Day 161, saw Dr. Phuong Trinh, infectious disease doctor in Silver Spring.

The question is, might the bone at the auto-amputation break be infected?

He took a culture and will let me know. Taking antibiotics, Cephadroxil 500 mg. 2x/day.

He prescribed another ointment, Bactroban, http://us.gsk.com/products/assets/us_
bactroban_ointment.pdf. He said the second toe looked not half bad, much better than when he saw my foot in June while the gangrene was fighting for control. He said he had feared I might lose more toes. I was glad he didn't tell me that then.

The staph infection of August, which may have come about when I got caught in a rain-flooded street, tried to clean and dry it right away, but the infection came...that infection hopefully was beaten back by antibiotics. I have been on antibiotics a lot since the surgery. I'm taking probiotics to introduce the good microbes into the gut; antibiotics kill everything, bad and good. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probiotic

If ever there were a time for antibiotics, this is it.

Saw Dr. Polun next. He was positive about the progress of the foot. I really like him.

Also had a flu shot and a shingles shot at Dr. Trinh's office. You get the shingles shot only once. Better earlier than later. The FDA is now recommending it for people 50 and above, though the medical group organized around such substances still says 60 and above.

My 70th birthday is coming up and I had chicken pox as a kid. The shot is expensive, $200; there may be some coverage by Medicare. God bless America! Medicare is good, and may it be continued for generations to come.

Photo: Trees turning color on Chevy Chase Drive, just above Hillandale, Dr. Phuong Trinh.