MRSA is the acronym for Methicillin Resistant Staphlococcus Aureus, which is an antibiotic resistant form of the very common S. aureus bacteria. We have found there to be a huge lack of information on MRSA patients and their experiences and we also feel strongly that the medical community and the media are not divulging nearly enough information about this deadly bacteria and how important it is to protect yourself from it, and so we are here to tell our story in the hopes that it will help someone who might read it. This is also a story about diabetes, and some of the awful results, if kept unchecked.
My husband, Marshall Jones, was hospitalized on October 13, 2004 with an MRSA blood infection and was released 33 days later. Marshall’s infection began at the end of August, 2004, when after a haircut and a neck shave (at home), he got an ingrown hair on the back of his neck. I plucked the hair out with tweezers on about day 2, but the wound just kept growing. It was about the size of a quarter and was a very nasty looking wound when he went to the doctor, about 4 days later.
The doctor took a culture of it, drained it, and sent him home with Bactrim (an antibiotic used for skin infections) and a diagnosis of a spider bite. After about another week or so, he went back to the doctor because the wound was just not healing. Dr. Daftarian opened it up deeper this time because she said there were pockets of infection underneath where she had drained it the first time. She gave him instructions (for me-since obviously he would need help with a wound on the back of his neck!) on how to pack the wound so it would keep draining, and gave him Levaquin antibiotic. The wound finally healed after we nursed it daily for a week or two. It healed up beautifully, and other than a pretty good scar, we thought we were finished with it. Boy were we wrong!
My plan is to go back to my detailed notes from our experience and enter them into this blog as they happened. Therefore, the whole story will unfold as it really did in our lives. Once you have read this first entry, if you are interested in the rest of the story, you can use the archives tab above to go to the first entry (which is October 8, 2004), or use the category listings, and began reading the story from there. We also invite you to join us at MRSA Resources and find current MRSA information, along with many interactive features, and share with everyone the things you have discovered when fighting MRSA.
If you, or anyone you know, has this infection, it is our hope that you will find some information here that will help you through this horrible infection. I believe that God has urged me to tell our story, and it is one that without his help, would have had a much, much sadder ending. I urge you to arm yourself with information, pay close attention to what is happening around you, be strong, keep a positive support network around you always, and most importantly, pray OFTEN for strength and healing. Come to think of it, these are good rules for LIFE!
Sincerely,
Christina Jones
