Physical Rehab Continues

September 29, 2023, The Isles Nursing & Rehab Center, Boynton Beach, Florida: It's time for yet another bag of intravenous antibiotic. I receive two bags per day: early morning and early evening. Each bag takes about two hours to complete. I have a PICC line, with the port at my left shoulder, running 18 inches through my veins within my chest, ending near my heart. I am amidst a six-week-long regimen of twice daily intravenous antibiotic for a blood infection, which I think is cured; and possible osteomyelitis (bone infection) within a fracture in my right Tibia. I also have a fracture in my right Fibula. I broke both bones in my right ankle during falls in April 2023. The intravenous antibiotic is also addressing my spine. On September 2, 2023, I had surgery to remove an infection (an abscess) in a disk in my low-to-middle spine. Osteomyelitis was also found in the surrounding bone. I am in this physical rehabilitation facility because my lower back is still causing me extreme pain. Luckily, the incision in my back is healing well and doesn't hurt as much as it did. As for my lower back, my pain is still substantial, even with a Fentanyl patch (an opioid); doses of Percocet (an opioid pill); doses of Lyrica, a pill for nerve pain, which is more for my diabetic neuropathy (numbness and pain) in both of my feet; and aspirin, which is actually for my heart due to last year's quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery, plus two subsequent chest surgeries. I engage in occupational therapy and physical therapy almost every day. I suppose I will be able to go home when I can prove to my therapists that I am well enough. At this time, I still feel pain just sitting at the edge of my bed, even with all of the pain medication. However, today, I was able to walk with a walker for 80 feet, then about 60 feet, which is a personal triumph.