Friends Don't Let Friends

We have all heard this phrase.

We all have dealt with, or at some point in our lives, deal with loved ones, family or friends, that make poor decisions or are too stubborn to seek the care they need.

Enter my good friend and his dire situation.

He just turned 59 the other day. An ex army brat and tough as nails, he is the kind of guy that shrugs off the apocalypse itself.

Last year, he sustained a nasty dog bite. Over the course of a few months, his hands would swell and blister.

This ceased, so I assumed he had gotten better. He hasn't. In fact, it is now a life threatening situation.

On his birthday, he finally showed someone his forearms (he has been wearing long sleeves, even in high temp).

What I saw was beyond alarming. The tops of his forearms have been eaten away to a moderate to severe extent...otherwise known as necrosis.

I would post a picture, but it is too stomach turning as necrotic examples can be gruesome. If youve ever seen a bad brown recluse bite, that is what it looks like.

For the last 48 hours I have been talking to him and also informed his sister as I was the first person he showed the wounds too.

He refuses to go to the hospital as he hates it there, has short funds, and has this cavalier attitude that it will simply get better on its own.

What he has I am very certain is called Necrotizing Fasciitis and requires extensive antiobiotic treatment and possibly surgery due to it being a bacterial infection, generally Streptoccoccus Aureus. If left untreated, it can lead to amputation or sepsis and death.

His sister and I have been trying everything to ligt a fire under his ass, to no avail.



Today, however, a break through. I managed to get in contact with a fantastic doctor who makes house calls. After hearing the situation, she expressed a desire to help by any and all means and to alleviate his confidentiality and financial concerns.

At this point, he is goimg to call her today for a free phone consultation and within the week will have her come see him for diagnosis and medication prescription.

I now pray that he gets better.



The point is, don't give up or give in. Your friends and family will thank you later.


Best wishes.

a reply to: CreationBro

i cant imagine having to try or persuade a person(friend) to go get their necrotic arm looked at by a doc.

if they cant figure that # on their own then i got nothing...
personally

a reply to: TinySickTears

Agreed. Baffling.

Sometimes people don't think straight, or are in denial.

I have been there before, and am so grateful for the close friends and family that didn't give up on me.

Pay it forward, right?

originally posted by: CreationBro
a reply to: TinySickTears

Agreed. Baffling.

Sometimes people don't think straight, or are in denial.

I have been there before, and am so grateful for the close friends and family that didn't give up on me.

Pay it forward, right?

i suppose. i have neglected going to the doc for a cold or something till it got bad enough
when your god damn arm is being eaten away there should be no stall.

but hey man good on you...

im just talking from my personal whatever you want to call it

homeboy dont feel like going to the doc even though the bone is visible then im out..

a reply to: CreationBro


If my arm was being eaten away I would go, the antibiotics are going to put him right in the poor house though. If he needs surgery then he is boned as well.

I can't say as I blame him for his apprehension, our medical system is not good.

Damn, that is scary.

You should mention this is more common in people with diabetes.

-that is what I am seeing on google

It is fatal if not addressed.

Good luck man

I applaud your caring persistence and wish the best to all involved, especially your stubborn friend. Hopefully you will update us with good news!

He is a danger to himself state laws exist



But, it's his life. He earned his liberty

a reply to: CreationBro

He's lucky to have a friend like you -

- people tend to be so caught up in their own lives these days that many of them no longer hold to that 'ideal' of 'going above and beyond' to help a friend...
...I really think that social media, especially Facebook, has caused a sort of 'depreciation' of friendship.

Please do let us know how it all turns out..

When i opened this post i was hoping for something less severe... maybe more erotic.

It was a good call. For something this serious i would actually have just called an ambulance and offered to pay for its cost. This way someone sees your friend right away. (im not wealthy)

Thank you for your replies, advice, and kind words everyone.

The necrosis is not to the muscle or bone yet, but it bad enough to warrant immediate attention.

Thankfully we have a secret weapon...his mother. We are going to tell her if he doesnt follow through with treatment in the next day or two. We all know that he will never in a million years defy his Mom's plea for him to get treatment.

Thanks again y'all.

a reply to: CreationBro

Is it possible that he is diabetic?
This would affect the healing of wounds.
I thought that necrotizing fasciitis was something that progressed rather quickly and is vwry life threatening. I didn't think you could survive for months after contracting it with no treatment.

Props to you, my brother......

Prayers for a healing.....from Texas

a reply to: butcherguy

Nope, not diabetic. He loves milk though!

My best guess is that the dog bite last year caused streptococcus auereus to enter his hands. His hands would blister and swell intermittently.

I think he has a remarkably strong immune system, but the bacteria is slowly winning the battle now.

originally posted by: GBP/JPY
Props to you, my brother......

Prayers for a healing.....from Texas

Thank you brother.

a reply to: CreationBro

He takes a lot of drugs, right?

He's going to need more then just the medication/antibiotics, he'll also need to start taking a blood thinner at minimum to help restore flow.

However he also need to have the dead and infected tissue removed, otherwise the antibiotics will not be able to do much and it will continue to attack him and the antibiotics will become useless and ineffective - tablets will not work in this case, he needs to be on an infusion/IV of antibiotics directly.

If it is not removed the possibilities for a very nasty blood infection becomes highly possible and more likely and if he gets MRSA (beyond highly likely, every person carries it on there skin,it requires a low immune system, being sick for it to take hold) from the open wounds, his life is over

There is more, however I hope the doctor and his mother can convince him to seek help, the IV antibiotics can even be administered with at home care if he wants that.

a reply to: CreationBro

i'm the same way as your friend even to the point of shrugging things off. you could have been describing me.

anyway a couple of years ago me and the better half took to taking care of stray cats, even haveing them fixed. most are real friendly and would let you pet them. one day i was going to take one to the vet and was trying to put her in the pet carrier and she wasn't going to go in, put up a hell of a fight and then bit my forearm so hard that my hand locked up until she let go.

the bite bleed for a day or two and then turned red for about a week and went back to normal. about a month later it began to turn red from my elbow to my wrist, and was really hot and hurt to be damn and swoll up . i knew it was from the bite, so i kept on rubbing neosporin( that stuff will heal anything) on the spot where the bite was, thinking that it would help. no dice after about a month my forearm looked like it was going to pop. my girlfriend( better half after 15 years) kept trying to get me to go to the doctor, i just kept on saying it will be all right.

to make a long story short the doc said if i would have waited much longer, i could have lost the arm and might have even died.

you don't play around with animal bites. like the doctor said any thing that can lick it's own a@@ isn't going to have a clean mouth and if those germs get in your blood stream, your better do something right then not later.

originally posted by: Astyanax
a reply to: CreationBro

He takes a lot of drugs, right?

You can talk about me if that's your desire.

You know that rabbit hole doesn't have a bottom

a reply to: MuonToGluon

Excellent advice, and that is what i suspect will be the treatment recommendation as well.

Thank you. I do think he will opt for in home treatment.