Community Chat

[gidgetgh]

My father is seriously ill.  He had a stroke three and a half weeks ago and all doctors in the hospital thought he'd make a full recovery. After several days in the hospital, off to rehab he went. He did not do well there and had a sudden major decline last Friday and he's back in the hospital again. They've determined that he did not have another stroke, but they can't find the problem yet.

Anyway, in the middle of it all, yesterday afternoon, the urine cultures showed MRSA. They're repeating the cultures as that surprised the doctor. I've done some reading and stuff, but just wondered if anyone here as experience with MRSA, either with yourself or a family member.  I'm looking for info on what kind of symptoms you had, how did you feel, etc. 

My dad is declining pretty rapidly and my sister and I are really trying hard to lead to a diagnosis. They're trying to piece it all together. Does he have MRSA, are all these issues he's having from it or does he have something else going on. 

Not looking for help with a diagnosis, doctors are working on that, just some personal experiences if anyone is willing to share. 

[MaggieMack]

@gidgetgh, here's my experience.

Hubby had acute leukemia for four years and was recovering from his last round of chemo in expectation of a non-related donor bone marrow transplant when he asked me one night if I thought he felt warm. He did. Temp of 100.1, so per doctor's orders, I hauled him off to the hospital.

He seemed to get better, then declined rapidly. They said he picked up MRSA in the hospital. First off, he was unusually angry (in retrospect, I think his spirit knew he was leaving and this leaked into his consciousness). Then he was not making any sense at all. They moved him to ICU when he became comatose. The doc called me on Saturday morning saying he needed kidney dialysis or he would die, but he might die from bleed out under that surgery due to lack of platelets from the chemo. I told them to do it. After that, they put him on a ventilator. Never regained consciousness, and I told them to pull everything on Tuesday after his doc (The most awesome hematologist from India) told me his spirit had left his body. I could see it and feel it. So I did. And invited his three closest friends to sing Amazing Grace as we watched him leave this life. He was only 50.

People DO recover from MRSA. Don't give up hope, and if you pray, pray as if your father's life depended on it. Wishing you and your family the best during these very worst of times.

[LTT1]

@MaggieMack  Oh, I am so very sorry this happened to you ... both of you... ; (

[4Kicks]

Gidget, I am so sorrry you are going through this. You didn't say how old your dear Father is. I hope and pray the doctors figure out how to get a handle on what is invading his body and he is healed. So frightening for all of you!

[4Kicks]

MaggieMack, I am so very sorry you went through this with DH and him being so very, very young. Bless you! And thank you for relaying this experience.

[LTT1]

@gidgetgh  I don't know how much to tell you that I know... but here goes... remember... I am a person on the internet that you don't know.

Hospitals are laden with MRSA ... but MRSA is now everywhere, from what I have read. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is sometimes referred to as "flesh-eating bacteria."

My experience personally is that the medical community is having trouble keeping this infection out of the hospital environment.

There were dispensers of hand disinfectant unobtrusively placed outside the doorways in the hospital where DD had her c-section.  I didn't even notice these until turning backwards and just happening to see them.  It would be nice if everyone in the hospital would use these and also wear face masks.  Yes, because people are carriers of staph that resides in their noses and under their fingernails...ewww... and staph is very prevalent in schools, which is where I picked up mine... I'm pretty sure.

I was the thrilled recipient of a pseudomonas sinus infection after a surgery... another story.

I hope your father responds to the antibiotics or therapy, rapidly that they will no doubt start on him?  The doctors will also no doubt culture this to find the right antibiotic/treatment, one which will be effective.

I am so sorry that he is so ill...you have my intense thoughts for healing...

[RedTop]

MRSA is a very serious infection, particularly when it affects an organ like the kidneys, or becomes septic, as in blood stream infection.  Most of us have been exposed to MRSA, but when it colonizes to an active infection somewhere specific is when it is usually diagnosed.  I am sure your dad is receiving a big gun antibiotic like Vancomyacin in an effort to bring his infection under control.   These super bugs are scary, and often difficult to treat when the infection is widespread in the body.  All of the people I know who have had MRSA, did not show any outward signs of illness; their diagnosis came from positive lab cultures from simple things like boils and surgical incisions, wounds that would not heal, urine cultures based on continuous kidney infections, oozing drainage from an eye, etc.  My dad had the infection in one of his eyes, and was treated with special eye drops, which cleared up the infection in a few days, and he never had any further issues with positive MRSA.   Praying for a full recovery for your dad, and extra prayers for his family as well.  

[gidgetgh]

My dad is 86.  Ha never had even a hint of dementia, sharp as a tack. Last Friday on rehab, out of the blue, he just became confused. Didn't know who I was. Thought we were in San Francisco (we're in Atlanta). Started talking jibberish and began vomiting. I had him transferred to the hospital where the confusion continues. All he wants to do is sleep.  All. The. Time.  Sometimes he's lucid on some things, most times not. This morning he said that the author Miguel Cervantes, was in the room with us. 

[qvcaddition]

Yes, my best friend had it and got it on her leg.  Suspected from the locker room at the gym.  Back of her leg and it took weeks of treatment every day with changes of bandages and treatment.  Everything had to be cleaned in her house everyday.  This women is so strong.  At age 85 she got breast cancer.  MRSA AT AGE 89'  Both gone now.  

IT is curable.

[LTT1]

@gidgetgh  When we get older, I have witnessed people more easily becoming irrational in their thought processes if/when they were ill.  A nurse explained this once to me concerning my parent.  It is a good fact to know; it may alert loving family members to them having caught even minor infections such as colds or flu.