Replies to '04/01 The Superbug'

  My twin daughters came down with MRSA the beginning of last school year. They were trying to recieve treatment for ingrown toenails and contracted MRSA durring the process.  To see your eight year old daughters go through this is heartbreaking, they are asking you for anwsers, and you cant give them any, because the doctors dont give you any. I was taking one of my daughters in daily for debridement and packing of abcesses, she would scream the whole time. As a mother of four it takes its toll on the whole family.

  I especially remember expressing how confused and tired we were becoming because every time we thought it was gone, it would come back, another bump would appear and she would cry not wanting to go through it all again. I took her to the doctor at the early onset of another bump, and again he perscribed antibiotics( I had been reading fervantly and read the more you use antibiotics the less effective they become.) I was telling the doctor I was becoming terrified, I told him I knew this could be deadly, that the cutanious infections can be treated but when MRSA is in the blood or lungs its deadly, I wanted to know how to prevent it from spreading to the blood or lungs.He had no awnsers for me, I was crying and told him I was terrified, he told me I was over reacting that I just needed to give her the antibiotics as he was directing me to, then he said the most terrible insensitive thing that still angers me to this day, he told me "dont lose any sleep over this little bump she has" I told him "after all we have been thru I am losing sleep, I am worried" to wich he replied" Well Im not going to lose any sleep tonight over it, you shouldnt either!". 

  I have gotten so that I feel safer treating my own children at home, and not dealing with health professionals who spread this infection, and who know less than I do about its seriousness, or try to minimize it.  Its a terrible thing to be in this position.  I was taking my children in for treatment and durring visits I would tell them about using bacatrin in our nares to try and "de-colonize" and they would say " well lets try that then", I would tell them about putting a cap full of bleach in bathwater, and they would say "lets try that too." I would tell them about staphaseptic and they would say " sure try that" I would ask questions about how to protect the rest of the family, they would say 'I dont know" I would ask if I should be wearing gloves while attending to their wounds and they would say "it might be a good idea" I was sooo fed up with going to the doctors they were completely useless to me, I MEAN C'MON DID YOU GO TO MEDICAL SCHOOL OR DID I? WHAT WAS I PAYING THEM FOR OTHER THAN CAUSING THIS WHOLE PROBLEM IN THE FIRST PLACE.

 With alot of reading and research we have actually done way better at treating this at home than any doctor ever did in the clinic or hospital. I am not a doctor though and I would hate to ever have something happen to my children because of that, I dont know everything, I cant, so what too do, I dont really know. I do however agree with one of the posts on the message boards from a retired nurse who said the LAST place you want to go when you are sick or injured is the hospital. I think we are all going to come to a point where we are going to have to know how to deal with this stuff on our own, its not worth the risk of being exposed to anything else and then having to deal with "medical professional" who havent got a clue.