Gooey Legs

One of the patients has legs that are rotting away, clear down to the bone in spots. A musty, dirty, rotting meat smell permeates the air and of course, she's infected with MRSA. She's not responding to treatment and I've noticed our leg amputation doctor visiting her. At some point, I'm guessing her legs will need to be amputated to save her life.

In the meantime, she is driving us crazy because she will not stay in her room. The ooze from her wounds soaks through her dressings and runs down her ankles onto the floor. We don't especially want that on the carpet, although it may not really matter because the carpets have never been cleaned in the last 40 or so years and are already a disgusting mess.

We also don't want her touching our stuff. That's our biggest complaint. Her hands are covered in that gooey leg stuff and then she walks around touching everything the way a two year old does. We don't want her near the linen cart, but she dives for it and starts touching clean linens that will go on other people's beds. She touches our papers, equipment, everything in sight.

We've called security so many times that it was decided to post a sentry at her door to keep her from leaving. Even then, she once took off running, escaped down the stairs and fell after going down six flights. How she does that with her legs looking the way they do is remarkable.

She wasn't injured in the fall, which in my twisted way of thinking was a shame. A broken leg would keep her in her room. So would have having her legs amputated. See what sick thoughts nurses sometimes have? I don't really wish her harm, but I want her so badly to stay in her room that I fantasize about ways to keep her there.

She also has what other nurses call a hoarding problem. She grabs things like linens, masks and gloves and hides them in her room. I call that a stealing problem.