Joe's accident continues

The last few weeks have been so crazy since Joe's injury. Monday after the accident Joe came home from work and he looked fine. He sat on the couch as I heated up some dinner. When I went back into the living room his eyes were swollen so badly that he didn't even look like him. It really scared me. I gave him some ice in a wash cloth and made him lay down. Later I looked online at swelling after a head wound and everything I read was that it was normal and to drink lots of fluids. I made him take a Gatorade to work the next day. The swelling above his eyes went down a little but it had moved to underneath his eyes too. I kept begging him to go to the doctor but he wouldn't. Thursday even Joe's parents came down from Idaho. We were going to drive them to San Diego Friday. We woke up and his head looked like a silver dollar with a marble on top of it that's how swollen the wound was. I begged him again to go to the doctor and he said, "Of it's still swollen on Monday when we get back, I'll go to a doctor". I wasn't happy. I didn't think it was normal. I needed to stop and get some allergy medicine on our way out so we stopped at a Walgreen's. I asked the pharmacist if Ibuprofen would help with swelling (knowing that that's what it's used for besides pain) and I had Joe come over to the window and show him. The pharmacist said, "Yes, Ibuprofen would help with swelling, but that's not swelling... It's infected and you need to see a doctor right away." I looked at Joe and said, "You heard the man, let's go!" Joe said, "I'll just go Monday when we get back. I'll be fine." The pharmacist looked him in the eyes and said, "Sir, if you want to be alive Monday you'll go now. The infection can get into the bloodstream and you could end up in the ICU". I was so scared. When we walked away Joe kept saying let's just go, I'll go to the doctor when we get home. I was not happy so I went to his parents and told them what the pharmacist said and they didn't even hesitate and told him he was going! I love parents!!! So we got back to the room and the doc came in and saw just the side of Joe's head and said, "Oh yeah, that's infected. We need to get those stitches out right now and relieve the pressure." So he took the stitches out and pushed on his head and all of a sudden a stream of stuff came flying out and hit the ceiling among other things in the room. I almost passed out! It was disgusting!!! It was the infections. He went and got gauze and filled 4 pieces before he finally started getting blood out. He had the nurse come in and clean it and put a band aide on it and told him to keep it on for 24 hours! He told us that the stitches were in too long for a head wound and that there were way too many so there wasn't any place for it to drain. Also the fact that the lady didn't clean it out well enough all played a role in it getting infected. He gave Joe two antibiotics. He was taking 1500 mg of antibiotics a day. We got to San Diego and filled the prescription and went to the Mormon Battalion. We got a picture taken there and I wouldn't let Joe take off the band aide! Tuesday night the next week Joe was up literally all night. He had insomnia. Then he got a fever. Wednesday we called the Quick Care because they told us to watch for a fever and they said it sounded like the meds weren't working and to go to the hospital. After waiting for 3 hrs and watching 7 people who came in after us get treated, we were about to leave. The guy that checks you into the ER told us not to leave in case he had meningitis. We stayed and finally after causing a stink and 3 1/2 hrs later we got back there. A doctor didn't even come in and look at him. It was a nurse practitioner and he told Joe he was fine and to continue to take the medicine and not to worry about all the other side effects. We even brought the medicine to show them what he was taking and how much. So we left and that night was all for NOTHING!!! I wasn't too happy then either. Especially at the guy that said he could have an infection in his brain because we asked what the symptoms of meningitis were and they said you'll know. You'll have to carry him in here on a stretcher if he had that! So we went home and he continued to take the medicine. Friday we noticed a rash on his stomach. I told him he was allergic and that he needed to stop taking the medicine. We prayed he'd make it through the night and not go into anaphylaxis shock. He did make it but when he woke up his entire body, from head to tow, quite literally, was covered in hives. He went straight into the Quick Care where they told him he was allergic and gave him a shot. He couldn't walk for about 20 minutes because the shot had burned his muscles all the way down his leg. He called me after they gave him the shot and I could hear the pain in his voice. They gave him some pills to stop the reaction. It was so hard to watch him go through this. I am so glad it's over!