What has really been going on with me lately {my staph infection story}
I know, I know, you all are tired of hearing me talk about being sick, but I haven’t told you all the whole story so I figured I would get it all out.
It started at Blissdom
I headed to Blissdom on March 21, preparing to have a great time and learn about blogging, looking forward to meeting a few bloggers I have talked with online for over a year, and hoping to meet several new ones. I did have a great time (I promise, the recap is coming…) but I came home sick with what I thought was a cold triggered by allergies.
I coughed and sneezed and moped through Blissdom until Saturday afternoon and then as I headed home, I really started to feel run down. I chalked it up to allergies, change in scenery, excitement…whatever, but things just got worse. I came home to find out that while my boy was staying with Granny and Papa, they were sick as well and theirs really was allergies and all.
Mommy is Sick
On Sunday, Hubby headed to work and I was home alone with our boy. He was excited to be spending the day with Mommy after entertaining himself for several days. But, Mommy was still sick!
I had developed some infections in a very sensitive spot and the pain was increasing. I was beginning to think something else might be going on, but I kept taking DayQuil and my boy was so good about letting me rest.
When Hubby arrived home on Sunday afternoon, I chugged some NyQuil and went to sleep. I woke up several hours later for dinner, then chugged more NyQuil and was out again. The next couple of days were me trying to go to work, only to head back home to more NyQuil, early nights, and no blogging whatsoever.
I hate going to the doctor
By Wednesday, Hubby had me convinced I needed to go to the doctor. We headed to Urgent Care and I was given antibiotics and told to get bloodwork for thyroid and diabetes. Really? For a cold and an infection on my lady parts? This is why I hate going to the doctor.
I stayed home for the next few days and it really is all a blur of sleep, medicine, pain, and more sleep, and lots of pain. By Sunday (Easter), I was ready to go to the ER if things didn’t get better. We spent the day at my dad’s house and then suddenly the infection started to drain.
My Staph Infection {MRSA infection}
These details are a little graphic so feel free to skip these two paragraphs.
My staph infection started with a small bump just inside where my panties rub my private area. I don’t know if the rubbing caused the bump or if it was just a weak spot and my body was fighting off infection. The bump was similar to a pimple, but did not have a head and was about pea or grape sized. Just after I returned from Blissdom, Hubby had tried to “pop” it and it got harder and grew a little, but nothing happened. In the following days, the small bump turned into a large boil (golf ball or small baseball sized) and it was ready to drain.
I noticed it was starting to drain when I went to the restroom at my dad’s house and saw some creamy red-white drainage. I knew exactly what it was because I have dealt with MRSA before about 8 years ago. It was a traumatic experience, but this time I knew exactly what to do. Hubby and I worked together to drain it as best we could by pushing on it (never squeeze a boil) until I couldn’t handle the pain any longer. The next morning I was able to drain it some more and most of the pus lining came out as well (that is painful!).
Back to the doctor
On Monday morning, I called my regular doctor and told him what was going on and they saw me right away. I knew what it was by this time and he confirmed it was a staph infection (MRSA). By this time, it had drained considerably and he didn’t need to lance it. He stacked me up with more (and stronger) antibiotics. I took a couple more days off work and I’m back at work now.
I’m still exhausted and I’m nauseous most of the time from the medicine, but the pain is almost gone. The area that was infected is more itchy than anything now. It is hardened and I am trying to get that to go down, but I would say it is about half the size it was on Sunday.
My daughter (1 1/2 at the time) had the same thing. Hers was at the top of her butt crack. I took her to Urgent Care & they lanced & drained it & put her on antibiotics as well as did cultures. A week later she ended up getting another boil on the opposite side & this time they sent her to a surgeon because there are a lot of nerve endings in that area & they wanted to be sure nothing would be effected when they lanced it. It took 3 full weeks to heal completely & I lost my sitter & had to quit my job because of it. It’s extremely contagious so I completely understood but it was still frustrating. I never returned to work because the doctor said it’s only a matter of time before she gets more boils & we have to do it all over again. MRSA is now considered a super bug that cannot be killed completely by antibiotics. I had to disinfect everything in my home as well as continue to do so regularly to try to prevent more outbreaks & ensure it doesn’t spread. I also had to use rubber gloves when changing her diaper & wash my hands each time I even held her. It was an awful experience & I’m hoping it’s a very long time before she has to deal with it again.
Michelle H. recently posted..Craftsy HUGE 75% off #Sale
Michelle, that sounds like a horrible experience! As painful and difficult it was for me, I cannot imagine dealing with it on a baby! If she continues to have boils regularly, talk to your doctor about using Hibiclens soap (because I don’t know if it is good for babies) and Muprirocen (not sure how to spell it) salve on her nostrils. I had several recurring boils come up after my last infection because I had kittens who would scratch me all the time and every little scratch turned into a boil. This went on for months until I went to a new doctor and she recommended this. I went 8 years before getting another infection!
Oh boy, I hope you continue to get better.
I’ve had multiple experiences with MRSA, in fact, about 2 years it put me in the hospital for 5 days. Seems it got so bad (because there was never an entry point) that it lead to sepsis (scary stuff)…
Take care of yourself Janet!
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Oh my goodness, Barb, that sounds scary! I cannot even imagine how painful and scary that might have been!
I didn’t go into much detail about how my bump started, but I “made” an exit point with a pin prick and then used tea tree oil and coconut oil on it to make it come to a head and drain. I feel like my first infection 8 years ago probably should have been lanced, but it was a holiday weekend and the doctor didn’t want to do the surgery. I worked on it all during the long weekend and had it basically cleared up on my own. It was the after effects like additional (smaller) infections that were harder to stop. I had to use Hibiclens and Muprirocen and several rounds of antibiotics.
Glad the pain is going down. My son had MRSA about a month before he turned one. His also started out as a “pimple” (I thought it was a bug bite) on his knee. About a hour after I noticed it I called the doctor because it seemed to be growing. I brought him in and they gave me some antibiotics for him ,told me to rub some allergy creme on it and drew a big circle on his knee. They said if it grew outside the circle to call back immediately. So home we went. The next morning it did grow but not outside the circle (it grew up if that makes sense). His father popped it and the most disgusting stuff came out. We knew that was not normal so off to the Children’s hospital we went. They did tests and it was a MRSA infection. Luckily we caught it before it went into his knee joints which would have required cutting it out. He spent three days in the hospital on IV antibotics to battle it. He has lesser battles with it over the years (it seems to spread on his butt the most) but now we know what to do it if we see it pop up.
You know, I think our behinds and private areas are more susceptible because they are moist and usually covered. I hear babies and young children get them from diapers and mine was along my pantyline. My first infection started as a small bug bite, but the staph got in there and I probably wouldn’t have thought to go to the doctor except I was feeling so sick. That one also started to drain just as I went to the doctor’s office so I didn’t have to get it lanced either. After THAT experience, I washed with Hibiclens soap and used muprirocin in my nose and it put an end to all the “little” sores that came off and on. It held off for 8 years!