Re: staph infection, retaining water, skin weeping
Hi there, again, the doctor's advice is what you should be following, I just wanted to reassure you that what you describe is quite common in patients who are either overweight, have congestive heart failure or both.
I'm not sure of your aunt's health history, but she likely has some reason for fluid retention in her legs whether it is because:
1. Her heart is not able to pump fluid because it is weak, and the fluid builds up in her feet.
2. Her liver is not working properly and has made it so that it is hard for fluids to pass through it....as a result, fluid backs up in to the abdomen and legs.
3. Your aunt has been losing protein which helps keep fluid in the blood vessels. Without this, the fluid seeps out of the vessels in to the surrounding tissue and one of the places this happens the most is in the legs.
What the ER doctor was getting at was #1...i.e. a weak heart from years of heart attacks (which may have had NO symptoms if your aunt is diabetic) which is not able to pump blood forward--the result is that it backs up in to the lungs and then the abdomen and then the legs.
Acutely, if the heart can't pump blood forward, the fluid will back up in to the lungs causing severe shortness of breath; however, over time the lungs end up adapting. The legs can't adapt, however, and you get swelling.
Side question: have you noticed your aunt's legs are dark and discoloured below her knees?
Anyway, so if your legs start to swell, over time the skin can break down and the fluid can seep out and become trapped in small pocketed areas where the skin has become very thin but hasn't yet broken. This is likely what has happened in your aunt. These areas CAN get infected, but in the doctor's eyes, he didn't think there was any infection present. The trick is now to help remove some of that extra fluid from the body--lasix helps. Other things the doctor may have suggested are getting your aunt up to walk, pressure stockings and keeping her feet elevated when she's sititing down.