the MRSA Misfortune

Okay, as I have posted before, I have had a few experiences with the nasty little bacteria known as MRSA.  

Well, everything came to a head in early June when i got a super-nasty abscess...

And this is my story...

Firstly, I will desensitize you a bit by showing a photo from the abscess I had in January.  It was on my neck so I documented with a few good photos.  This one gives you a small idea of what I will be posting so if you don't like this just exit out of this window now.  This photo was taken near the end of the infection.  The big hole was what was leftover after all the puss got cleaned out. (if you ever want to know what it's like pulling solid green puss out of a hole in your neck, imagine pulling a tooth prematurely... it's a lot like that.  

It hurts.

That pretty little thing left a scar the size and color of a pencil eraser.  I had another infection in March, then Ammon got a decent-sized one on his face at the end of April (as we were leaving Las Vegas in fact)

****************WARNING*********************
Here's where it gets nasty and graphic!!!

Well, at the end of May, I remember scratching at an itch on my butt cheek, which sounds weird, but it's really something we all do without even thinking.  Whilst scratching I realized i had popped a little pimple.  you know how it is when you scratch a pimple.  It pinches then nothing.  Well, the next day the pimple got bigger.. and bigger... until about 4 days later it starts oozing and looks like this:

FRIDAY, MAY 31st

By the way, the opening was about the size of the tip of my pinky... the reddish part surrounding it  (the infection) was the size of my hand with fingers splayed out... it was big.  

Well, the doc prescribed me the usual antibiotics like she always did; I used a heat pack to "Draw the infection out" as recommended, like I always did.  But it didn't get better.  In fact, this is how it looked three days later:

MONDAY, JUNE 3rd

That nasty boil in the center is actually dead skin, not puss, and it was about the size of a silver dollar.  The infection (the red surrounding part) had taken over the entire cheek.  In order to contain the drainage, I had to put a 4" x 4" gauze over it with a folded up paper towel on top of that, strapped on with packing tape on all four sides.  I would change the dressing every hour or so (cuz it would soak through to my clothes) and when I did change it, I would have to let it drain for a full minute or two.  

Ironically, it wasn't sitting that was the most painful during this situation.  It was taking pressure off that hurt the most.  I'm not sure why, but if I changed position it was enough to take my breath away.  Anyway, needless to say, I checked myself into the hospital Tuesday evening (wanted Tuesday to make arrangements for babysitters, go bags and all that). 

Ammon has always been really good when i need to lean on him in these stressful situations.  That night, as I lay on the hospital bed, constantly having people poke and stare at my butt, it was nice to have him to turn to.  Ironically, the two other people I usually rely on the most (my mom and younger sister) were both leaving town the next day, which just added to my feeling of anxiety.

I had doctors and nurses confirm "Yep, you failed the antibiotics!"  After having Jeff the Vampire take some blood (that's our little nickname for him since no one else could get any), they set me up with a room and specialist consults the next day.  My main concern through allo fhtis was that I didn't want to end up like my dad did when the same thing happened to him... After his surgery, he couldn't go back to work for three months, and in fact, was practically chair-ridden the whole time.  I couldn't handle the idea of that, so when I got set up in my permanent room, the nurse asked what the staff could do to make my stay excellent, I answered, "Get me out of here without doing surgery."

Well, let's just say that didn't happen.  They put me on a really strong IV Antibiotic called Vancomycin and consulted with a surgeon, Dr. Horne (the same doctor my dad had).  She was very good about listening to my concerns about surgery, and told me that I had two options.  Either we could do surgery and I would have a huge hole in my butt that would get treated but wouldn't be infected... OR they could keep me in the hospital longer, try to flush out the infection the 'old-fashioned' way with saline and cleanser (Imagine the world's biggest cavity being rinsed with cold water, it would be excruciating) and THEN i would end up with a hole the same size as after the surgery and still do the same things to help the would heal.   The faster, more anesthitized (?) treatment sounded better after all.  

Thursday morning I had the surgery and everything went well.  We were able to have the kids visit me at the hospital that night.  Ironically, my room was being quarantined until I left, but Ammon was allowed to drag me in a wheelchair downstairs to see the kids in the lobby.  When my mom-in-law (the primary caregiver of the kids during my hospital stay) asked how I was able to sit after surgery, I just explained how little it hurt compared to the infection.  

The next day, the surgeon took a look at my wound.  This is by far the most painful experience of my life thus far.  In order to keep the infection from regrowing, the body has to heal from the inside out, so no stitches allowed here, matey!!  Oh NO!!  They have to pack the hole with gauze then cover it with bandages, essentially.  SOOO, when the doc removed the gauze and repacked it, all of those freshly-cut nerve endings were getting rubbed and pushed on.  

IT WAS AWFUL!!!!

But, I was allowed to go home that night, the only hang up was that they had to find me a nurse to get home care (because the UNstuffing and REstuffing of the hole had to be done EVERY.SINGLE.DAY)  They found a nurse, and I went home with a  giant hole in my butt... and bruises all over both arms.  The antibiotics I was on can destroy the veins and really mess up the kidneys (great stuff, huh), so they changed the IV placement every day AND took blood samples every morning.  Since my veins are not the most welcoming, it would often be three or four sticks before they found a good spot... 

YEESH!

It took a few days for me to willingly look at the cave that had now been formed in my posterior.  Imagine a chunk the size of a Nerf Football.  4 inches deep.  5 inches wide.  3 inches tall.

MONDAY, JUNE 10th:

After the first week, the stuffing got a lot better.  Apparently it takes that long for the nerve endings to heal over.  I went from singing/screaming nonsense under the influence of two percocet to flinching and clenching my teeth with one percocet in about two weeks.  Ammon had the glorious opportunity to change out my dressing several days a week (mostly at the request of our insurance), and thankfully he was man enough to handle it.  

MONDAY, JUNE 24th

The craziest thing about having a giant hole in the rear is getting goosebumps.  The tingling sensation would stop on the inside of the wound... so funky.  Anyway, at that point I was put on the wound vac.  A little machine that sucks the wound toward the surface.  It expedites healing and minimizes infection since drainage gets instantly removed.  It's a few pounds and after carrying it around for a month, it got to be a real pain, especially during the peak of summer!!

This was the wound after about three weeks on the vac.  About 2 inches wide, 1 deep, 1 tall.  Big improvement.  

This is what it looks like while attached.  They apply a sponge to form a channel for the suction then attach sheets of super-tape all over my butt to seal it up.

The tape did a real number to my skin, and often the worst part about the dressing changes that were three times a week was the tape removal.  Gave me some nasty rashes.  

JULY 19th

After the wound vac got taken off, they used a silver-infused gauze that helps prevent infection.  That went on for another 3 weeks.  Then after that it's just been Neosporin and Bandaids.  Currently I have a good-sized scar, but only a tiny little spot I still treat.  

The bad news is I got another MRSA spot last week.  It was small, but still had all the same symptoms as before.  The theory was the nasty IV antibiotics I was on in June should've gotten rid of it.  After i got out of the hospital, we started using antibacterial EVERYTHING, using color-safe bleach in every laundry load, washing weekly with an antimicrobial soap and so on... For whatever reason, this is something H.F. wants me to have.