A Setback In the Backside

In my laundry list of things that I wanted and anticipated through my stem cell journeys, there was something extremely important that I have forgotten about... my butt!

Now please allow me to elaborate:
Any person that spends their days in a wheelchair has to be constantly shifting their weight around in sort of an obsessive dance with time. This is to limit the amount of pressure that an area endures over the course of each day. Worse case scenario, the tissue underneath the skin under pressure will begin to break down, causing what is known as a bedsore, skin sore, pressure sore, skin ulcer, decubitis ulcer, and a regular ol' pain in the butt.

Because this is of constant concern for me, it is surprising that this is the first time that I have considered adding it to my Stem Cell To-Do List. A few years back, I had one of those pains-in-the-butts to the point where I had to withdraw from all of my college courses, lay with strict orders of flat bed rest for 5 weeks, endure plastic surgery to conceal the wound, and ultimately spend 3 months in the hospital. I swore that I would never let it happen again.

And, somehow, I find myself here in room 455, the proud new owner of IV antibiotics and an unlimited number of rides on my air-pumped hospital bed. I know, I know... I promised. I am not quite sure what happened really.

The long and short of it is that it began last Monday as a terrible case of the "flu". Isn't it always the poor, defenseless influenza virus that gets the blame? By Tuesday afternoon, with a heart pulsing so obviously trying to tell me something and a fever that actually required Tylenol, I knew that something was not quite right. However, it wasn't until Wednesday that I actually had the self-diagnosis, followed closely by the medical thing, of Cellulitis-- a general word for an infection in tissue under the skin. By Thursday, I was anxiously waiting for some relief, but when I wasn't satisfied, I headed back for another evaluation. It wasn't until Friday that I actually took a day off from teaching (which I realize is probably why it got so bad in the first place). I rested all day long and, as sands in an hour glass, watched my body continue to swell. Saturday brought about a trip to Urgent Care, followed closely by a trip to the hospital, which is where I currently reside.

The prognosis is good and I am finally catching up with rest and catching up with myself.

As for those little savior stem cells, I know realize how important it would be to either: A) have feeling in my bootie simply to let me know that "ouch!" there's something wrong, or B) put a little junk in my trunk-- otherwise known as increased motor function to help build up overall muscle mass.

That will be my new goal, for sure.