Um, yep, it is entirely possible to get an eColi infection from a wound. <sigh> Back in 2001, I had a small lipoma removed from the back of my left hand. No big deal...just 4 stitches to close it and it was done. I thought. The stitches came out a week later and there was still a small spot that hadn't healed completely. We needed to get the manure on the garden so I put Neosporin and a bandaid on the little open spot, then a vinyl glove, then my gardening gloves. That was on May 29th. On May 31 my hand was swelling and hot, with a little drainage from that tiny little hole soon AFTER I finished doing dinner dishes. I went to the local doctor here, who immediately sent me to Billings, Montana to be seen in the ER at St. Vincent's Hospital. They were waiting for me. So on May 30th I was fine, on May 31st I was signing permission for amputation and rushed into surgery.
Blooie, it's always a pleasure when you chime in! I am truly sorry to hear about your ordeal, but praise God you were able to keep your hand! Your positive outlook on life is admirable.
Could be, but we'll never know for sure. Doctor Sukin ( or St. Sukin as we call him around here), said he doubted that as covered and protected as the hand was while I was out in the garden for that little bit, and with the way I never came into any direct contact with the soil or the manure, we could never directly attribute the infection to that one factor with any degree of certainty. It didn't get hot, swell, and start draining until after I had taken my hand out of the dishwater. Dishwater had actually seeped through that opening into the space between my skin and the underlying tissue. To get an idea,pinch and lift the skin of the top of the hand. See how it comes up off the surface and forms a little pocket? There was water in there. The infectious disease specialist he called in concurred. He said he'd seen it before in folks who had an open sore and came into contact with mopping water, which seems much more likely to be contaminated than dishwater to me, but who knows? Could be coincidence. So while it's entirely possible that you are absolutely right, this cookie has learned first hand the power of the germ, regardless of what it's called and where it came from, and that the unusual can always happen.
Could be, but we'll never know for sure. Doctor Sukin ( or St. Sukin as we call him around here), said he doubted that as covered and protected as the hand was while I was out in the garden for that little bit, and with the way I never came into any direct contact with the soil or the manure, we could never directly attribute the infection to that one factor with any degree of certainty. It didn't get hot, swell, and start draining until after I had taken my hand out of the dishwater. Dishwater had actually seeped through that opening into the space between my skin and the underlying tissue. To get an idea,pinch and lift the skin of the top of the hand. See how it comes up off the surface and forms a little pocket? There was water in there. The infectious disease specialist he called in concurred. He said he'd seen it before in folks who had an open sore and came into contact with mopping water, which seems much more likely to be contaminated than dishwater to me, but who knows? Could be coincidence. So while it's entirely possible that you are absolutely right, this cookie has learned first hand the power of the germ, regardless of what it's called and where it came from, and that the unusual can always happen.
Somehow I missed this post. Thank you for your kind words. I figure if stuff like this is the worst life can throw at me, I'm good. I've suffered no ill effects from it all, except for the fact that now I am very prone to infections and heal very slowly. And sometimes when I'm driving I'm temporarily blinded by the bling on my left ring finger when the sun hits it!
My point was certainly not to throw caution to the wind concerning germs. Like you, I do not advocate bannister licking, chicken licking, etc.I don't fear them, The opposite of "I kiss my pets" isn't "I'm scared of animal germs"
And there may be germs all around, but rubbing your mouth on the source of them isn't ever really gonna not increase your risk. *shrug* I don't lick bannisters either.
But I agree....kiss 'em if you want to, don't if you don't - for whatever reason, either way.
