Complications

Although I've been taking a higher dosage of Prednisone than usual, my ulcer has been getting bigger. The dark red edges sting. For an unknown reason my ulcer 'weeps', produces edema fluid in unmanageable amounts. It has happened in the past for a day or so and then stops, all for no reason.

Well, its been in 'weep' mode for about a week. When I sit at my computer at home, I do it with my foot on a towel. After a two hours its soaked! This prevents me from going to my office. I'm lucky that I'm able to work from home, but I don't like working from home. I have interns that I'm supposed to be helping out, not an easy thing to do from home. My dermatologist wants to raise my prednisone to a high level again, temporarily, just to heal things up.

Current suck-ness

For whatever reason my leg has begun to go the edema route again. I have raised my Prednisone dosage after last weeks flareup and have seen immediate results. The original ulcer in the front has simply stopped healing and is taking on a bizarre shape due to the edema in the surrounding area.

Flare ups

After being on a Prednisone regimen of 40/0/40 for about six months, I had a flare up. I must have forgotten to take my dosage because the day after my skipped day I could feel that my calf was getting 'thick' with edema. I didn't think much of it until I noticed the multiple hot spots on the back area of my calf. The back of my calf has been totally free of any pyoderma until just recently. All flare ups are preceded by 24+ hrs of edema. I'm currently taking 40mg of prednisone a day, perhaps more if needed, to stamp this nonsense down.

A new one.

After months of what could be best described as 'dormant', the front of my shin hasn't changed at all. No progress and no 'falling back'. That is until last week. My ankle was sore, it looked swollen. After a few days the false boil showed itself. As one can see, my anke is still showing signs of edema and the new ulcer or eruption is about the size of a dime.

I am taking a battery of meds so I'm surprised that this thing showed up. Surprised and worried, actually..

Slight progress

As the weeks wear on my ulcer shows the slightest of improvements. My ulcer doesn't even sting anymore. An odd thing going on is this little 'node' that has popped up. It doesn't hurt and it is easily pressed down. It isn't hard but in fact soft almost sponge like. In the past I have had these node type things before, they just disappeared after a few weeks. This one has decided to hang on.

Not much changed

After a little more than a month on my new meds I don't feel different but my leg seems to have cleared up a tad. I'm not sure why the pic has a bluish hue. Its some odd effect from my camera. The actual level of pain or discomfort has gone down by a modest amount. In months past if I got my ulcer wet in the shower it would hurt or sting. Now there is only a slight sting.

I usually bandage my ulcer about twice a day with fresh gauze and ointment. For some odd reason over the last few weeks my ulcer has been 'leaking' clear fluid, edema fluid. This was a real problem a year ago before I started taking the steroids and my leg and ankle were visibly enlarged. Currently my leg doesn't seem enlarged at all, so this edema fluid is odd. I could lay the blame on my new medication but this mysterious edema leakage has happened in the past as well. It begins and ends within a week or so for no rhyme or reason. Its obvious when this is occurring because when I change my dressing its usually bone dry. During an edema spell my Telfas are soaked and even the gauze is damp. I expect this to end within a week or so, again with no explanation.

Spring is almost here..

On my last visit, my dermatologist was pleased with how 'clean' my ulcer was and the lack of a 'ridge line', something very common with Pyoderma. Because of the nice weather i find myself walking around more just for the heck of it, exercise and such. I'm not sure this has any effect on my ulcer. I doubt it.

The nerve pain I have been experiencing the last few months has been reduced by a satisfactory amount. I'm not sure how or why but it just progressed that way. The sharp nerve pain i would feel every time I bathed seems to be a thing of the past. I would love to have this healed up by summer, so that i could wear shorts or swim without wearing an Ace bandage. I fear that may be wishful thinking or a delusion of grandeur.

Nerve

As can be seen, edema has returned by a small amount. The lower part of the ulcer a short 'french fry' line can be seen. I think it's a nerve because if it is touched or pressed a bolt of pain shoots down my ankle into my foot. This explosion of pain is so great I simply can't put it into words. If you can imagine lightning in a bottle but instead in your foot, you'll get the idea. Thankfully this doesn't happen often.

Nuthin' going on

As can be seen my ulcer hasn't really changed over the last month. It doesn't hurt so much, just a little bit when i'm taking a shower or changing the bandages. My meds haven't changed. The only thing I've done different is to increase my daily exercise. For exercise I spend about 40 min to an hour walking around my neighborhood or the park.

Ouch

Although my ulcer appears more 'clean' than it has in the past, the actual pain level has been raised. I have been averaging one pill for pain a day, something I have not needed to do for over a year.

After I shower, I keep the wound covered with a Telfa and some gauze. Also evident is the edema that has returned to a small degree. The discoloration is actually scar tissue.

3mm deep

I had a conversation with the doc from Boston. It seems what I need to get done can be completed here in NYC. He has since spoken to my doctors (dermatologist and oncologist) and everybody seems to be on the same page.

Whenever I need to get a refill on a prescription from my dermatologist, I have to go and get my situation reviewed. This includes him saying 'its getting better' or 'its getting worse', a swab of the ulcer to check for infection(s), a measurement and my blood pressure checked. As the pic illustrates, my ulcer hasn't expanded much over the last few months but it has 'deepened'. The pic does a lousy job showing the ulcer's depth. The nurse said it was '3 millimeters deep'. I can't imagine it was too accurate because of the method employed but I can say that at 3mm or whatever, it fuggin hurts. I have some pain pills that i take from time to time just to deal with it. It feels like a super heated wire wrapped around my ankle or a chunk of glass under the skin. When it hurts really bad i can't get anything done. So, i just pop a pill and wait for it to 'go away'.

The new meds that I am supposed to take promise to heal up this leg and allow me to get off the prednisone. We shall see..

flare ups

As I continue to take a smaller dosage of Prednisone, my pyoderma is struggling to return. After a shower a few days ago i noticed that some of my skin 'came off'. this area has been healed up for almost a year. There isn't much I can do. I have put some Neosporin on it and am hoping for the best.

Ho Hum

Its been over a year since my diagnosis of having Multiple Myeloma. Although the amount of cancer in my system is small, it seems it was enough to trigger this Pyoderma.

My ulcer seems to have calmed down a little but unfortunately expanded a tad too. As the pic illustrates the skin surrounding the ulcer seems to just be disappearing. And it is, like slowly burning newsprint.

My Rx hasn't been changed and I have not been in contact with the specialist in Boston yet. I have left a few messages and even spoke to an assistant but have yet received a call. I'm not sure how they stay in business up there..

Boston?

It seems my dermatologist wants me to see a specialist in Boston. When I moved to NYC from Kansas City, I began to be spoiled by having everything within a $15 cab ride. After living here for over ten years I have been conditioned to think 'if it isn't here who needs it'. The only exception I have come up with so far has been Wal-Mart (I know that $5 bucks for a bottle of store brand aspirin is NOT normal).

Now it seems my condition will send me seeking treatment or advice in Boston. They want me to to some type of treatment that will heal up my leg and get me off of the prednisone. My dosage has been reduced which is why some of the ulcer has returned. As one can see the sore has become 'bumpy' and red. The bumps are very soft and 'spongy', not really a source of pain. However the general area is painful, stinging, especially during a shower. This stinging has also awoken me from sleep. I pop a few Tylenol and go back to sleep or at least try to.

I didn't sign up for this bullshit but it seems I'm stuck with it..

Stinging returns

Part of my usual routine is that after I shower I let my leg 'dry out'. Prior to bandaging my leg for the day I cover my ulcer with a topical steroid. If still damp, the steroid lotion wont stick to my skin. I noticed the other day that while i was watching TV waiting for my leg to dry, I began to sense a sting. Over the last few days it has become more so.

unfortunately this pic show that I have some flare ups coming in around the lower edge. This stings. The next time I go to the dermatologist, I'm sure I'll be getting a shot.

A cut on my sore

I'm not sure what I did but I developed a bloody knick, as seen in the pic. I was sitting at my PC doing some work and I noticed that my bandage was red. When this happens I automatically think I'm having a bleed-out. But it wasn't coming past my bandage. A genuine bleed-out would have been trickling down my foot and all over the floor, not a good thing.

After I took the bandages off, I saw that it was only a small thing. I cleaned it with peroxide and applied fresh bandages. No problems since.

I am always paranoid of having a bleed-out while at work or meeting with a client. My suits and stuff are all hand made. I think its important to dress the part, in my case banking. It would be imposable to 'look the part' if I had a river of blood sloshing on my shoe. So far this hasn't happened. It would really suck if it did..

Power of the Ultravate

For what seems like no reason at all my ulcer started to heal while using Ultravate (cream). For a few months it seemed like I had reached a plateau. Things started healing again with no change in medication. Not sure why..

My dermatologist told me to soak the area with hydrogen peroxide to help remove some of the yellowish gunk. To accomplish this, I put some gauze over the area and soak it with peroxide, letting it set for about ten minutes. It does a good job loosening things up.

Strange advance

After a few months of really no progress and for no reason, my ulcer has begun to shrink and 'dry out'. After changing my gauze, I could see some 'fluid loss' from the ulcer. It was slight but noticeable. Recently I have not seen any 'residue' on my gauze upon removal. Its stone dry. The only thing that I have done different recently is get some sun. I live a few blocks from Central Park (NYC) and I actually got a little 'sun burned', very rare for me. So, other than time under the sun and the drinking of Gatorade, my routine hasn't changed.

I am still taking 40mg of Prednisone every other day. And applying Neosporin and Ultravate to the ulcer.

Still hanging around..

Although I am happy about reducing my Prednisone intake, I have noticed some 'give back' in some of the gains I have experienced. I had hoped that my Prednisone regimen would be over by now but no such luck. Sometimes after a shower portions of the 'white cap' of this ulcer is washed away revealing ordinary sore tissue. I'm not sure why it is there but always comes back after its removal, so something is going on.

Bleed Out

It would seem that I have another skin infection on my lower leg. I had just gotten out of the shower and was dressing when I noticed blood on my bedroom floor. My first thought believe it or not was that someone had broken into my home and was bleeding. However I quickly noticed that it was spraying onto the floor at that very moment, obviously from my leg. And so it was. Painless and without sensation I had 'sprung a leak'. It reminded me of a squirt gun but a constant flow. The amount of blood I lost in that quick moment was unbelievable. I wrapped a t-shirt around my ankle and made an effort about an hour later to bandage it up with gauze and such. When the shirt was removed the squirting started again. The pic shows the gauze used and shirt ruined. I had to cut the bandages off because I had so much tape holding the gauze in place.

After a day and after my shower I removed the dressing and it seems the squirting problem has healed up. I have a MD appointment today so I expect to get another med..