Curse of the MRSA

[JLCecilia]

Hi everyone, me again.

I’ve posted many times in the last 9 months about recurring staph infections (specifically the MRSA strand) in our family/home. It started w/ my husband in September which resulted in missing work and having to drop school b/c he was too ill and got way behind. Then I got it in late December just weeks before giving birth. Our 2 yo is just recovering from an infection after 2 weeks, and now DH has it again.

I am not sure what God’s intentions are for us. On the lighter side, many of you may know from my previous posts that I am on a Dave Ramsey kick to get out of debt. As he puts it, when you are working a ‘plan’ to get out of debt, “Murphy comes to live w/ you.” I can think of another name for ‘this guy’ (hint: red guy w/ horns and a tail).

Please pray for my family that God will lift this plague from our family/home. DH has not been to mass since September which I feel Satan is using against us. While waiting for the Rx to fill DH’s pain med scrip this afternoon, a dear friend (mother-type) told DH she missed seeing him at mass w/ ‘his’ family and hopes he gets to feeling better so he can start going again. Hope God uses her words to plant a seed in DH’s heart to return to the Faith and the Church and sacraments.

Thank you for all of your prayers and may God bless you all.

 

[Claymont79]

I too have a plague of MRSA so know how depressing it can be. I have rheumatoid Arthritis and thus a compromised immune system and first got it in Nov. 2006. We messed around with different antibiotics due to misdiagnosis until late January 2007, then finally went on Doxycycline for a year (yes, a year) to try and kill it in my system. I haven’t had it back since going off the Doxy in February, but had a horrible summer last year since I couldn’t go outside much - Doxy allows you to burn easily along with another med I’m on for the arthritis doing the same. It’s hard to stay in in Arizona when all are out swimming and having fun…

But I’m hoping to keep MRSA at bay by reading my body reactions to stress factors and keeping even keel. My 21yo son has had it twice at college this year which is pretty concerning too. But he still feels 10 feet tall and bullet proof so I can’t get him to take it seriously.

Hang in there and use antimicrobial soap on everything.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I would be interested in reading some scholarly information on the subject. The first I ever heard of MRSA was some years ago when my wife, an RN, worked in a nursing home. Seems it was a growing problem there before anywhere else.

Now, it seems to be almost pervasive. I have read that it’s on the hands of half the people you meet. I think perhaps it’s like a lot of things. Some people are relatively immune and some are not. Still, it seems likely that overuse of antibiotics might have caused the strain to develop long ago. One of the really troubling things is that some foreigners who can, in their own countries, buy any kind of antibiotic over the counter, have self-medicated with antibiotics for years for everything from a cold to a stomach ache. It’s like an invitation to not only MRSA, but resistant strains of just about anything one could name.

 

[Claymont79]

You can go to mrsaresources.com
They have tons of things to read and forums that have folks affected by it and how they deal with it - new antibiotics to try etc…I have found it most useful.

 

[lisa238]

JLCecilia,

I have said a prayer for your family and I will keep them in my intentions.

 

[JLCecilia]

Thank you for the (name removed by moderator)ut/advice/resource links. DH was given Bactrim the first time he got it and that’s pretty well been the drug of choice for us - myself and DS included. In addition to that, we’ve been prescribed antibiotic ointment for the wound site as well as the nose - dr said that MRSA can harbor itself in the nostrils and to apply the ointment inside the nose 2x/day. Actually had to prescribe a special ointment for DH b/c he smokes - guess the other’d turn him into a dragon

Along w/ all that, dr advised us to wash w/ antibacterial body wash. I work w/ nurses and I’ve asked them for help and advice many times . . .they have informed me that staph is a natural bacteria that everyone has on their skin. In reading up, I’ve found that it may flare up into a full-blow infection in people w/ weakened immune systems. Isn’t mono sort of like that? I mean, that it’s one of those things that everyone has and it’s pretty well dormant for the most part.

I will say that we’ve been pretty fortunate. The first infection ate a hole in his toe, but since then, they’ve just been pimple-like. I’ve heard of people who get an infection from a hospital stay and it gets so bad that they’ve had to have large areas of skin removed to fight the infection. Lord willing we won’t have to go thru that.

Thanks again for all the info and prayers.