Living My Life With Necrotizing Fasciitis

08/24/2023

I refuse to give in to Necrotizing Faciitis.

I Refuse To Sink.

05/01/2023

Friends - May is National Necrotizing Fasciitis Awareness Month. Please read the story at the following link to educate ourselves on this terrible infection that causes havoc both mentally and physically on an infected person.

Let your friends know about this important month.

National Necrotizing Day has been declared as being on May 31st.

04/03/2023

I've had an internal debate going on for the last 2 weeks or so. People are curious about my surgery, the wound and how it looked right after and in the days that followed.

For those that don't know I was cut 14 inches long from the "sack" of my testicles through the entire length of my right butt cheek. I call this being cut from "sack to crack" because well, I make light of my situation - it's just who I am.

So, people want to see the picture of the wound. 14 inches long, by 8 inches wide and 4 inches deep.

That's how much was taken out of me to remove the infection. Essentially I don't have a right butt cheek anymore.

If people want to see the pics that I have of the surgery, the 2 days after and subsequent photos I'll share them but it will be in a live broadcast/stream instead of pictures posted here.

If you're curious what it's like to have a right butt cheek removed let me know here in the comments. I'll share the images that I have as well as more of my story in an in depth live video to be broadcast here.

If not then I completely get it. I'm just putting some feelers out there.

03/31/2023

If you read back on my posts I talked about cases of Necrotizing Fasciitis in children under the age of 12 seeing a huge increase within the last year.

Here is an unfortunate story of a 7-year-old boy from metro Detroit who lost both of his legs due to this disease.

A boy from Grand Blanc is recovering after complications from two infections that forced doctors to remove his legs.

03/22/2023

So I'd first like to say I'm so happy to see the page growing. We have nearly 20 likes/followers. Hopefully we can get there by the end of the week!

I know there is a lot of curiosity about what Necrotizing Fasciitis is, how it's contracted and what it does to people. Well here is a description by the CDC on what exactly it is. I know it doesn't get into too much detail but it gives you an idea on just how extremely rare it is and other things related to the disease. I call it a disease because the damage it causes stays with us survivors for the rest of our lives - but we learn to manage, deal and cope with it.

Anyway here is the link and if you have any questions feel free to drop them in the comments or shoot me a message. My inbox is always open!

- Josh

Seek care right away for fever, dizziness, or nausea soon after an injury.

03/21/2023

Here is an introduction about myself and the page here and what Necrotizing Fasciitis is.

Please feel free to comment or message me personally if you have questions. Please also *share* this page and story so we can continue to educate about the terrible disease that is Necrotizing Fasciitis.

- Josh

03/18/2023

So first I want to say that I know and realize the posting has fallen off here and that's not a bad thing. I'll touch on some things going on in my recovery from Necrotizing Fasciitis.

First I'll mention why I've not been updating as much - but I am very much still committed to bringing my story and awareness to this disease.

I've returned back to work on a 40hr schedule but I'm able to dip out and chose days I work in all transparency. I work Sunday through Wednesday but I'm offered days off if needed.

To fall in line with that I made a decision when this disease happened while laying in a hospital bed that physical labor was not for me. I was 38 when this happened last July. I've since turned 39 in January (something I was truly unsure if it would happen.)

I immediately began charting a new path of employment, one that I knew I would not be able to achieve with out some sort of education, certification, post-secondary education...whatever the case may be my high school diploma wouldn't cut it even with years of "live and learn" education under my belt.

So this is where the lack of updates comes in. My employer has paid for a program to receive a certification in the Information Technology field, I.T. for short.

It's a 14 week program and mid-way through the program you have to take a test called the Core 1 test. I'm going for my A+ certification for those I.T. heads out there. Well I've had to study quit a bit to pass the Core 1 test.

On Wednesday March 15th I passed my Core 1 test. All great news. Such a relief. All of the hours with work, online class and studying paid off.

Now though the 2nd leg of the class begins. I have 7 more weeks of class to prepare me for the Core 2 test which when passed will make officially A+ certified.

There are LOTS of jobs in I.T. and I know 1 A+ cert won't light my bank account on fire with a 6 figure position but it's a start and it's a start towards getting me off of the shop floor, off of my feet, off of physical labor and more of a work from home job routine that makes working possible while I continue to recover from NF.

I promise I'll update more now that the weight of the first 7 weeks are off of my shoulder. Believe me when I say we're just getting started.

On a side note - please, I beg of you if you follow the page then click the "like" button. I understand there is lots of curiosity out there about what Necrotizing Fasciitis is and the only way I can begin to clue people in is by sharing our foot print and we do that with more "likes" and "followers."

Thank you,

-Josh

02/17/2023

Sad story out of Florida of an 11-year-old young man who lost his life due to Necrotizing Fasciitis.

An 11-year-old boy in Florida has died after twisting his ankle on a treadmill and then suffering from an infection that caused swelling in his brain.

02/15/2023

Our reach is growing which is amazing. The more we can get people involved in knowing about this absolutely terrible disease the more we can educate families and survivors of it.

Please, I beg of you if you are reading this click the "like" button at the top of the page. This helps us grow our reach and allows us to spread awareness about Necrotizing Fasciitis.

- Josh

02/12/2023

The smell of rotting flesh is exactly a smell that overtook my home within the matter of a few hours, if that.

Here is a read just published last week of a survivors fight with NF that happened in 2001.

When you die, or become very close to it, you are primarily aware of two things.

02/10/2023

So just a few notes on my health and where things are with my ongoing recovery from Necrotizing Fasciitis including both physical and mental health as well as work.

PHYSICAL RECOVERY

- I had a boil form basically right on top of where the original abscess was. I went to the E.R. and they said it was normal etc.

- I made a Dr appointment to see my surgeon because I've had sores open up along the incision point, in addition to the boil. The boil popped last week while at work, little bit of blood but nothing major. No ongoing issue there.

- The sores are happening because my thighs rub against each other and cause friction. My skin is very, very thin in the entire area that the infection/surgery was which means a little bit of rubbing and boom - another sore.

- A few days ago I put a barrier cream on the sores and that's helped a great deal. Monday I was in some pretty bad pain. I remembered I had barrier cream from the surgery and began to research its benefits. I used it Tuesday and Wednesday with little to no pain at all, so the barrier cream is working.

- Dr says all of this is normal and will continue to happen as I continue to heal from the inside out. Yes, my wound is closed but the healing is still ongoing underneath. He says boils and sores will happen and there's nothing to be alarmed about - just keep doing what I'm doing. While reassuring there's no alarm about the boils it's not fun thinking I'll get these painful sores until I'm really, actually healed.

- On that note Dr says it will take about a full year from the time of the surgery July 3rd before I'm fully healed from the inside out. He was quick to pause and remind me once again like he always does that "we took A LOT out of you." He says try to avoid sitting flat because "I have basically no support on the right buttocks." Yes, I know you removed my entire right butt cheek. I told him I sit on an air pad and he said continue that, which that does help when I'm sitting for my on-line classes.

MENTAL ASPECT

- This continues to take a mental toll for obvious reasons. Every sore, boil or "leak" or "discharge" from any sore or boil immediately rings the alarms that an infection is back. Naturally my anxiety is at a high when this happens because lord knows I don't want to go through the entire process again.

- I began seeing a new mental health specialist towards the end of January. She prescribed Gabapentin as I've mentioned. It is effectively treating two things at once. One is nerve issues from the wound. It was bad at one point where it would make me wake from a sleep. It's also treating the on-going long term anxiety issues I've had.

- The Gabapentin is working - remarkably well in fact. The nerve pain is nearly gone, well lets be real it's not gone, it's just masked by the medication. My anxiety is truthfully the best it's been in a very, very long time.

- I see her next week for my first in-person meeting. I have to see her because she prescribed Gabapentin which is now considered a narcotic so I have to see her every so often in person. I take 300mg's of it 3x's a day for 900mg's. I've read basically all NF survivors are on some sort of dosage of Gabapentin. I didn't know that until I was prescribed it and began asking others in a support group I'm part of. Some are on dosages of 2500mg's a day to address their nerve pain and anxiety.

WORK

- I had a great accomplishment this last work week. I actually made it a full week without accepting any full days of voluntary time off (VTO.) The last few weeks I would take a full day off because of the pain/anxiety. NOT SO this week. I did the 4 days I was scheduled.

- The work shifts are becoming easier physically and mentally. I have to remind myself that I can't control things that management does, nor do I want to. I'm a "level 1" with no desire to advance in a warehouse at Amazon. Perhaps in I.T. when that time comes but as far as the warehouse floor they know I'm not long for there.

- As far as that goes my boss came back from leave after having her baby. She approached me and asked if I wanted to learn different things because she loved my energy. I know what that means - that's another way of introducing me to new jobs so I can then advance my role within the company.

- I told her politely I was not interested in doing more than I currently do and explained why, that I was doing Career Choice for I.T. certs and once I receive them I'm gone from our site. Probably the company because Amazon doesn't have much open for I.T. in our area and other companies are hiring us away.

- I told her somebody who "actually wants it" should be the focus on growing and learning because it's just not me. I've done the leadership role and oversaw employees my whole life. I don't want the headache especially in this post-COVID life where employees essentially do what they want.

With that said that's all for now. I'm on the right path physically, although pain still persists its getting to a point where it's under control.

The mental aspect is being addressed and again, moving in the right direction. I actually feel back to my normal, laughing, joking and jovial self with lots of energy where as before I sort of just went through the motions.

Class started last week and lets just say I'm putting in the study hours to make sure I pass this A+ cert test. It's a two part test. First test is at the mid-point of the class and then a final test. I can take each test up to 2 times if I fail the first time. I don't intend to fail but if I do I won't be upset about it, they obviously give 2 chances for a reason.

Time to jet, have to study for todays lesson and prepare for class this morning.