A Cautionary Tale of Wound Management

Back from the hospital, looking at my leg to see if the swelling is going away and looking at my watch to see if it's time for another pill, I'm at least glad that, when I came down with acute bacterial cellulitis, I was in the care and company of an excellent nurse: my very good friend Naomi. When she said I needed to get to the ER, I didn't question her, besides she works there!
I didn't really expect to see her work under these circumstances (had hoped to be climbing with her and her husband in Yosemite), but she gives excellent care and I'm glad I got to see her in action. She wheels and deals between four patients in her section and they could be sick and elderly, drunk and crazy, or cut and bleeding. It's always something new and that's what she says she loves about it. Otherwise, it's pretty fun at the hospital -NOT! I was bored stiff most of the time, waiting two hours for the bags of antibiotics to drain through the IV. Luckily, I thought ahead and brought my ipod, a book, and my phone. That's how I survived 18 hours at the hospital, and got the upper hand on the infection.
So now you're asking: what infection? How did this happen anyway?
Well, the answer is short and sweet; I did not take care of my open wounds carefully enough.

Granted, the road rash I had from the bike wreck a month ago in New Zealand was pretty big (three areas larger than a quarter on my knee and plenty of other scrapes), but it was fine for four weeks without any problems. The pronounced swelling
I discovered the day after I returned from NZ probably means that the lone shower I took during my last week on the North Island -amongst much skiing, hiking and camping out all wearing the same clothes- was probably not enough.
When I took my Wilderness First Responder course from WMI, they told us to aggressively irrigate abrasions and change the dressing regularly or else it could get infected. When I heard that, I always thought "What? Like a little bit of pus draining out of there? Big deal!" Now I know what you should too: open wounds are a potential entry site for infections that can rage out of control in no time and threaten your limbs or even your life! Scared? I was definitely perturbed.
Here's what happened first: I noticed my knee was swollen on Wed. and took some ibuprofen. The next day, my whole lower leg was swollen, red, warm to the touch, and achey. That sort of rapid spread of symptoms shows that the infection was overwhelming my immune system with a quickness.
Imagine being a days' walk from a trailhead or medical attention with this condition. This would be a serious problem, especially since it will start to limit mobility in short order, increasing the amount of time it takes to self-evacuate, but also making the infection harder to treat.
So remember to thoroughly clean your open wounds -and keep them protected from dirt, water, and any other contaminants until they are healed. Don't pay attention when someone tells you it just needs to get some air. Sure, you can let it dry after washing, but it needs to be covered (preferably by antibiotic ointment and bandage) whenever it could come in contact with bacteria-carrying surfaces or environments.
It's your body. It's OK to take care of it. You treat it well, and it will do the same for you. I gaurantee.