the foot.

So yesterday she gets IV antibiotics twice.
Today she goes in for her first dose of antibiotics and she sees doctor #3. Doctor #3 gives her a prescription for 2 oral antibiotics. The nurse cannot get a vein and so she does not get any IV antibiotics. Doctor #3 tells her absolutely NOT to wear the boot. She must keep her foot elevated and he has now requested an MRI.

We are following each step and we are extremely grateful that she went in for a 3rd x-ray because cellulitis can turn dangerous very quickly and we would never have known she had it. They said again today she has a severe case. I only hope we see some kind of resolution soon - and not because I am carrying lots of chocolate milk up the stairs for her!

We don't have many more doctors in town. I hope we get it figured out before we run out of doctors.