Topic : 04/01 The Superbug

This is not a media scare. I've had MRSA for quite a while.  I have taken some strong courses of antibiotics, only to have it return.  My skin has been permanently damaged.  It is a flesh eating disease, and leaves big holes in your skin.

If you think this is a media scare, you are sadly mistaken.  I have no health insurance, and cannot seek anymore treatment.   The treatment can be very expensive.

My best friend calls me a germaphop (sic) because I will not touch door handles in public places and use my sleeve or a napkin to open doors.  I don't routinely touch surfaces in public.  Since having MRSA, I have become acutely aware of just how nasty the public is.  Most of you probably don't notice how dirty people can be.  The staph germ is common in most people's noses and, if they sneeze or wipe their nose with their hands and touch a surface such as a door knob or a counter at the store, they can leave this nasty little bug behind, even if they do not have MRSA.  Now I notice how careless people are in public not just about being clean, but about what they touch.  If you go to the mall and open the door and routinely run your hands along the railing on the escalator, or run your hand along a counter, you are flirting with disaster. 

So with that said, my best advice to you, is keep your hands to yourself.  Don't stand at the counter resting your hands on anything, put them in your pockets if you must.  Carry a hanky or paper towel with which to open doors.  I use my elbows alot and sometimes even wait for another person to open the door and then slip in.  Wash your hands FIRST as soon as you come home from anywhere.  During the summer months, do not wear short clothes to public places such as a movie theater and sit with your skin exposed to surfaces that countless others have been on.  Do not sit in public places with bare skin, or you may very easily pick up this disease.  Mothers, I have noticed that your children are putting there mouths on grocery carts and other surfaces.  Children like to walk along sweeping surfaces with their hands, that's a no no.  That is like sweeping up every germ that every other person before them has left behind.  Carry disinfecting wipes and wipe the handles on your grocery cart.  I don't care how inconvenient it is, if I need to use the toilet, I go home.  Yes, I may seem a little drastic, but MRSA is a nasty bit of business and I do not wish it on anyone.  For those of you who think this is media hype, I challenge you the next time you go to the mall, to make a conscience effort to observe people in general and notice how nasty they really are about their habits.  Remember in the public places, that every surface you touch has been touched by countless others. Others who may never wash their hands after using the toilet or who sneeze into their bare hands and even worse, the number of people who will just sneeze right out into the air, sending projectiles of germs right at you.  Since I contacted MRSA, and have changed my habits about going to public places, I have not had a cold in two years.  I used to get sick with a cold at least twice a year.  So if you believe MRSA is hype, at least if you take my advice, you will not be prone to the commone cold.

I just sent an email to Melissa.. here are some links I have found and there is so much more out there.

My mother in law had the same infection in her eye after tear duct surgery.. Please check the links for help