Topic : 04/01 The Superbug

 My son was 16 when he had MRSA 3 times in 4 mos.  Started off like a pimple under his arm the first time.  They lanced it and it seemed to go away.  Antibiotics were prescribed.  Second time, a bump on his ear.  Again, lanced and antibiotics.  The 3rd time it was on his chin.  My son has always practiced excellent hygiene and they think he initially contracted it from a private swimming pool.  We were sent to a "specialist" who thought it was a pimple but his face had swollen to 3 times it's normal size, his cheeks were flaming red and the skin was oozing.  In the hospital, the doctor refused to consider MRSA saying "he did this by putting something on his face" and interrogating him for 2 days.  All the while, he was pumping him with antibiotics - we found out in retrospect he was allergic to the antibiotics.  I demanded an Infectious Disease Specialist who sided with the first Dr.  He then said he was going to discharge him.  By this time, his eyes were swollen shut and his skin was crusty and oozing fluid like water.  I "fired" the Dr., hired another and the next day, the first Dr. came in and said he had called the new Dr. and told her there was no need for her as he was discharging my son.  I went to the hospital administrator and brought in our primary care physician.  Eventually, we got the proper antibiotics and care.  The MRSA was in his jaw and progressing to his brain when we stopped it.  If it had gone 8 more hours, they said he would have died.  This is VERY serious. He now washes with Hibiclens regularly but has to be very careful.  He is now classified as a "carrier" and there are only 2 antibiotics in the world they say he can take - both in a hospital IV.  DO NOT take "no" for an answer if you believe you have this killer!!!  Some Dr's do not know or have ego's which prevent parental intuition.

Melissa my heart goes out to you.  You will be in my prayers.   Thank you for coming on the Dr. Phil show and telling your story. I know it must have been so vary hard.  Let's hope your story will not go on deaf ears and more can be done so another person will not have to die because of this devastating germ.

You can bet that hospitals don't want it to get out if they are having a problem with MRSA within their walls. It could mean financial ruin to them. People, you have to demand the doctors to keep you informed as to what tests they are doing on you and what the results of those tests are. In case you don't know it, you have the right to have copies of all tests results. If you go in for outpatient tests, ask to sign paperwork to have copies of the test results sent directly to you. They may give you a hard time about it, if they do tell them you know your patient rights and if they won't provide the paperwork, then to tell you where to go to sign papers to have the results sent to you.

By the way, you all might want to pick up a book by physcian author Robin Cook called Critical. It deals with the MRSA bacteria. While it is a fictional story, Cook is known for his very careful research of all things medical in his stories. It will have you thinking more about MRSA, how it can be caught, and how far hospitals will go to protect their bottom line.

Oh, and for the nurse who objected to the idea of swabbing and testing evey patient, doctor and emplyee in a hospital, as a care giver, your first concern really should be the health and care of patients, not the hospital's bottom line. If that means swabbing every Tom, Dick and Harry to stop the spread of a lethal disease, I say, hell yes! Do, it...

One other things, hospitals are saying that these infections are not acquired within their walls because there is now a law that says if a patient gets sick from a bug indemic to their hospital, then the hospital has to foot the bill for nursing you back to health. The hospital can no longer pass the treatment cost on to your insurer.

I am very concerned about this.  My sons farther has been diognosed with MRSA about 6 months ago.  What should I be doing to see that my son doesn't get this.  When I talked his pediatrition about this and he said that most people will have this within the next 10 years and not to worry too much.  What so I do?  What should I tell my 10 year old son.

Carrie

Staph Aureus has been around for a long time. It is a bacteria not a virus.  (Dr. Phil - I'm surprised even your staff made this mistake!)  These organisms have become increasingly resistant to different antibiotics in order for their survival.   Misuse of antibiotics, like not finishing a dose or using antibiotics when they are not needed (especially in the case of a viral infection), is what has led to bacteria like MRSA and VRE.  I feel for those people affected by MRSA, but the hysteria and misinformation being presented to the public is not helping stop the incidences of CA-MRSA.  The NIH and CDC have some great resources about how to keep shared sport equipment and toys clean.  Wash your hands and insist that your health care provider does the same. Kudos to Dr. Drew O'Neil for contributing to the rational discussion from both the patient and provider point of view.

 

I am 33 yrs old And have MRSA... BEWARE OF THE UNKNOWN>>>

 

I am paralyzed from a post ATV accident in 2001.... Nine months after my accident, I fell asleep on a heating pad and burned a 7"X7" Hole TO THE BONE  (Sacral/lumbar spine) I contracted ostyomylities (the germ that is MRSA) in my this area. 

 

I was put on IV Antibiotics (Vancomyicine) for 5 yrs. I lived w/an IV pole on my side....However, i was in a hospital where he docs were uneducated (and down right cruel..thats besides the point)

 

It wasn't until i made my way to Loma Linda University Hosp. in Loma Linda Ca. Where my Orthopedic.surgeon found that my ENTIRE Sacral was GONE..Dissolved from the ostyomylities/ MRSA..AND I got hooked up with THE BEST INFECTIOUS DISEASE DR..(DR.BLOOMQUEST)  And was told "YOU'VE FAILED ON VANCOMYICINE  and put on an even BIGGER GUN which they reserve for people who become "RESISTANT" to that drug and put on Syinersid....Knocking my CRP (shows the inflammation level of the infection) literaly in HALF..

 

I still had and have a long way to go... Once you have it YOU DONT GET RID OF IT!!!!

 

I WOULD LOVE TO BE ON THE SHOW TO SHOW PEOPLE THE REALITY OF THE DISEASE..TO SHOW THEM THE DISFIGUREMENT I HAVE FROM THIS SUPER-BUG!!!!

 

I USE TO BE 5 FEET...NOW I'M 4'-6".... FROM THIS BUG.....AND WORSE..EXCORIATING PAIN....

I was in my first year of university. I had a small pimple shapped lump on my stomach and thought nothing of it. Within three days it had grown from the size of a pimple to the size of a banana. I went to the hospital and was told that it was a normal infection and that I probably just scratched myself. The hospital did not take a swab! I was given antibiotics and sent home. They told me to go to my doctor the next day to get it drained. Because it was so infected they couldn't freeze it so I just had to bare withit. That was not the worst pain I was going to experience from MRSA. The first lump happened in october and cleared up about a month later. But as soon as I got of the antibiotics the infection came back and was worse. I noticed 3 little lumps on my leg at the beginning of november and they were extremely painful. Went to the doctor and got put on more pills...still no swab! The lumps went away after a few weeks and I thought for a few days that it was finally over...not yet. One night as I was getting dressed for bed I felt a sharp pain on my hip. Went to the doctor the next day and they finally decided to do a swab. He also decided to change the antibiotics I was on. This is when it got really bad. He told me to give the drugs three days to work (even if the lump got larger) so I gave it two days. By the second day I was running a very high fever, the lump on my hip was the size of a large grapefruit and I was in a massive amount of pain! My friends rushed to the university doctor...the doctor called for the results of my swab. I knew it was bad because I heard her going down this list saying "resistant, resistant..." I got rushed to the hospital with a note in hand. Now usually when you got to Emergency you wait forever to been seen...but I was taken right away and I could see panic rushing over the eyes of the nurses who assessed me at first. Everyone around me was wearing masks, gowns and gloves. I was pretty scared at this point. The doctor came into my room and explained to me what I had. I was told they needed to contact my parents to let them know I was going into emergency surgery. Now I go to school 18 hours away from home...and I had kinda kept my parents in the dark about everything that had been going on. It was my mom's 50th birthday party that night...The doctors told my parents what was going on. They said "we may have to amputate" but at that point the pain was so intense that I actually wanted to loose my leg. Meanwhile among all the chaos...the lump had doubled in size within about 2 hours. I went into surgery accepting the fact that my leg might be gone when I wake up. Thankfully when I did wake up it was still there! The first night in the hospital was a very scary night I was constantly monitered. The next day and the next 2 1/2 months was torture. When I woke up a nurse came in and told me I had to get my packing changed...I didn't know what that was...but I was about to find out. They took off the bandage and the infection was still growing...they had cut a huge hole in my hip. Just to give a little visual...my surgen was about 6foot and he said he could fit his entire hand (stretched out) inside and move it all the way around. The hole was packed and needed to be repacked every day. That was the worst pain ever... with drugs my parents said they could hear me scream all the way down the hall. I was in the hospital for five days and then was flown home where I had a nurse come to our house everyday. The infection came back many times. even after my whole ordeal at the hospital I was told by my doctor in my home town, when I went to her about a new lump, that I was over reacting. This is a very serious infection and should not be taken lightly. If one doctor doesn't believe you get a second opinion and insist on getting swabs. I am still very carefull and check for lumps all the time. no more MRSA for me!

Cheers!

OK, I don't know the answers to all of your questions but I will tell you what I do know and what has worked for us. I don't know if mrsa stays in the body forever, I do know that my husband has NEVER had another attack after being successfully treated. I have 2 sisters who are nurses and at least one of them has picked up the mrsa bacteria but has never had a problem. She told me that almost all medical personal, especially hospital, come into contact with it and it's inevitable for them to pick it up. I think it has more to do with having an open wound of any sort and the mrsa comes in to contact at that exact point. That's exactly how my husband got it. From a bug bite, he must have had the bacteria on his skin at the time. If you have no open wound I don't think you have to worry as much but please don't assume I'm correct. I also want to point out again that while my husband was actively infected we made love, kissed, held hands, etc. plus I had to pack his wounds and dress them everyday. I did wear gloves while I touched the wound. The only thing we avoided was sharing towels, even hand towels. Ronnie was on MANY antibiotics over the course of a year, all of them wrong, and then on the correct one for a few months. As far as I know you can in fact become immune to antibiotics if you take too many or if taken too long. For many years now, even before we had the mrsa scare, we would use antibiotics only when absolutely necessary. You know how when people get a cold they go to the doctor and get a script for antibiotics, they are only hurting themselves. Colds and flu's are virus's and med's like that don't help until it turns from a virus into a bacterial illness such as pneumonia. Don't worry about any blemish you may have. I know that you are concerned after going through such a scary ordeal but if you have had the mrsa cyst before than you know what they look like. Their big, red, hot, and tight. Their awful looking. My husband has had a few bumps here and there but it has never even crossed my mind about them being mrsa because I could spot that again a mile away. When you've had had you'll know it again when you see it. The best thing you can do for yourself when it comes to vitamins is to eat a healthy well balanced meal. If you don't get everything that you need just take a supplemental vitamin every day. My husband doesn't do anything special, but he does eat a lot of dark green leaf salads with onions and tomato's and plenty of raw veggies. It just happens to be what he loves, he doesn't do it to try and be healthy. Do you know that eating iceberg lettuce is pretty much worthless in nutritional value? We eat spinach, green leaf, red leaf, romaine, etc. It's so much healthier and tastes better too. Please don't worry so much about spreading it around, others are actually more likely to pick it up elsewhere than from you. I can't believe the doctors though, as you know they can be pretty unhelpful. Actually they can be dangerous. I can't believe it took a year, a dozen cultures, about 7 doctors and they all got it wrong until he went to the Infectious disease doctor. Another thing that I can't stress enough is to wash your hands frequently with warm water, normal soap, something with moisturizers so your hands don't dry out and crack, and scrub up for at least 15 seconds. I sing "happy birthday" and I'm done when I'm through with the song. Also, The minute I get home from shopping, etc. the first thing I do is to wash my hands and get any germs off that I may have picked up outside of my home. There is no telling what's on our hands after being out in public. I spray Lysol on doorknobs around the house and one more tip, when your hands are dirty, say when your not at home, never touch your nose, eyes, or mouth with your hands. If you have an itch rub it with something else like a Kleenex, the back of your arm, your shirt sleeve, whatever you can find. It's better than letting germs have direct path to your mucus membranes. I hope I have helped you some. If you have any more questions feel free to ask. Take care and stay cool, Julie

 My sister is 43 years old and a single mother of 2 who worked full time and would work as much over time as possible to take care of her family.  She had an infected tooth and was referred to an Maxofacial Surgeon for oral surgery by her dentist and contracted MRSA in her jaw after the dental surgery.  She is probably not your typical case of MRSA because she has A-fib heart problems, high blood pressure,  Psorasis which requires she normally take monthly Remicaid IV treatments as well as having thoracic arthritis.

She currently has active MRSA, however due to everything she has been thru, she can no longer take the vincomyacin.  The doctors will not yet start her on antibiotics and have her taking steroids.  She is home bound and using a walker.  Home health is coming in, as well as taking physical theraphy at home as her left foot is dragging after her last episode from this illness.

Our family, including her children ages 9 and 13, as well as my mother age 69, has been to hell and back since November 2007 dealing with doctors, emergency rooms and hospitals.  My sister made 6 trips to the Emergency Room in 5 weeks, most times being sent home with an antibiotic and pain pills.  One time she was admitted, being given antibiotics and pain medications to the point she was hallucinating.  This wasn't bad enough, we were coming in to find her room door closed and her up by herself!  The thought of what could happen with her being under such high doses of narcotics and up by herself, let alone the question of why her door was closed and she wasn't being watched more closely.

After her 6th visit and being discharged, she returned home with more antibiotics and pain pills.  Early one morning we received a call that her son had tried to help her get up out of her recliner and she fell to the floor.  An adult friend staying with them and her son tried to get her up and couldn't.  Emergency personnel were called.  She was in Septic Shock and it took ambulance personnel as well as firefighters to pick her up and get her on the gurney as her body was almost lifeless.  Upon getting to the hospital we were taken to the side to meet with doctors telling us that our sister had gone into septic shock, her kidneys were shut down and she probably wouldn't make it through the day.  By the grace of God and many prayers which we are very thankful for both, she lived through that day.  The hospital wanted to place her in CCU however they had no beds available.  They then told us they would life flight her to the next closest hospital and were getting her ready for the flight.  The next news was just as stressful, there were no beds in CCU available there either.  We then discussed  sending her  Barnes  Jewsish/Washington University Hospital in St Louis, Missouri and our family knew this would be good for her and the care would be excellent.  As we waited to hear more on the transport, time went on and on, finally when we asked what was going on, we were advised they had changed plans and were waiting on a culture so they could give Barnes Jewish more information. MY GAWD WHAT MORE INFORMATION DO YOU NEED, MY SISTER HAS FULL BLOWN MRSA, ON HER SKIN, IN HER BLOOD, IN HER NASAL PASSAGE, IN HER JAW, SHE WENT INTO SEPTIC SHOCK AND HER KIDNEYS SHUT DOWN, IS THAT NOT ENOUGH?????????????

Not to mention the lack of care given at the hospital, receiving a call from my sisters co-worker about finding her laying in urine; my mother, myself and my sister became her care, staying there around the clock, wore out, dealing with our own medical problems which include rhumatoid arthritis, inoperable brain aneurysm, herniated discs pinching on nerves, a double back surgery causing further back problems,  other forms of arthritis, pseudo tumor cerebri among others.  By this time we were exhausted and plain past frustrated!!!!!

Hospitals and insurance companies have their rules, regulations, processes and whatever else they want to call them that you have to follow to get a patient to another hospital.  Even with all my efforts to get her out of one hospital and into another it had to be done a certain way.  She eventually got to Barnes Jewish in St. Louis 3 days later  via ambulance, 5 hours away on a hard back board on a gurney!

Praise the Lord for such hospitals and doctors, when she arrived in the wee hours of the morning they were there waiting on her!  They immediately started working with her, doing scans and lab work.  Her room was marked appropriately and the doctors talked to us about precautionary measures we should take as a family when visiting.  This was the 1st time anybody had taken the time to do this with us.  Mind you, all of this started in November and we are now in February!!!!!  In a matter of 3 days at this hospital they had diagnosed her, gotten rid of a rash that covered her body (red mans rash-from too much vincomyacin) that had been diagnosed as strep rash,  communicated with her and with us about everything!  She was released with CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS and just a few medicines to take by mouth.

My sister used all of her vacation and sick time.  Her co-workers lovingly gave gifts from the heart and went shopping for groceries to stock her cabinets and freezer, paid for her prescriptions twice and gave her a $150 gift card.  Her long term disability finally kicked in and she got a partial months check in February.  At the same time, her FMLA expired and she's been placed on leave of absence which is only good for 90 days at which time she will be terminated.  Her health insurance expired yesterday, March 31 and she received a letter from Social Security denying her disability and the Division of Family Services has still not approved her application for Medicaid.

As you can imagine, long term disability payments  are only a portion of your normal income and aren't enough to run a house on, let alone to pay for doctor visits and get necessary medicines.  She goes to bed worrying about getting through the next day, keeping the utilities on as economic security has helped her twice and can't help any more.  Worrying about how she is going to get her medicines, go to the doctors she needs to without insurance and the ability to pay to see the doctor.  Now days you have to pay the doctor if you don't have insurance at the time of your office visit.  To only get up and start the process all over again day after day.  It's a day long process calling agencies seeking help to get the answer you're hoping not to get..........NO.

I'll tell you that with every visit to every doctor and every time we went to the Emergency Room we questioned them about MRSA to be told we're checking and no, it's not MRSA.  I'm not sure if it's the lack of knowledge, not doing the right tests or what but something has to be done within out medical system so that more people don't end up in my sister and family's shoes!  We have spent everything we have and like everybody else, have to pay our bills and get our medicines some how too.

Nobody should have to go through this!  She's active MRSA, needing to see a neurologist, needing medicines, needing to see doctors on a regular basis for the MRSA, needing home health care and physical therapy, needing insurance, needing groceries, financial assistance and we have yet  to figure out where to turn  to help her.

 There are people getting results in treatment of this disease, but you have to "think outside the box"

As long as the doctors keep trying the same old thing, they're going to get the same results.

Go to www.experiencewellness.net 

The body WILL heal itself, IF we give it what it needs.  God has given us a wonderful gift to do just that.

Blessings to all...