Topic : 04/01 The Superbug

Yes ask about their rate of hospital acquired infections, like HA-MRSA, more than likely the person you are speaking to will not know the awnser but I would suggest asking to speak to the infection contril department at that particular facility. The CDC has on general information about rates of infection (without facility names), you may consult the CDC website for healthcare-associated infections surveillance at www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/surveillance.html. 

I am also am aware of medicaid changing policies and informing hospitals it will not pay for costs incurred when a hospital aqcuired infection occurs, I say WHAT A GREAT IDEA, what a way to make the hospitals take every precaution nescessary. I dont know how the little average everyday person could put a hospital on such notice when you know you will be recieving care there. Most of their preopperative releases do note risks including infection and we just sign away any recourse we might have had. You might do some calling and find out what hospital has the lowest rate of HA-MRSA cases and just make an educated choice.

  A mom whos daughter got HA-MRSA back east passed a bill requiring hospital in her state to post this information and make it easily availabe to the public. I think all states should pass similar lesilation. If resteraunts have to post their health inspection stickers on the front doors of their establishments so the public is aware of low scores, it lets the public make an educated dinning choice and forces dirty resteraunts to clean up their acts, Hospitals should have to do similarly!

Since 2003 I have had 5 MRSA infections and I've been told I am now colonized with it.  I believe I got them all from one doctor who had a wound on his hand that wouldn't heal.  (This doctor eventually killed himself as he had other patients who also got MRSA from the same procedure - implanting a pain pump.) 

Having MRSA has completely changed my life.  It has impacted my medical condition in ways I never dreamed of.  I've lost two knee replacements for my left knee due to infection and my leg is now fused straight with a metal rod in it.  I also had back surgery in the past but since my infections my back has gotten much worse (also because of my knee problems).  They say my low back needs to be fused but they won't do it because there's a chance that my MRSA could come back and that would, or could, be disasterous.  The doctors now want to amputate my left leg above the knee to see if it might help with my chronic pain, possibly increase my mobility, and take some strain off my back.  Anytime I have surgery I'm at a much higher risk for infection than the average patient.

I would give anything if I could go back in time to when I didn't have MRSA in my body but that's not possible.  Thank you, Dr. Phil, for having a show about this awful infection.  I don't feel as alone anymore.

I first heard of the bug when my daughter contracted it during a routine out patient surgery.  It was scary for all of us at first but she finally got rid of it. I don't really know if it's gone for good, but I do know that I was like the people on the show, very, very frustrated because I could not get the answers I wanted about MRSA. I am still in the dark about her future health, but she's had a baby since then and seems ok.  My advice to everyone out there, do not ignore any sore on your body, even if you think it's nothing. My daughter and I thought her sore was just a pimple on her leg, but we were wrong!

  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.