I am back, returned from the dead, or near dead, as it were. I had a sinus surgery on July 3rd, designed to eradicate the MRSA infection that has derailed our plans to add to our family. The surgery went well and I was amazed that I went home without any pain, especially considering that my doctor removed the walls between each sinus cell within my sinus cavity using a laser knife. I was worried as he refused to take my MRSA infection seriously,and I actually has to get the appropriate antibiotic coverage from my internist.
About a week after my surgery my daughter was hospitalized and had surgery. I was with her during her 5 day stay and while there kept feeling progressively worse. My theory was that I just needed a good night's sleep in my bed instead of a chair. After she was discharged I was still ill and started to be cold all the time, something that never happens to this no so thin woman who lives in the tropical Gulf Coast of Texas in mid July.
I had finished my three different oral antibiotics about 4 days earlier so off I went to my internist to get some more. I had been to see the surgeon 2 days previously and he had removed my packing, had spent a lot of time asking me how I felt,(a very new concern), and then had spent 5 minutes suctioning mucous out of my sinuses. I knew I had a post-op infection, but he had chosen to ignore it and also was not going to treat.
When I saw my internist he decided that I was most likely septic with MRSA, so off to the hospital I went. Sepsis is when a bacteria gets into your bloodstream and MRSA is very difficult to treat, usually with IV vancomycin given IV for 6 weeks. So now I have a central line that goes into my heart for IV therapy, a nurse who comes to my home to draw my blood before and after every 4th dose to check by blood levels.
I was in the hospital for a week for sepsis, had an emergency room visit when my central line broke and the line bunched up in my subclavian vein causing a large bulge in my throat and panic in the emergency room staff. I never want to see Trauma Room 1 again. That episode resulted in having my line replaced.
The worst part of sepsis is that having bacteria in your blood stream is that it takes months to recover. You feel mentally foggy, and physically weak. I am doing physical therapy and was before I became ill in preparation for our trip to England and Scotland, I started out strong, so I hope my recovery time will be shorter and our donor IVF plans for the spring will not be delayed.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
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4 comments:
I'm not sure, if my last comment went through. All I wanted to say, Melissia, is that it's good to hear from you and I wish you all the best.
You really have been through the wringer and my heart goes out to you. As if things could get any worse!
Oh shit, woman! I've had MRSA septicemia and...it takes a while to recover. I hope you don't get the "post-MRSA rheumatoid phenomena" that most doctors pretend doesn't exist. If all of your joints start aching like a mother and you can't walk, you're not alone. Wishing you the best (and I'm sure I'll be back to surf your archives) and I don't publicize my e-mail but I do moderate comments on my blog, so if you ever want to talk about it, have questions, etc. I'm here.
Oh and not to freak you out, but HAVE you ever read Shan over at www.charmingbitch.typepad.com? She had a terrible experience with going septic while in labor and her son passing away after only a month because she had had systemic MRSA septicemia and evidently it had encapsulated itself in her joints and/or the valves of her heart, etc. and the stress of labor triggered it. Not saying you can't have a healthy baby after MRSA, but just that you should make sure your ID doc does a thorough screening--mine did, including a DEXA-scan (total-body xray) and echocardiogram, plus the "three clean cultures" from the nose before releasing me from his care--before you start a cycle just to make sure that you and your (hopeful!) baby will be okay. It sounds like you've taken all the right steps, and I achieved a total cure with no encapsulation with the IV Vanc, so probably you will too; Shan's is certainly not the typical MRSA case but since her doctors kind of dropped the ball I wanted to make sure the same thing didn't happen to you!
Oh and just to provide counter-balance, I forget the URL but the name of the blog is "Arcane Matters," where one partner in a lesbian couple actually had MRSA while about 35 weeks pregnant with TWINS, and was successfully treated with IV antibiotics WHILE PREGNANT. Both of her babies are fine. I really don't mean to freak you out, so there you go: HAPPY story involving MRSA and childbearing :)
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