Have you ever had the MRSA Staph Infection?

If anyone is interested, I will share my horrible experience this past December.  It was very scary and it will be a long story.  I got it while my hubby was in the hospital on December 6th, having his heart tested for blockages.  He came out with no problems, but on Dec. 14th, I had a mysterious spot on my abdomen.  The rest of this story is awful.  I ended up in the Emergency Room 5 times before the New Year started.  I don't even remember much about Christmas.  Let me know if you want the full story.  The main reason I want to share my story, is to help others prevent getting it in the first place.  Although, the ER doctors said they see it every single day and it is no respecter of persons.  I learned first hand how many people get it and never knew where or how it happened.  I would like to hear other stories and how you think you got it.

Thanks,

Darla   

Hi Darla, I don't have MRSA but I have a very dear friend who is crrently in the hospital. She first went in in April for back surgery. Being diabetic they had to put a device over the incision on her back. She was in the hospital for several days and then they put her in a nursing home for recovery. While she was there they left her lay and did not take the device off or care for the incision for 3 days and she developed MRSA and the first said it was not and let her come home. About 3 days later she developed pain and swelling and excrutiating pain in her wrist. Her husband called the ambulance and they took her into emergency and now she is back in the hospital. We are all very concerned about her and friends are afraid to go in to see her. My son is getting married in 2 weeks and she wants to come to the wedding if she is out of the hospital.My concern is I know it is not a contageous airborne bacteria but is there another way it can be spread to someone else? I would hate for someone at the wedding to contact this. I understand it is pretty bad stuff.

I would like to hear about your experience.

Karen

My ex boss was taking a powerful drug for rheumatoid arthritis.  It wrecked his immune system and he ended up getting pheumonia.  While in the hospital he contracted MRSA and things went downhill from there.  The doctors put him into an induced coma for over a month.  He also had a lung collapse and now has some heart problems.  His last surgery to repair the hole in his lung was unsuccessful and they are going to do another surgery in a few days.  This all started the beginning of March and he hasn't been back home yet.  He is shuffled betwen the hospital and reahab center for the necessary theraphy to get him back on his feet.  The doctors were saying from the beginning that it would be 6 months to a year before he would be able to return to work. 

The daughter of a lady I work with had it and she almost died.  They sadi it's a miracle she's even alive.  She ended up in kidney failure and everything.  I guess it started with a small boil on her backside.  She went to her dr to have it lanced.  They thought she had the flu cause she got real sick and weak.  They took her to the er and they lifeflighted her to a traume hospital where they actually had to cut out all the infected tissue.  She ended up losing all the tissue on her thighs and buttocks and had to keep going back for a long time for more surgery.  I guess she's doing ok now but is still going through plastic surgery to try to repair damage.  Its really scary the stories I've heard about it...

i had a spot appear along my bikini line and went to the dr because one it was painful and 2 it wasn't getting better. I thought it was just an infected hair follicle.  He took a sample and gave me some medicine. He called a couple of days later and said it was MRSA.  I was on some strong antibiotics which i had an allergic reaction to and had to have the medicine switched and could not use my hands. My hands were beat red and very sensitive. I must of caught it early because the spots healed up and i haven't had any other symptoms.  It was scary hearing the term MRSA because you hear so many horror stories.  I still don't know how i attracted it.  I had taken my dd to the er for stiches in feb but that was the last time i was in a medical facility and didn't get the MRSA until april.  It's scary that's for sure.  They told me if you have an open wound the MRSA bacteria lives on your skin. If you touch your leg where the bacteria is then touch the open wound that is how you can spread it into your system. I had to use the hibiclens soap on my whole body for 3 months.

How is it transmitted?

The staph bacteria is generally spread through direct contact with the hands of a health care worker or patient who is infected or carrying the organism.

How long can an infected person carry MRSA?

Some people can carry MRSA for days to many months, even after their infection has been treated.

How can the spread of MRSA be controlled?

Careful hand washing is the single most effective way to control spread of MRSA. Health care workers should wash their hands after contact with each patient. If the patient is known to have an MRSA infection, the health care worker should wear disposable gloves. Depending on the type of contact, a gown should also be worn. Patients must also wash their hands to avoid spreading the bacteria to others.

What about contact with carriers?

If basic hygiene precautions are followed, MRSA carriers are not a hazard to others including their family and friends.

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When two of my friends had this--the nurse at the hospital said to go home--immediately strip and drop everything I was wearing into the washing machine and then put myself into the shower and wash head to toe. Not to touch anyone in the house until I was clean. Said that one could even contact MRSA from using the same towel as someone that has it or touch the handle of a grocery cart, door knob, etc.

I have a good friend whos daughter took this while in the Hosptial having her baby by C-Section.. they had to reopen her and after 12 days sent her home with part of the incision opened to drain.. Home health nurses are coming and keeping a close watch on this..

Another friend who was diabetic had this several times over the past few years.. She knew that this one hosptial in paticular was a place she always seem to get it from..

Hearing more and more about this in my area...  Bad thing to say the least..  bdett

MRSA is found in our nose. MRSA is staph.  Staph is found anywhere. One in three people carry staph on their skin. They can spread infections anywhere. 

Some germs that commonly live on the skin and in the nose are called staphylococcus or “staph” bacteria. Usually, staph bacteria don’t cause any harm. However, sometimes they get inside the body through a break in the skin and cause an infection. These infections are usually treated with antibiotics. When common antibiotics don’t kill the staph bacteria, it means the bacteria have become resistant to those antibiotics. This type of staph is called MRSA.

We have several High Schools (locker rooms) in our area that the bacteria has been found and then need cleaned to kill the bacteria.

I forgot to mention that sprays, such as Lysol, will not kill this particular strain of staph. You need to clean/wipe surfaces with a mild solution of bleach.

I got it after having my tubes tied. Before the dr even took the bandage off I was having pain in the incision. It had been less than 24 hours. It was caught early so I was on a strong antibiotic for a while and it did go away with no problems, thank God!

MRSA has long been a problem in hosptials.  Now, however, more and more people are contracting it outside of hospitals.  DS has had it twice - the first time he was stung on the knee by something while jogging (I KNEW it was bad for you!) and the dr. figured the bite was the means of entry for the staph.  But at first he just thought he'd done something to his knee - it was swollen to at least twice it's size and very red and painful.  He'd had it for 2 or 3 days before he went to the doctor.  He's a physically fit 29 and it took almost a week in the hospital and some strong antibiotics to get rid of it.  Shortly after that he was on TDY in Vegas and got it again.  That time he knew what it was as soon as he saw it and went to the doctor.  He managed to stay out of the hospital that time, but was off work for several days and on strong antibiotics again.

Thanks for all this feedback.  Doctors, nurses, and lots of other people told me and my hubby lots of things we had never heard, about how to prevent and live through this infection and stay healthy. 

1.  We were each prescribed tubes of ointment to apply in each nostril with a Q-tip, twice a day, until I was completely well.

2.  We had to stop using bar soap, forever and switch to antibacterial liquid body wash.  For 2 weeks we had to use prescription wash liquid once a day. (Phisohex) can't spell it! 

3.  We were never to share towels, wash cloths, shavers, etc. 

4.  We had to spray bleach in the tub and shower after each use.

5.  We were told to use the antibacterial gel many times a day.  The nurse said when you use it, you have to rub your hands together until they are dry, or it doesn't work.

6.  We were told to bleach and wash all bed clothes, blankets, pillows, clothes, all towels, & basically everything we came in contact with.

7.  This is gross, but they also said not to put your finger into your nose, because the staph is in everyone's nose.  If you do that, don't  touch a thing or scratch anywhere on our bodies, until you scrub our cuticles, nails and hands, in general. 

Note:  My staph spot was my lower abdomen and I couldn't see it without looking into a mirror.  I had to have lots of help.  We also noticed that the center of it was in one of my many stretch marks, from my two pregnancies.  That is a place where the skin is so very thin.  My primary doctor told me people get it in sweat glands, even. 

8.  Also told us not to let the draining liquid touch anything or any part of our bodies.  If it happened to come in contact with another part of our bodies, or anything else, to immediately use alcohol wipes or the liquid and clean, clean, clean wherever it touched.  Believe me, we start to get a little paranoid.

9.  I was told to rest and have hubby change my dressings carefully, no showering until all drainage is gone.  It was Christmas and none of my little grand kids could come to my house during the whole holiday.  (That was my choice)  We managed to get with them in a cabin, my dad built.  I was hurting so very bad, I don't remember very much about Christmas.

I still think I got it somehow, when my hubby was in the hospital Dec. 6th for tests on his heart.  Of course, all the hospital staff, and others denied that I could have gotten it in their hospital.  Well, they are certainly not going to admit it, even if they already knew it was possible.  I totally believe that is where I got it.

Let me just say how fast it advanced.  I discovered the spot in the middle of one of my stretch marks on my abdomen on a Friday evening.  Saturday, I noticed the redness and the soreness, because it felt like a golf ball inside.  So that evening Hubby and I went to a Direct Care facility, and some weirdo lady Dr. acted like it was no big deal.  She only told me to put hot moist heat on it several times a day.  By Sunday, I had a low fever and couldn't even go to church.  That afternoon, the celluloses was worse, the knot inside me grew to about the size of a tennis ball.  I also got the chills.  So we made the decision to go to the ER this time.  We sat forever to get in, but the doctor that looked at it, said he knew exactly what it was and started preparing to open it up.  He also said he sees one of these things almost every day in the ER.  It was definitely MRSA.  I was in so much pain.  I grabbed my hubby's hand and the doctor took a huge syringe with a huge needle and told me deadening wouldn't work on the spot, so he proceeded to stick that needle directly into the middle of the abscess, which had continued to grow within a few hours, to the size of a grapefruit.  I didn't scream, but I would have rather given birth again.  My sweet hubby said I was tougher than he thought I would be.  The doctor dug around deep inside the spot for what seemed like hours, and suctioned out the junk.  Then he use an entire roll of gauze to pack it and poked it about a million times before he got it all in there.  Then told me to come back in a couple of days to let him remove the packing.  Let me tell you, the packing was as painful as the abscess.  What I am trying to tell people is, that these things grow extremely fast and the lady doctor had no business sending me home to use hot compresses.  We figured she probably knew exactly what it was and just didn't want to mess with it.  Well, by Tuesday, still in severe pain, we went back to the ER and the same doctor decided to remove the packing.  He pulled and pulled and pulled.  With each tug, I felt like I did when he was digging around in the abscess, itself.  I had to get on super powerful antibiotics, that made me so sick to my stomach, a huge tetanus shot, another super powerful shot of antibiotics.  Had to start taking lots of oral antibiotics.  Then I had to come back for a fourth recheck, and by that time I had thrush in my mouth, everything tasted salty, and got a yeast type rash all around the top of my thighs.  I hope I am not getting too graphic, so please understand.  I am trying to help others to not wait and hope something like this goes away on its own.  Just to be on the safe side, I would say, go check it out early.  

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask.  I wouldn't wish one of these things on anyone.

Hopefully, I haven't bored you.

Thanks for listening,

Darla   

There is airborn MRSA and contact MRSA.   I clean at a hospital and the housekeeping dept. is very strick when it comes to cleaning.   You see the family members go in and visit like it's no big deal.   We provide the protective wear for them right outside the pt. door. (gown, gloves, mask is necessary).   They can't figure out why they have to wear that when they don't at home.    Then you go out in public and see the same person that has contact MRSA and hope that they are taking proper precautions, ha ha, like that's going to happen.   The pts  are on a MRSA list at our hospital until the day they die.   When they come in, they are in Isolation until the test comes back negative.  Once you have it, you're more susceptible to it.  So, yes, you may have gotten it at the hospital, but maybe you got it just by opening a bathroom door after an infected person just touched it without proper washing.  We can't wash every chair, doorknob, wall, etc. every few minutes.  I would think that there are people with MRSA that don't give a crap if they infect other people or not, so they don't properly wash.

MRSA is everywhere!!!  You can get it by touching ANYTHING ANYWHERE!!!

Most of the cases are brought into the hospital from the outside and aren't aquired inside the walls of the hospital. 

We test EVERY person admitted into our building and the patient is immediately put in isolation as soon as the results are back if they are +.  Most of it comes in from the outside and is what is called community aquired.  Every person having surgery is tested a week pre-op and if they are positive, are treated and then put in isolation apon admission. 

MRSA has been around for decades, it's from over use of antibiotics.  There is VRE out there too and that is harder to get rid of than MRSA.  This is just the tip of the iceburg, this situation will get way worse before it get's better.  The bacteria will continue to mutate and adapt, then become resistant to the meds the more they are used.