Fighting Flesh-Eating Bacteria | Mike Drop Clip - Episode 139

About this video

A guest recounts contracting a flesh-eating bacterial infection in 2020 after kayaking in Florida with a fresh tattoo on his leg. He describes eight months of repeated surgeries to debride dead tissue, constant high-dose opioid use for pain management, and developing dependence on the medications. The infection spread to his blood, heart, and bones, requiring additional reconstructive surgeries over 18 months and resulting in the loss of his biceps femoris tendon, which was replaced with cadaver tissue.

Key takeaways

• The guest developed necrotizing fasciitis (flesh-eating bacteria) shortly after kayaking in swampy Florida water with a fresh tattoo, which was initially misdiagnosed as bursitis and treated with steroids
• The guest underwent repeated debridement surgeries every 3-4 days for eight months, with doctors leaving the leg open and using wound vacs; the infection destroyed tendons requiring cadaver tissue transplants
• The guest became dependent on high-dose opioids (fentanyl, morphine, Dilaudid, Percocet) during treatment and recognized his addiction when he realized he was seeking the drugs beyond medical need

Episode details: published June 6, 2023 · 3.3K views · 14:42 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Stories told by Mike Ritland’s podcast guests are the guests’ own accounts, attributed to them — not independently verified. Commentary is Ritland’s, presented as his analysis.

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