For my next blog I had planned  in detailing how my first trip to the physiotherapists had gone. I mean, saying how I coped O.C.D wise and also if I thought they were any good. When I came back I even had the title in my head for this next planned blog, ‘THE FAWLTY TOWERS OF PHYSIOTHERAPISTS…….OR SHOULD THAT BE FLOWERY TWATTS’ ha ha ha, fans of the sit-com will get this joke. Then as events turned for the worst here, dealing with them seemed more pressing than doing this physio blog. Therefore, I shall quickly sum up how the physios went now in the next paragraph, then get well and truly into the nitty gritty of the nightmare I’m going through right now(‘THE RETURN OF THE SINGING DETECTIVE’, a reference to a famous TV Drama character, being the clue here).

I’d sum up the first trip to these new Physiotherapist’s by saying it was alright, but no better that. I’m definitely going to go a few more times yet, but at the same time I wasn’t bowled over by his personal or professional skills. When I got there he examined my thoracic spine and stated how it wasn’t in great shape, this I was happy with because I didn’t want him to say I was fine when clearly I’m not. He stated how soreness in your thoracic spine can lead to pains in the shoulder(which I am getting), and even could possibly explain my rib pain. The bit that pissed me off however was that he then waltzed off for 20-25mins whilst I had ultrasound pain relief applied to me via a machine. After about 20mins and I’m still lay there prostrate on the treatment couch, I hear the door open and this strange guy around mid 20s comes in and says hello and awkwardly shakes my hand. He never said who he was and maybe I’ve been seeing too much CRIMEWATCH, but all I could think of was, ‘my wallet and phone are over there which he could easily pick up and run off with……..I could easily be the victim of a robbery here ha ha ha, I do have an over active imagination I grant you. Eventually I asked him did he work here and he said he was a physio yes, he was just going to apply ultrasound whilst the Organ Grinder comes back in a minute. I also kept thinking to myself at this point, ‘I’VE PAID 30 odd quid for this so far and all he’s done so far is shove me under a ruddy machine, can’t see me coming again. Then finally he came back and salvaged the appointment somewhat. He manipulated my thoracic spine and seemed very exuberant upon hearing a loud crack after doing so. He claimed a healthy thoracic spine wouldn’t or shouldn’t make such a sound after doing what he had just done to me. He said I’ll have about six appointments concentrating just on this area and I may find it helps the rib issues also, but at the same time it might not. If not, then he said he’ll work on me lower down(at the ribs level). I took this cracking noise to be a good sign. It showed things aren’t right like I’m telling everybody constantly and maybe my spine not being right could be the underlying explanation to this continued rib pain?  There was enough sense and plausibility in what he said for me to think I can not stop going here just yet, need to keep an open mind and give this bloke/physio a chance. He definitely needs to work on his personal skills though and he better not swan off elsewhere in the middle of another appointment, otherwise one will get very annoyed will one ha. Oh and as soon as he came back into the treatment room with this weird lad/physio who didn’t introduce himself, and started going all school teachery, so I quickly worked out this odd ball was a Trainee Physiotherapist. Think Benny from Crossroads, or the type of geek whose life evolves around computer games rather than girls……..harsh but fair ha ha ha.

Oh and nearly forgot, OCD wise, going to the physios was very anxiety provoking for me. Even though I’d gone to the extreme(and embarrassment) beforehand of asking the owner had anyone ever been sick there, and him saying they hadn’t, I was still really worried I might see or smell sick. I was also in a bit of a state getting the taxi there too, due to having an issue with that last time too. All in all I coped really well in the taxi and in the physio place. I didn’t smell anything dodgy so this gives me confidence. I did have a two wobbles coming out though however, the first being two dodgy looking marks on the treatyment room door. Mr Irrational was playing up, especially after just being pulled to pieces back and forth. However, Mr Rational won on this rare occasion as I concluded by fighting it, saying to myself that they were just old dirty marks you get on wood, in time. The second wobble was harder to cope with and am still a bit anxious about it now to be honest. Going from the toilets once I’d arrived there, I made a point of not looking at the Dentist’s waiting room chairs(it’s also a Dentists) so as I didn’t see any stains that would give me the chance to worry sick might be on them. I did this but as I went to the toilets before going home I forgot this ‘avoidance’ tactic due to him nearly bending me in half, and so accidentally duly laid my eyes on a dodgy looking stained waiting room chair argh. Yes it could have been anything, doesnt mean it was sick on it, chances are it was no, but this nevertheless has not stopped me worrying about it at home since this appointment. I had expected to have gone again by now and had to face these OCD demons, but events at home took a rather dramatic turn for the worst. This is where I tell you about me actually living the words of that famous Jerry Lee Lewis song, ‘GOODNESS, GRACIOUS, GREAT BURNING LEGS OF FIRE’…..(I’ve adapted the title) ha.

Those of you who have read ALL my blogs will remember me stating how my feet and ankles are swollen, particulatly the left one. Had numerous tests and scans to try and find out why this is, but everything thus far has comeback negative and fine. The latest is a GP wondering whether it’s a drainage or blood flow issue to do with my twisted pelvic issues. This is another reason why I’m trying to get going regularly to see a Physio once again. I also think it might have something to do with my sciatica in my left buttock too. Anyway, as my left foot is quite swollen and what with all this sunny hot weather we’ve been having lately, it has become very itchy at times. I remember itching it one night and then thought nothing of it after that. The next morning I woke up with these really nasty looking scratch marks on my foot, where I assumed I must have scratched the night before. Again, I thought nothing else more of it at this point. I’m an all or nothing kind of person so just assumed I must have just been a bit too rough when scratching my foot, I just admonished myself for going seemingly a bit over-the-top. As the next few days proceeded these scratch marks on my foot were starting to get really sore and seemed to be increasing rather than decreasing in size. I started putting on hydrocortisone ointment on which I have for my eczema but it seemed to make my foot worse worse rather than help it. Then to my alarm I noticed these scratch marks were getting much bigger and this rash was starting to develop up my right shin. Fast forward a few days and this rash on my left foot and shin was getting worse. It was really burning and incredibly itchy. I tried Sudocrem and Aqueous cream and on both occasions, applying such creams just made this rash sting more. Mum said Daktacourt Ointment had helped a bad rash of hers once so I tried this for a few days, but yet again my now really bad rash was getting worse. I had a GP appointment booked in 2wks time so was trying to cope with it until then……………..THEN I FOUND OUT WHAT IT WAS, THE WONDERS OF TWITTER.

The rash was absolutely killing me by now, the burning and itching were like I’ve never experienced before. My left leg around my calf and up my shin was burning red, and my foot was all red and now had bluey bits to it. I also was starting to get it on my right foot too, I was pretty certain it must be some kind of an infection. Sleeping was difficult due to the stinging and pain, and of course being in the middle of a bloody heatwave was making the itching ten times worse. I remember going on Twitter the following morning and tweeting how bad this rash looked on my foot and leg. I follower tweeted me how it sounded like CELLULITIS because her Gran had it, and said it can develop into something serious if not treated so I should get it checked out. Now at first I must admit I was a bit dismissive of this suggested diagnosis. Reason being, I used to follow this girl who used to endlessly make me worry around the time I developed gallstones. Every time she tweeted me it was something about when her Gran had gallstones and how they’d made her ill this way and that way, I used to come off reading those tweets worried sick. So with this in mind I thought at first, ‘oh hear we go again, somebody else trying to scaremonger’. That said, I thought I better check it out just in case this girl/woman was right, just on the off chance. BLOW ME OVER WITH A PINK SCARF PEOPLE, but when I did google cellulitis it took about five seconds for to me 100% believe this what I indeed did have. The photos of the rash/rashes looked the same and the fact that it mentioned people with swollen feet are prone to this, made me think even more I definitely has this. I rang up my Doctors that that day and managed to get an emergency appointment with a doctor. He duly comfirmed that I did indeed have cellulitis and precribed me with some antibiotics.

Fast forward to Friday and the rashes and burning was becoming horrific. The bloody antibiotics the Doc had given had not worked so I rang up on Friday to ask for some others. The only thing making me able to sleep at this point was applying Fusicidic Acid Cream to the affected areas, just died the burning down enough to enable me to dift off. The GP prescribed me some new antibiotics but warned I might have a bad reaction to them due to having a very bad reaction to some antibiotics years ago that are closely related to them. So, guessed what bloody happened. Yeap, only after 2 hours of taking this new antibiotic I started to feel really unwell. I started shivering, shaking, terrible nausea, just felt awful, no way could I carry on taking them. I was sooooooooooooo upset and pissed off. I felt soooooo ill and at this moment was still not on anything to get rid of this  cellulitis. We contemplated going to A & E but really didn’t want to have to go there unless absolutely necessary, due to my O.C.D phobias. Last time I went to A & E I had norovirus, was honking up blood and really didn’t want to be confronted with people with sick bowls. The GP had said that if I have a bad reaction then they do a new Saturday morning Clinic now(at the local Practice) for urgent cases, so ring there if I needs be. I woke up early Saturday nearly in tears my leg was burning that much, I had no choice, I had to ring up the Docs at 8am on a Saturday morning.

I spoke to this nice lady GP and she asked me to come along to the surgery so she could see the rash for herself. She mentioned maybe IV antibiotics might be the way to go, via either hospital or a nearby medical place that offers an Ambulatory Service. I really didn’t want to have to go into hospital due to my OCD contamination fears, that said something had to be done because the rash was unbearable and rapidly getting worse. After showing my feet to this Doctor she managed to sort it that I could go to this  nearbyAmbulatory medical place for intravenous antibiotics, which was a two minute walk from the GP’s Surgery.  I was a bit apprehensive going to this medical place because years ago it used to be an old folks home where my late Gran with Alzheimer’s used to be. Towards the end she had become incontinent and I can still remember one distressing visit where after we got into her room, we were met by this horrific smell and her excrement all over the carpet. My OCD wasnt quite as bad then as it is now but it was still an ordeal for us all. It was also upsetting to see her like that even if thankfully she was oblivious to it all. I assumed this place now would look like a mini hospital however when I got there it looked exactly how it had when my Gran lived there, plus all I could see were the grey heads of elderly folk. This caused a bit of a panic and even more so when the treatment room I went in, can you believe, was my old Grandma’s bedroom. It took me a good fifteen minutes of trying to calm down before I could relax in there. I quickly looked at the carpet to check for poo stains but it was about fifteen years ago that incident so I came to the conclusion it probably was a new carpet now, hence the clean look of it. The nurse who dealt with me was such a nice guy, could not have been more suportive and understanding regarding me and my OCD issues. I sensed somehow even he or a close family member or friend of his suffered with it too because he was sooooooooo empathetic towards my anxieties. He gave me an antibiotic done via IV and I was told I would need to come for it again for two more days, then it’s ten days of oral antibiotics(which worried me again concerning if I’d be able to take them or not). I had lovely walk home on a sunny day and finally felt that things with this cellulitis were moving in the right direction……….little did I know then what was about to happen next.

When I got home and decided to shower I noticed this red blotchy rash all of a sudden all over my arms. I thought it must either be the sun or that the rash/cellulitis is getting that bad that it is now effecting my arms. I did feel better for about two hours after the IV antibiotics, but as I went to bed the cellulitis on my legs and feet was raging again, think I may even had tears in my eyes out of frustration with it all. I woke up and I was disappointed the cellulitis had’t showed more signs of improving since my first antibiotic go, plus this red blotchy rash was definitely getting worse and causing me some concern. When I got to this medical place again at 1.30pm Sunday afternoon for my second go at the IV antibiotics, I duly told this new nurse how I was feeling. ie rash not improved and seemed to have a new one on my arms. The latter set alarm bells ringing off for her. She was concerned that although the drug was supposed to be penicillin free(I’m allergic) it could be the case that I may have had some kind allergic reaction to it, hence this new rash on my arms. She therefore said what I was dreading all along, that she thought I better to go A & E. This was because if she gave me another dose of it and I am allergic, then the second time the allergic reaction is much worse. I didn’t have much of a choice, I had to go but God I was dreading it, I didn’t know what I’d find once I got there.

I chuffed to say on an OCD front, I coped really well at A & E. The fact it had been done up a bit helped and I guess I had to push my OCD to the corner of my mind as much as possible, for I had this ruddy cellulitis business to deal. I managed by not sitting down in the waiting room and as it was packed, this didn’t look odd to other people. This really annoying older woman help distract me too. She was there with her daughter and her dauughter’s fella(both fatties) who had three small kids, one of the babies being ill. This bloody woman was unbearable though. She moaning and moaning and moaning, being a cow with the staff, if everybody had behaved like that then there would have been chaos. I got talking to a nice family covering three generations and the girl with them, around twenty, said under her breath how annoying this bloody woman was. Later on I heard a nurse being stern with the daughter with the kids, who was pestering again at how long did they have to wait, so that made me feel better ha ha. Regarding her annoying Mother, I just kept doing my hard fake stare at her , if she had only known what a big wimp ha ha ha, but gees what a thick annoying cow. Eventually when I got to see a Doctor he suggested they give me a new kind of oral antibiotic. He wanted me to have it in the treatment room and then I’d have to stay seated for awhile to see if I had a bad reaction to it. He also confirmed that that on my arms WASN’T the cellulitis that was on my feet and legs, rather it was definitely an allergic reaction to the bloody antibiotic they’d given me at this medical place intravenously argh.  After thirty minutes of feeling OK they said it was alright for me to go home. I didn’t feel unwell after taking this new antibiotic although couldn’t decide if it was making this rash on my arms worse, or was that still from yesterday.

When I got home I made a decision that rather than going for this antibiotic via an intravaneous drip/injection(which would be a pain), I’d have a go at having the same antibiotic in capsule form. The name of the antibioitic I would be taking and trying first of all to get of this cellulitis was called Clindamycin. On the arm rash front, it continued to get worse before it got better, I STARTED LOOKING LIKE THE SINGING DETECTIVE AGAIN. This was my joke to how I looked when I discovered at 15, that I was alleregic to penicillin. My skin got really blotchy and scaly. As a few days wore on I started getting this blotchy rash on my legs too, it was definitely an allergic reaction to the bloody intavaneous antibiotic. I rang them up about something else(the place where I’d been given it) and quizzed them about if they were sure it was penicillin free? They were adamant it is penicillin free but I’m equally adamant that they are wrong. The first nurse who treated me on the Saturday told me  how once they given this IV antibiotic to this lady, and it was thought of as penicillin free as she also was allergic. After her having an allergic reaction, research was done and it was indeed found to have a small trace of it in. I truly believe this is what happened in my case too, utterly frustrating.   As this allergic rash on me has more or less gone now but I’m still taking the clindamycin, then it had to be something not right with that.

On the cellulitis front it didn’t take long for the Clindymacin to start showing some improvements. The burning started to decrease more or less straight away after taking the first one. A week after starting them, I’d definitely say things are improving and my legs and feet are less red and stingy. That said, it definitely hasn’t gone yet either and it still itches and burns a bit, just nowhere bad as it was a week ago. I also find myself feeling itchy all over at points throughout the day. Not sure if this is the cellulitis in my blood stream or the remains of that bloody antibiotic allergic reaction. I can’t expect miracles though, it’s only been a week on the antibiotics and as it was sooooooooooo bad I know I just need to be patient. I have a week left taking the antibiotics and then I’ve booked an appointment with my GP to discuss whether she thinks I need one more course of the antibiotics. At the moment I think if I’d feel happier if I could have another ten day course, so worried of it coming back because couldn’t bear going through all that again. I’ll have more of idea of the state of play this time next week. I just can’t believe I’d never heard of the condition cellulitis before, seeing as I’ve had personal experience of most other illnesses and ailments under the sun ha ha. Given another week untreated I would not have been singing ‘GOODNESS GRACIOUS GREAT BURNING LEGS OF FIRE’, I’d have been left screaming the original title……AND THE SCARFY BALLS HAVE BEEN ENOUGH TRAUMA AS IT IS! ;D