Hi, everybody:

I am back after a long time of absence. My two-year-old baby boy was in the ICU for a few weeks because of a bad lungs infection. I was so, so afraid that his lungs infection would cause a failure of his heart, lungs, and kidneys transplants. I was also very afraid because his taking immuno-suppressants would prevent his taking antibiotics and because he has no immune system to fight the infection. To this day, I and his doctors still wonder how he got his lungs infection. His doctors and I can only guess that one of the children he was playing with had an infection of some kind or another and infected him involuntarily. From now on, no more playing with other children for my treasure until his doctors and I find a solution for his life not to be in danger every time he plays with another child.

Now, I have a question for myself. On Friday, February 10, 2012, at my workplace (a garage), I walked away to go back to my office after washing my dirty hands at a water faucet, which is right in the garage, where the mechanics work. I must have slipped on some water or on some oil. I fell on my four members (my knees, my feet, and my hands). "Only" my left knee (the one where my RSD started before spreading to my whole body) got badly scraped. My scraped left knee was burning like hell, as if it was on fire. I can assure you that this scraped knee was burning so much more than an "ordinary scrape". I went to the Emergency Room, where a doctor disinfected my scraped knee. Oww! She had to rub hard with a gauze pad and some Dakin (a disinfectant) so that all the dirt in the wound would come out. Then she put some cream (Flammazine), some gauze pads (six), and a bandage. The doctor told me the burning was normal because scraped knees always burn. I understand this, but what I do NOT understand is why my scraped knee burns much, much more than the other scrapes I had on other areas of my body after previous falls.

Do you think RSD could play a role in my scraped knee's burning being so much worse and thus, so much more painful? My RSD pain had not made me cry in a long time (it was under control) but since this "black" Friday, not a day has gone by without my crying my eyes out because the burning and the pain are so horrible. To make matters worse, the scraped wound has been leaking pus (a very large amount of it) since Friday. The pus, which smells worse than bad, crosses almost all the layers of the six gauze pads of my dressing. I change my dressing every day since Friday. When I get up (even slowly) from a sitting or lying position, I feel my scraped wound beating painfully, as if it had a heart of its own, but a painful one.

What is going on? Now, four days after my fall, my scraped knee shows no signs of healing. Besides that, the wound is still leaking a lot of pus, it is still smelling very bad, it is still very painful (whether I walk on it or not), it is still burning, it is still beating painfully... I have been taking strong oral antibiotics since Friday, but no change for the better has occurred.

What do you think? Any opinions, ideas, or suggestions are welcome. I am starting to get angry at my wound, telling myself that scraped knees usually take a day or two, or three at the most, to heal. I am still waiting for my scraped knee to heal. I am getting sick and tired of waiting. Please help! Thanks a lot for everything.