Ed Olieslagers’s Road to Mobility

NECROTIZING FASCIITIS

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

Goals:

Coverage hospital bills

Coverage costs of mobility tools (Prosthetics & Mobility tools)

My name is Ed Olieslagers, 62 years old and living in Thailand since 2006.

After losing my swimming pool construction business due to Covid, the following happened to me:

Necrotizing Fasciitis, Thrombosis and Sepsis.

A deadly flesh-eating bacteria!

Disease course:

Discovered: April 17, 2022

Period of medication, 9 operations and finally resulting in amputation left infected leg above knee, and right leg below knee related to complication thrombosis.

Finally discharged from the hospital on August 15, 2022. In total lost 25 kg of weight over the course of 4 months.

Waking up August 16, 2022:

What is my status quo and what needs to be done?

● Emotionally

1. Acceptance of the status and solve the problems as they appear.

● Physically

1. Make a plan to survive in order to become independent and train the body back in shape as soon as possible.

● Financially

1. How to find a way to pay the hospital bills.

2. Savings evaporated. FYI: No health insurance, but would have not solved the development of disease and its consequences.

3. No support in Country of Origin.

● Mobility

Solutions to avoid social and business isolation:

1. Prosthetics.

2. Driving tools

In my case:

Type II infection: This infection accounts for 20 to 30% of cases, mainly involving the extremities. This mainly involves Streptococcus pyogenes bacteria, alone or in combination with staphylococcal infections. Both types of bacteria can progress rapidly and manifest as toxic shock syndrome. Streptococcus species produce M protein, which acts as a superantigen, stimulating a massive systemic immune response which is not effective against the bacterial antigen, precipitating shock. Type II infection more commonly affects young, healthy adults with a history of injury.

According to Wikipedia:

Necrotizing fasciitis (NF), also known as flesh-eating disease, is a bacterial infection that results in the death of parts of the body's soft tissue. It is a severe disease of sudden onset that spreads rapidly. Symptoms usually include red or purple skin in the affected area, severe pain, fever, and vomiting. The most commonly affected areas are the limbs and perineum. Typically, the infection enters the body through a break in the skin such as a cut or burn. Risk factors include a poor immune function such as from diabetes or cancer, obesity, alcoholism, intravenous drug use, and peripheral artery disease. It does not typically spread between people. The disease is classified into four types, depending on the infecting organism. Between 55 and 80% of cases involve more than one type of bacteria. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is involved in up to a third of cases. Medical imaging is often helpful to confirm the diagnosis.

Necrotizing fasciitis occurs in about 0.4 people per 100,000 per year in the U.S., and about 1 per 100,000 in Western Europe. Both sexes are affected equally. It has become more common among older people and is rare in children.

Figures about Thailand are not available, but most cases are registered in the rural areas of the North East.

Conclusion:

NF causes significant morbidity and mortality in Thailand. Occurrence of NF is highly seasonal. Health workers in the rural northeast should be trained in early diagnosis and aggressive treatment for NF, especially among the elderly and patients with diabetes, hypertension, cirrhosis and malignancy.

Eduard John Peter Olieslagers

Born: September 23, 1960

Dutch Nationality

Living in Thailand since July 2006

[email redacted]

+66 (0)94 [phone redacted] (also Whatsapp/Line)