Wow..No wonder we have not heard from you in a while Stacy. I'm sure all that seems like a bad nightmare, I don't know a lot about VRE but there are getting to be new strains of many bacterias--modern day new worries for us all. You will be in our prayers....try to hang in there and stay possitive, God bless you ! Dan H.
Stacy Harim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hey all. What a few months. I broke my back. Of all ways, I was transferring into my wheelchair. I didn't fall as one would guess. I grabbed the wheels to pull myself the rest of the way and it snapped at T 11. For those of you who don't know I got encephalomyelitis 6 yrs ago and left damage at T7. It hurt like hell even though it was below my level. I was shipped to Hopkins and had a rod put in my back. It turned out that I had osteomyelitis in my spinal column. A month later a cat scan revealed that he didn't get it all. Another rod and another cage in the lumbar area on top of nerves being snipped. Finally another surgery on my bday of all days July 3 to remove a screw that was too close to my aorta. The neurosurgeon feared erosion and it would come loose. I went ahead and had surgery on the pressure sore AGAIN! I had spoke with a reconstructive surgeon at Hopkins a few weeks before I snapped my back. I had several tests done that revealed that there was an underlying problem with the bone so I had some of it removed. I combined the last surgery. It should have healed in only a few weeks because he used triple stitching in layers. The skin healed but came apart again. I had to go back to Hopkins from rehab and ended up getting another surgery. He said that he didn't even see the dissolving stitches that should have lasted a few months. Now I'm home and on bed rest. It's been a month. He took the stitches out and there is still some drainage that he knows about but the pain can be extreme. I know I will end up calling him next week. I have definatly gone backwards. I have lost my balance, used to be able to sit up in bed, and I have lost my transfer ability that I got back slightly. I also have lost all stregnth that I am not allowed to work on until my spinal restrictions are lifted. On top of it all, I found out that I carry VRE in my wound. I am not sure if its in my intestines or not but my bowels started messing up since about a week after my last surgery. I'm not sure its the VRE or the zyvox I'm taking. I havent had it in a few days so I wonder why they are acting up. I'm taking iron twice a day and that isnt even slowing them down. Does anyone know about this? I'm going to the doctors next week but there isn't information like a fellow person that has been through it. Any help would be appreciated, Stacy --------------------------------- Park yourself in front of a world of choices in alternative vehicles. Visit the Yahoo! Auto Green Center.
