I am now on my second set of antibiotics and it now looks like I have developed cellulitis in the blisters…I don’t know what to do anymore 
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Oh, I am so sorry 
Thank you 
I appreciate that
This is awful. What is your doctor saying about it?
@CarterDK my own doctor refuses to see me about the EM anymore. He told me to go to emergency or a walk in clinic. He says he can’t help me anymore.
The 3 doctors I’ve seen at the walk ins and the one I saw at emerg have prescribed antibiotics, gabapentin, toradol and one did a referral to a dermatologist who I had a phone consult with.
The dermatologist told me to wrap my legs and feet with tensor bandages (which as you can see would be impossible) not only would it be terribly painful I am not able to move properly to do the wrapping because of other health issues, but my feet and half way up my leg are burning hot 24/7 they never cool down unless I have them in cool water. One doctor told me to go walking even after I told him I cannot get any footwear on. I fear I may end up losing this foot
OK, so there are a lot of issues to go through here…
First, your primary obstacle to treatment right now is you don’t have a cooperative doctor. You need a doctor who has experience with EM. Absent that, you need a doctor who is willing to learn and can apply new knowledge. Right now, you don’t have either. What alternatives are there to your current doctor? Going to a walk-in clinic or emergency room is not a good option. ER doctors are not going to know what to do. They treat common emergencies, not rare diseases.
Second, a phone consult with the dermatologist was a bad idea. You should have demanded an in-person appointment. You’re not a patient for which they should be doing a phone consult. A phone consult is for follow ups, discussions of medication, etc. It’s not to evaluate new, uncontrolled symptoms. I understand COVID is a concern, but that’s ridiculous. You are at immediate risk for complications from your foot.
Lastly, you’re not getting the attention you deserve right now. Your medical care is failing you. Unless you want to lose that foot, you must find a way to capture more attention. Make it clear that “no” is an unacceptable answer at this point. Request multiple referrals. Demand Canadian Medicare find you a doctor experienced with EM. If all else fails, make it political. Petition your member of parliament. Go to the media and make bad press. Force the responsible parties to come up with a solution. Don’t just let them railroad you! You deserve better.
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@CarterDK
You are right on every account but my pleas basically fall on deaf ears…it’s like no one cares.
I’m at my wits end. The nerve pain I have makes me scream and cry so hard I can barely catch my breath. If I demand anything I’m basically glared at and told there’s nothing else they can do. No doctors here had ever even heard of EM before meeting me. I live on a disability income so cannot afford to travel anywhere and travel is nearly impossible in my condition anyways. I will follow your advice as best I can though as I truly believe I could lose my foot or worse. Thank you for taking the time to give me avenues I hadn’t sought yet. I appreciate your help 
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@standing_cat thank you 
It’s wrong for your doctor to abandon you. That makes me mad. Any lay person can look at your foot and realize you need help. So, here is my next question. If no doctors in your area had heard of EM before meeting you, is it correct to say no one with prior experience treating EM has given you a professional opinion to confirm your self-diagnosis? Because if these doctor’s are unable to treat EM, they are also unable to diagnosis EM. It sounds like you haven’t been properly diagnosed. That’s an important step to rule out other possibilities.
Case in point: I once had a dermatologist tell me no one would be able to help me, but his statement didn’t even hold true for the building he worked in. The doctor who successfully treated me practices two floors above him in the same medical center. Doctors can be wrong, particularly when speaking of a condition they know nothing about.
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@CarterDK The doctor that diagnosed it moved back to Africa. He had other colleagues share the same opinion that it is EM and also sent me to a specialist who confirmed the diagnosis of EM. Unfortunately I made the decision to stay at Crane Medical and just have another doctor take over my file instead of searching for a new doctor.
I live in northern Alberta and the rule here is you cannot get a new doctor if you already have one. I’ve asked a few doctors if they would accept me as a patient and they said no because I already have a doctor. They called it Doctor shopping 
It’s frustrating that I can only share one photo at a time on here because I can literally show you the progression of the disease in photos. I have every text book symptom of EM and I also have a confirmed diagnosis of Raynauds…so I can’t tell you how much fun it is figuring out the right balance for cooling the flares without creating a Raynauds flare 
I also have fibromyalgia so all this pain and sleep deprivation has my fibro raging. On top of those I also suffer with Ménière’s disease and a very serious lung disease called Lymphangeomiametosis LAM so having my foot in this condition has nearly pushed me over the edge. I’ve considered checking out a few times but managed to pull myself from the abyss knowing what it would do to my family and friends. I’m going to be making some phone calls to find out what can be done about the lack of medical care I’ve been receiving and will follow your advice if I have to get political etc. I truly appreciate all your help and you have given me a new direction and some hope so thank you for that
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So, the rule is you cannot get a new doctor if you already have one, yet your current doctor is refusing to treat your condition. In other words, you don’t have one.
What is the process to file a complaint against your doctor for denial of service? Whatever process exists to get your doctor investigated for malpractice, you want to do that. If you can’t get another doctor when you already have one, then you need to force your doctor to drop you as a patient. You need to make their life difficult.
Please see a doctor immediately about your foot blisters. The infection within your blisters should be of the utmost importance. The infection already looks to have advanced to a stage that I would deem as an emergency. Yes, EM should be of concern for you but I 100% agree with @CarterDK that making sure that you don’t lose your foot to the infection takes charge right now. If you can’t find a doctor please go to an emergency room for the infection.
@anon16865673 sadly I’ve already been to emergency and the doctor told me to go walking 30 minutes a day he did give a prescription for gabapentin and told me to start taking aspirin. So 3 days later when I could barely walk I went to another walk in clinic and the doctor there prescribed a 10 day course of antibiotics. After 5 days of antibiotics the infection had only worsened so I went to another clinic on Tuesday and that doctor took swabs of the pus and told me to call for the results today. I called and the nurse refused to give the results and told me I would have to book an appointment and come in. I told her the swelling was so severe I couldn’t wear any footwear and I was heavily medicated and didn’t feel safe to drive so she said I guess you’ll have to wait until tomorrow then. I have arranged for someone to take me tomorrow and I’m not leaving the office until someone gives me proper treatment. I am going to request to be hospitalized.
@CarterDK I have called and left a message at AHS and was told I would get a reply tomorrow. I do plan on reporting my doctor and asking for a medical release from his care (if you can call it that) and then I will be looking up reviews for other doctors and asking on social media for recommendations- hopefully it’s not too late thank you again for all your help and concern
I am so very sorry, that looks so painful! I hope you get the help you deserve!
@gummy Thank you so much 
it is extremely painful. Difficult to walk or sleep 
hopefully will get some answers tomorrow
This looks like mine before antibiotics dried up the blisters.
God bless your poor feet, so like mine, to become the way they are meant to be, healthy and pain free. 
Strong antibiotics, Luke doxycycline, plus wrapping in PB7 zinc bandages not only dry up weeping sores like these, owing to the thick zinc incorporated within the bandages, they also soothe and cool my feet and legs wonderfully. You can buy PB7 bandages cheaply on eBay and other pharmacies.
@lynne4cobis thank you for your blessing