Worst Day 1.2

Well, now we know. The fever and the white blood cell count are due to a pelvic abscess. Who knows whence the cough, though that is not our worry now. What is an abscess? It’s not like an ulcer, apparently. I always figured it was a spot in the surface of the organ (skin or internal) where the germs were multiplying and eating away at the flesh. Instead, an abscess, or at least a pelvic abscess, seems to be a collection of germs surrounded by a membrane created by the body in an attempt to ward it off from the rest of the body – it sounds as if its appearance is not dissimilar to a bubble, though this one apparently multiplies and spreads itself wherever it can, without concern for a globular appearance. Worst case scenario, and fairly likely it sounds like, is a temporary colostomy, which would apparently give the body and doctors a chance to fight off the infection in Kay’s interior. The less-bad case, and the one they will try first, is a temporary catheter inserted through her side. This will drain and collapse the abscess, allowing antibiotics to more easily reach the whole of the infected area, which is cut off currently from blood supply. If this is successful, it may preclude the need for a colostomy, which would save Kay six months of that indignity and inconvenience. But better six months of indignity and inconvenience than various worse alternatives.