face infection

[Anonymous]

i just typed a long post telling you all about my funny looking face—-then i lost it!!!!! maybe it will show up somewhere.

i have a staph infection on my face, doc thinks probably MRSA. it has been lanced and drained twice and i am on some pretty good antibiotics. hopefully they clear it up because if not, i’ll be in the hospital on IV antibiotics.

i look pretty scary. i look like the front of one of those tabloid magazines titled, “plastic surgery gone wrong!!!”

life is always such an adventure!!!!

[Anonymous]

Oh no, Christine! I wonder where you got the MRSA from? Have you been visiting a hospital lately? I work in a hospital, and my friend also got an MRSA infection in a small cut that she had on her face. It was awful, and unfortunately, it’s also contagious to other people you live with, though they won’t necessarily get any symptoms.

[Anonymous]

How awful!!! Life is definitely an adventure! I hope you feel better soon!

[Anonymous]

Oh Goodness! Lori is right it is very contagious so I guess you already know not to hug or kiss your family (not so fun with Valentine’s day tomorrow) and make sure everyone is washing their hands with HOT water for at least 15 seconds probably almost constantly! I hope it gets better soon.

[Anonymous]

I’m so sorry – what a drag! Hope you’re better soon. Keep us updated!

[Anonymous]

well, my lip is reducing in size, but it is still kind of fat. my cheek still feels bruised and so do the glands under my jaw. i pulled the packing out today like the doc told me to and there was still alot of infection to squeeze out. he didn’t tell me anything more to do after i took out the packing. i asked him if he needed to see me again and he said no. so…..what do i do with this oozing hole in my face?? i put a bandaid over it, put it hurts like the dickens to pull it off. i can put guaze and paper tape over it, which doesn’t hurt so much to change, but it doesn’t fit as snug so i can feel wet yuck when i talk and the guaze moves.

a girl at church has had alot of trouble with MRSA over the last couple of months. she said her skin is colonized and she has had 3 different infections—-so i called her last night to ask her what she did to keep her family from getting it. hopefully mine is a one-time infection and not an ongoing problem like she has. i had one of the girls go out and buy antibacterial soap for all of the sinks and we have antibacterial wipes to wipe the phones and computer keys and mouse with. i have been using straws to drink and throwing them away. depending on what i have the wound covered with, it can be a little difficult to eat or drink.

it is definitely feeling better, though. it started as a tiny little zit on the edge of my lip that felt really sore. by the next evening my lip was fat, and during the night i woke up and i think my face was swelling by then—-so i stuck a heating pad on my face. i had a follow up for my last carpal tunnel surgery, but the doc didn’t even look at my wrist, he just asked about my face. i told them i was allergic to duricef—-and they gave me a shot of rocephrin—which is a cephalosporin. the next morning i was red and splotchy on my chest and back. since the ENT was out of town, they sent me to the ER. we have one ER doc that is just a funny guy—-and he was on duty. he was the first one to lance the infection. then i went to my own doc the next day.

i am itching really bad and i hope i am not reacting to one of the meds. fortunately, i don’t have anywhere public that i have to go to for the next few days.

[Anonymous]

OMG Christine! That sounds so terrible! I’m so sorry that you’re going through all that. If you have an open wound on your face and it’s still oozing then I would guess that the infection is still going strong. I’d call the doc back and ask what to do, actually I’d go back. There are creams and treatments that can be given directly to the wound to get rid of the bacteria. Be sure to wash your hands after touching it, as you don’t want to spread it nasally or rectally or to other open areas.

I really hope that you’re feeling better soon. It just sounds awful.

[Anonymous]

things are definitely improving. my lip is now mostly normal sized, just a little swollen directly below the infection. the upper lip area above the infection is still a little swollen and red. it kind of reminds me of a stuffed puppy dog face on that side—where they stuff the snout and sew in the whiskers—–but i don’t have any whiskers, fortunately.

i called the lab and went in and got a copy of the culture report—and it is definitely MRSA. i guess i was lucky that i had my appt. with my orthoped and that he recognized that something was definitely wrong, so i was able to get on medication right away.

i had a really interesting thing happen with this, though. before the infection was treated, i was needing more pain meds than normal because my face was hurting. in the week before the infection appeared i had had a really bad heachache that lasted for hours and hours. i took so many pain killers and muscles relaxants i was afraid i might OD—-but i couldn’t get any relief. for several days after that i just felt headachy—not really bad, but couldn’t quite get good relief, either. i figured it was just the changing weather.

saturday, i took my pain meds around 7-8 in the morning and did not take any again until about 4:30 in the afternoon. normally i wouldn’t make it that long without taking more pain meds—-and i think that with the amount that i take, i would have been having at least some sort of minor withrawals after that many hours.

i had a similar thing happen after one of my wrist surgeries. after needing more pain meds for the first few days, i hit a couple of days where i needed less pain medication than normal.

i wish i could figure out what made me need less medication. i would love to lessen what i take. none would be great, but i don’t think that would be realistic to shoot for just now. i thinking that maybe the distraction of another problem made my nervous system forget the fibromyalgia for a little while—-does that make any sence? i am wondering if a tens unit might help me. any thoughts here????

[Anonymous]

OMG Christine, I am just now getting to this. I am so sorry to hear what you’ve gone through with MRSA. I am so glad to hear it is clearing up for you as I’ve heard how terrible it can be to try and get rid of. My FIL was recently in the hospital with a quadruple bypass surgery and he tested pos for MRSA so we had to completely gown-up with masks and all just to go in and say hi. I am glad for the precautions though.

Do they think you may have gotten it when you were in getting the wrist surgeries done and then may have had something aggravate it like a nick or scratch on the lip that brought it out? I just wonder what brought it on!

I have no ideas on why you needed less meds for the fibro on those days, but I am sure that was a nice change. My mom has fibro and RA and vasculitis and any good days for her are a major blessing. God bless.

[Anonymous]

mmy wrist surgeries were so long ago, that i doubt i picked itup there. i have read that 30-40% of people carry some form of staph, but htat it usually causes no problems.

i don’t know if this means that i will always carry MRSA, or if this was just a one time infection for me. my doc didn’t tell me much of anything—not even how to take care of it or how long i would be contagious. he didn’t even want to see me back to see how things were healing. he kind of acted like it was no big deal.

[Anonymous]

Dylan, when in the NICU was colonized with MRSA (nasal swab test as it was rampent at Yale) so he was isolated and we took precautions, but he was never sick or infected with it. After discharge, we again had him tested and he tested negative, so he is no longer colonized with it. Not sure but I think that you can still be colonized, but once treated probably with vancomycin (sp?) then you should test negative. You could ask for a nasal swab from the doc after it all clears up to see if you are still colonized? Not sure though.

Hope you are feeling better!!!!!!!

Ann Marie

[Anonymous]

i was so unhappy with my family doc and the casual way that he treated this infection that if i have any more problem with it, i will not go back to him. i will either talk to our orthoped—-who seemed much more concerned and was much more helpful—-or i will see a nurse practitioner that we have at an after hours clinic that is really good and really thorough. the nurse at the orthoped’s office mentioned something about a nasal swab.

[Anonymous]

my MRSA seems to be flaring back up!!!!! the scar was a little more sore than usual yesterday, and by evening i could see that it was getting red and slightly puffy underneath. so, i’m starting antibiotics again, but only septra this time–but for 3 weeks. at least i am getting a script for diflucan along with it. i was hoping this wasn’t going to become a chronic thing.

[Anonymous]

oh no, Christine! That’s terrible. Can they give you bactoban ointment or a treatment directly targeting MRSA. I know that they use bactoban for infected areas in hospital. I would personally ask for a referral to an infectious diseases specialist if you’re not seeing one already. They’re much more versed in treating this, and hopefully can help you get the cycle under control faster. HUGS.

[Anonymous]

Christine I am so sorry to hear that it has flared up again. My first thoughts being married to a pharmacist is that you possibly need to be getting your antibiotics through an IV and that would either mean that you would have to be admitted to a hospital or probably more likely go to an outpatient clinic where they can give you IV antibiotics 1-2x/day. It is a pain but seems to work much faster than taking them by mouth. I agree with Lori I would look into an infectious disease doc as well MRSA is second nature to them and they know exactly what to do. I hope you start feeling better soon.

[Author]

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