Does anyone have any experience with extremely swollen hands appearing out of the blue? My Mom, who is in stage 7, got a small skin tear a few weeks ago on her arm. They started her on antibiotics, cultured the wound, the next day she had a mild fever. The labs came back on the culture,they changed the antibiotics to another one that is more effective to her situtation, and she just finished on Thursday that round of meds. That wound is healing nicely.

Yesterday she started in with a slight fever again, and now today her other arm is so painful she is in tears with it, and her hand is twice it's size and the other is swollen but not as bad. They are giving her pain meds and calling her doctor. She will not let anyone touch the arm or hand. No open skin or joint redness either. She only has one kidney, and some heart disease, we are at our wits end, and are so upset with her being in tears. I can't bear the thought of her in pain. They are doing warm compresses and elevated her hand.

We live five hours from her, and my Sister will follow up. What could it be? When her skin tear was found, her feet swelled slightly at the beginning, but went down in a day or so.

Thanks in advance! DeeDee

Sorry to hear of your mothers pain and discomfort - i am 44 years and am currnenty trying to get over the effects of a reaction to antibiotics and asprin which has caused my face and hands to swell along with a very high fever (like the flu) which docs told me is the normal for 3 - 4 days of the allergy ....they first put me on anti-histamine which brought my face down however but not the rash - then my hands swelled up so i am now on a course of steriods for 3 days and the anti - histamine which seem to be doing the job - make sure to have your mum checked for an allergic reaction to the drugs she is being given - I to suffer with cysts on both of my kidneys

Sounds like Cellulitis to me (inflammation of the cells) which needs aggressive antibiotics ...... however, due to her other 'issues', an aggressive antibiotic could cause more damage......

she needs PROPER pain control/relief to start with. If that means a morphine patch (Durogesic transdermal patch) which won't whack her out but will help calm her down

She needs antibiotics plus a 'gut regime' to the antibiotics don't damage her other limited organs

You need to make some phone calls to get the ball rolling asap.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for your replies. I never thought of an allergy to the antibiotic, but will mention it to my sister and follow up with the nurses.

Mom is allergic to all narcotics, so they are limited as to what they give her for pain. My Sister will follow up in the morning and I will let you all know what she finds out. Thank you again. DeeDee

Update tonite: Mom has a 101 temp today, her hand and wrist~arm is now red and warm to the touch, still very swollen. They have her on a strong pain med, and compresses and are elevating her hand. She has cried off and on all day, she can't say where it hurts, just responds yes that she is in pain, they are concerned too. She cries out when they attempt to touch or move her hand.

The did phone her doctor, he ordered blood work, the pain meds, and an X-ray of her hand. Should have these results tomorrow, will post more as soon as we hear something. Thank you all for your support, DeeDee.

Today's test results show no broken bones etc., labs show no infectious process, everything normal. The top of her hand has turned black, like a deep bruise. She is really sleeping a lot because of the pain meds. Update later. DeeDee

I hope you find a reason for her pain and a resolution soon. Is there any way she could have gotten a crushing injury to her hand? Know I keep you both in my thoughts and prayers.

Love, Deb

Thanks Deb for your concern! She rarely gets out of bed, and will not do her physical therapy any more, so I doubt she could have a crushing injury. She has the padded rails on her bed, they seem to be protecting her very well. Let's hope for some relief for her soon. I think her hand is just responding to the swelling, it goes down with the compresses, then right back to swelled and tight, thus the dark bruise look to it. My take is where in the heck is the Doc on this? He has ordered the tests, etc., but sure do wish he would physically check on her. DeeDEe

if the hand is compressing and then 're-inflating' that's usually a sign of oedema (fluid build up .. like in my feet every night .. lol)

But it's NOT good. How are her ankles?

If she has a 'scab' on her arm from the original injury, I would suggest they remove it and see what's going on underneath.

We had a gentleman moaning and groaning in agony from a 1cm scab on his knee (really, you would have thought his leg had been amputated the way he carried on) .. so the RN knicked off the scab and you should have seen the pus that oozed out ... she was stunned and it certainly explained why he was in so much pain, but nothing was obvious on visual.

Doctors are renowned for not turning up on time if at all, to nursing homes unfortunately. I have recently had an issue regarding doctors prescribing tylenol (panadol, panamax, paracetamol) when the man obviously had an aneurism and was is obvious agony. Doctor was told "patient in pain" doctor prescribed "pain relief". Doctor didn't bother coming to 'see'.

Doctor will now :cool: