Good News and Bad News ....

Just when you think you are almost done and have completed all the necessary tests, I’m not!! Today was a “good news” and “bad news” appointment …..

Bad News: The radiology report stated that there was no infection present, but Dr. B feels otherwise. Dr. B showed me color variation on the MRI. The bone area that he is concerned about is directly under the area that is open. Good bone is normally dark in color and infected bone is more of a white color. Well, the bone that is directly under the open area on the MRI film is white on my MRI scan.

So, Dr. B wants 2 weeks to talk with the radiologist and see why they feel that there is no infection present. He doesn’t want to do “exploratory” surgery and I don’t either. There is another test that may be then scheduled with dye, blood test and more scans to see if it shows an infection. Not sure why, but he didn’t want to order that test today.

If there is bone infection, then my STL orthopod would need to get involved and be present for the surgery as well ….. he’d do the “bony” part of the operation and the plastic guy would do the soft tissue part. Thankfully, they do both operate at Barnes West Co. on Thursdays. I was extremely frustrated that he had not talked w/the radiologist before I got there today – in my opinion, that should have been done in the past three days. So, it is highly likely that nothing is going to really progress on this in the next 4-6 weeks, unless Dr. B is able to talk to the radiologist right away. He noted that the open areas are getting larger.

Good News: Dr. B is being very thorough, covering all his bases, looking at all possibilities, and is trying to get to the bottom of the situation. I didn’t have my normal $50 co-pay because I was in and out of his office in like ten minutes. He gave no indication that he wouldn’t keep working with me.

Needless to say, this wasn’t the news I was hoping to hear today. I was so hoping to have the surgery & do recovery during the month of September ….. Oct/Nov. are not good months for me to have to shuffle around things at work. I am tired of buying gauze, tape, etc. & re-bandaging multiple times during the day. There is no sense of urgency with anyone on this. Today marks the six week mark, when I first saw the plastic surgeon. So, no surgery scheduled yet.

Big prayer request: Pray that Dr. B is able to consult w/the radiologist early next week and that things will move along. My STL orthopod is also now involved, so this is more coordination that needs to happen.

Need to get back to work and try to focus ….. je