Alright... Let's start with A couple weeks ago. Zach's arm that had a growth about 20 months ago (read about his surgery here) started to not look as flat as it had been after his surgery. It wasn't clear that it was hurting or growing though, so we were just kind of watching it.
Fast forward to Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. His underarm was starting to pooch out some and he said it hurt a fair bit. He continued to go to summer school class and work. Then on Friday he didn't end up working for his dad. He was having to use a pillow in between his arm an body to be comfortable at all. He had spiked a fever of 101 something and was in such pain by Friday night, we were questioning going to the ER. We called our parents and my cousin, Nekayeh, who is a nurse practitioner. She said that we should draw a line around the growth, so we could note if it got any bigger. We decided we would go to urgent care first thing in the morning.
Saturday morning we get up and go to St. Mary's urgent care and see a Dr. For all of 2 minutes. The Dr. feels of the growth and immediately states our thinking: it's infected. He didn't see a reason to cut into it or see a surgeon yet. (We didn't mention we already had an appt with the surgeon for Tues.) The nurse gave him a shot of Rocephin. (Insert "Ouch" here! His backside still hurts!) They give us a Rx for an antibiotic and send us on our way.
We went to Steak n' Shake for breakfast/lunch since it was in the way home. Did I mention I am so sick with a sinus infection/cold/crap I don't even taste my food? When it rains, it pours! Right?
Moving on. We came home, took a nap, and then went to pick up his Rx and meds for me. We then went to my parents house to take showers, since we are still in the process of remodeling our bathroom. At my parents house, he starts to feel lightheaded, so we decide to head back home around 8:00 so that we are closer to the hospital if need be.
He took his first round of antibiotics at 8:45, and an hour later is still running a fever and his arm pain is worse than ever. On the paper from St. Mary's, they said if he spiked a fever again OR his pain got worse, to go to the ER. We consulted with Nekayeh again, and decided it was best to go to the ER.
10:20- We got to the ER, waited less than 20 minutes, and were taken into triage and then a room. The nurse took Zach's blood, and his parents got there by that time.
11:30ish- The Dr. came in and examined Zach and we shared with him Zach's previous episode of this. He told us he thought he could cut into the cyst and then it would pop "like a balloon." He also informed us that Zach's bloodwork did NOT show signs of infection... at all. We will continue the antibiotic though, to prevent an infection. Then the Dr. would pack it and we'd come back in a couple if days to get the packing out. Did I mention he was going to be doing all of this with just numbing Zach's under arm?! At one point, I asked, "Can't we just knock him out? Please?" Bless the poor Dr.'s heart, he was still nice to me an explained the "benefit vs. the risk" and that there really wasn't a great need for Zach to be out for this. I guess I just knew that it was going to be extremely painful for Zach and I really, really didn't want to see my poor husband in pain.
12:00 a.m- The nurse gave Zach a shot of phenargan in his leg and then a mg if dilloted (sp?) in his IV. Soon after, Zach told us that the ceiling tiles were moving and that the trees in the picture on the wall has wind moving through them! : ) It was just a teensy bit funny!
12:15 a.m. ish- The Dr. comes back in and starts using a shot to numb Zach's arm pit. He described it to Zach that he would feel a "pinch" and then a "burn." I'm not sure, but I think this was one I the most painful things that he did to Zach. I am going to be honest and tell you that I was almost to my limit of seeing him in pain. It was not easy and remember just praying that God would take the pain away and to get rid of this awful thing in Zach's arm. He gripped the railing on the bed and I strikes his hand. I don't think Zach opened his eyes the whole time. The Dr. Told him to concentrate on not jumping at any of the touches, pokes that he was doing. In total, the Dr. Drew out around 325 cc's of fluid from Zach. He told Zach it was just about the biggest cyst he had seen under an arm. We all joked what an accomplishment that was! He didn't end up packing Zach's arm, but left it open to see if anymore came out. Dr. Throop, the surgeon we will see on Tuesday, wasn't there this morning, but one of his partners was, and he said we are supposed to check back in with him today sometime.
We got home around 2:00 this morning, and were asleep by about 3:00.
When we got up around 10:30, Zach was in a lot of pain, took his meds, and fell back asleep. I think his underarm is feeling better because the relief of all the pressure the fluid was putting on it, but he is very sore from the incision. We ask for everyone's prayers for the coming days. Pray for answers and good decisions at the Dr. on Tuesday and that what we do will rid us of this problem!
Wow! I know this is a lot, but I wanted to thoroughly document it for our records!
Now for the gross picture! Yuck right?!
Now for the gross picture! Yuck right?!
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