The Biopsy

So the saga continues with an infected lesion on the back of my hand. The infection has responded well to a heavy dose of antibiotics over the past week and the lesion has reduced to a fraction of it’s original size. However the centre of it remains incredibly painful to touch, as I discovered to my cost when I caught my hand briefly on the edge of a cardboard box. Ouch!

Yesterday I attended a day centre at the hospital to have the lesion biopsied. I was somewhat surprised to have a repeat swab taken from the lesion and another one from my nose before a punch biopsy was performed on my hand. Local anaesthetic was first injected around the lesion to numb the area and then under sterile conditions, a 5mm diameter chunk of tissue was removed for analysis. I felt no pain whatsoever though the wound spurted copious amounts of blood and the surgeon had his work cut out trying to stem the flow. Two stitches were inserted to close the wound and then a pressure bandage was applied to ensure that no further bleeding occurred. With my history of having the connective tissue disorder, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), extra caution is needed following surgery due to skin fragility and poor wound healing. Unfortunately, my hands do indeed suffer from delayed healing and so special care is required to prevent infection. I was sent home with antiseptic cream, spare dressings and instructions to return in a week’s time to have the stitches removed, and to receive the biopsy report. I was also given a prescription for a further week’s supply of the oral antibiotic (Flucloxacillin) plus an antibiotic ointment (Bactroban) to be applied to the inside of my nose. My legacy of previous MRSA infection seems to follow me everywhere though I suppose I should be grateful that every precaution is taken to ensure there is no return of this unwelcome superbug.

As procedures go, yesterday was plain sailing. I had a somewhat disturbed night due to discomfort in my hand but it’s no big deal. The best bit of all yesterday was that I received strict instructions to avoid doing washing-up. My only regret is that I didn’t succeed in getting this in writing 😉

The Biopsy Report now awaits the biopsy report.