The 24th of July Weekend...the BAD and the UGLY!

When we got down to the doctors office, he examined JR's leg (Karen and I thought that it looked like he may have a stinger stuck in the front of his shin). The doctor said that JR had an abscess on his shin and one behind his knee. He tried to take a sample for testing, and expressed concern that it could be MRSA (antibiotic resistant staph). He gave JR three painful shots in his thighs, and put him on Bactrim. He wanted JR to be seen again the next day (Saturday) in their after hours clinic. Well the next morning I woke in a panic to hear JR crying laying face down on the carpet. He had fallen out of bed, unable to walk at all. Clearly the medication had not worked, and I knew it was hospital time. Ryan and I took JR to Primary Children's Hospital. In the ER they decided that his leg needed to be drained, because if it burst inside, he could quickly get into a critical situation. They gave him an IV with the medication Verset and another one. JR screamed in pain during the procedure, although luckily he does not remember it. The abscesses gushed out with fluid. The doctor was even surprised at how deep the abscesses were. After that they started him on IV antibiotics while they waited for the results of his labs. JR was moved to the RTU (Rapid Treatment Unit). That is where JR learned about his favorite part of his stay - Room Service!! The labs ended up showing that it was indeed MRSA. Left me terrified. The lab then would test his MRSA against different antibiotics to find one that could treat him. He was released Sunday night. So How did he get this horrible infection? Well we all carry staph on our skin, and MRSA too. JR has ecema, so he scratches his skin a lot. He had really itchy skin behind his knee, so they hypothesis that he scratched the MRSA into his skin causing the abcess. As for the abcess on his shin, other than he had fallen on it at the neighbors house and bruised it badly, they are not quite sure how it appeared there.
It used to be that only HIV and needle drug users would get MRSA skin infections. But over the past 4 years, all types of people are getting it as the bacteria mutates. I read online that many otherwise healthy kids have died from it. This is why treatment asap is so crucial. He is now feeling better, and wants to play! It is challenging keeping him from overusing his leg, and trying to keep everything sterile. But thank goodness he is doing well! I feel so blessed that he is improving so much! Primary's was awesome with him! They gave him a doll, his "buddy" where he could color owees on him, and they let JR give his Buddy an IV. When JR's IV came out, JR took Buddy's out too! The great care made a world of difference, and we are recovering very well now.