Today we headed to Kaitlyn's regular pediatrician to see what he thought about her current infection. We're about done with this round of antibiotics and it's just not looking good enough, so I took her (along with her brothers and sister) in. The doctor agreed with me and we talked about what the immunologist said. Our doctor concurred with the specialist in that he too suspects she's been colonized by the lovely MRSA. He prescribed the antibiotic that should clear that one up, gave me some free anti-fungal cream to put on the rash, and said if this doesn't work we'll return for more invasive testing. We talked about taking a culture and I said the immunologist recommends one. Dr. Nunez didn't want to do that today, even when I pressed him on it, because he said either way she needs this antibiotic, and we'll test further if this doesn't work. (He acted like it was invasive or something, I don't know.)
I guess lots of people have resistant Staph on their skin and it never ends up infecting anything, but the elderly, immune-compromised, and newborn babies are more susceptible. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria run rampant in hospitals (due to all the antibiotics used there) and I honestly have to wonder if she picked it up in the hospital when she was born. (I can just hear all the homebirth proponents saying, "I told you so...." Of course, there's no way to know. One of us could be a carrier.)
At any rate I'm hopeful about the new medicine, anxious to get the bloodwork results back, and especially anxious for my daughter to be restored to full health--for the first time in 7 months.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
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8 comments:
Hope she is feeling better and that the new antibiotics work...
From a nurse, thought you might like some "inside scoop":
~a culture would be helpful, and if it was blood cultures, it would mean sticking her again. If they are actually going to culture the rash, that would probably involve a skin scraping which, in general, is not fun (imagine scraping your skin with a glass slide enough to take the first several layers... ouch) and also can leave her with another place to get an infection (in the further-compromised scrape site.)
~Recent estimates are that 50% or more of MRSA infections are community aquired. Because MRSA is spread through contact and can "live" on an infected surface for days, it is very easy to aquire from the environment, especially in the elderly, immunocompromised, and children who do not have a fully active immune system.
~If it is MRSA, it's not necessarily that bad. MRSA can still be susceptible to many other antibiotics.
Anyway, hope that helps you a bit!
graceling thanks! i suppose this would explain why he was reticent to take a culture (ie, more than just swabbing something.) i think i'll see what the immunologist says about the bloodwork and we'll talk cultures then. thanks again for the info!!!
Long time lurker here...we've been through very similar things with my immune-suppressed little boy. Her poor little stomach will be a total mess when they are done with her, but it will get rid of the MRSA. When that treatment is over, look for signs of yeast rashes and yeasty stools. If she has yeast/thrush (more than likely with the drugs she will be on) she'll then need Diflucan, nyastat, or whatever else the doc prescribes to get her tummy back in balance. Ours also recommended probiotics for long term use which worked wonders. Just a thought.
Hope that poor baby gets better soon! You have a beautiful family and are richly blessed!
Great to see you tonight and just hang out. I'm praying for energy and grace for you and quick healing for Kaitlyn. Love you guys. xoxo
I hope she gets over the infection quickly and that there is nothing wrong with her immune system.
Hang in there!
At least it isn't hurting her... still praying!
Ok, I typed this ridiculously long comment that took me like half hour to write, only to find it was Andy's account that was signed in...then, when I went to change the log in, it deleted the whole post!
So, the vastly abbreviated version:
-Praying for you.
-Hang in there.
-Have you considered looking for another pediatrician? Just a little concerning that he isn't super supportive of the specialists recommnedations for the culture.
-Think about giving Katie Bio K and/or some kind of acidophilus supplement to help with the yeast imbalance that is likely a cause of the antibiotics. (Which is how I ended up with thrush).
Love you guys! see you wednesday!
yeah jeannett i've thought of the pediatrician thing but our hmo literally has no other options.
and i too have lost comments and posts to blogger before...SO embittering!
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