Thursday, October 30, 2008

Mercy Me!

Or should I say...MRSA Jack?
Last week, we discovered that what looked like an infected bug bite under Jack's arm was really MRSA (pronounced like "mercy", but with an "Uh" ending). AHHHHH! My son was infected by a virulent strain of Staph which is resistant to all but 3 antibiotics. It was a little scary. We watched a dime-sized, slightly red sore turn into what looked like a 3rd nipple. A large one. Perhaps that's not the most polite thing to say, but seriously...Ugh. Fortunately, we caught it before it had even developed a pustule, so it wasn't very advanced. It didn't spread to his blood or anywhere else, which is VERY good news--MRSA is deadly. The doc recognized it immediately and started him on the antibiotic right away (the culture came back 2 days later and confirmed diagnosis).
So, I guess I just wanted y'all to be aware! I had no idea MRSA was so fast-acting and prevelant. If you or your kid has a sore that is getting larger instead of healing, check it out (but don't try to drain it yourself, cuz apparently that can get the infection into the blood very easily--fortunately I learned that, too!). It's crazy how potent this little germ is, so the faster it gets treated, the better!

4 comments:

Jenni Elyse said...

Wow. I'm so glad you took him into the doctor and I'm glad that there was still an antibiotic that worked. That's really scary.... We'll keep Jack in our prayers to make sure it goes away for good. Let us know if we can do anything.

Unknown said...

Thats scary! I remember Graciela got that her foot when we were in junior high. It was a huge deal, I think she spent some time in the hospital. I'm glad you guys caught it early!

Chris, Kristen, and Brynn said...

Wow!! I had a MRSA infection about 1-1/2 years ago and I was drugged up and completely miserable for about a week. (Wait - I'm not trying to say he'll be miserable for that long...I'm just trying to commiserate with you. :)!) And probably like Jack, I didn't get it by hanging out in nasty locker rooms or hospitals. Feel better, Jack!

The Vigue's Wild Ride said...

i haven't been to your blog in a long time i guess. i also didn't hear about this. glad to hear that all's well though. if you were wondering why i never called about this, now you have your answer.