Staph Infection?

Who ever knew that there was staph bacteria running rampant all over the place and that all it took to get this deadly bacteria infection was...to have an open cut? Our family found out the hard way! A few weeks ago Henley got attacked by some ants outside. She had bites all over her bottom and upper leg. It was nothing to be alarmed about and just put medicine on it for the itching. A week later I noticed a bite on the side of her leg that had gotten a little red. It had a pus head on it, so I popped it. I thought this would make it better because it usually does. Unfortunately, this was just the beginning. One day after getting tubes back in her ears, she developed a really high fever. I thought this had something to do with her ears, so we went to the doctor. The doctor thought it was maybe a virus?

In the meantime her leg started to get really red and the pus and yuck that was coming out was absolutely disgusting. The poor girl was limping and would not even let you touch her leg. Back to the doctor we went! Honestly, I was tired of doctors by now because this was the 3rd trip this week. I took her to a clinic in our neighborhood. It is not a doc in the box, but an actual clinic, a satellite office from a hospital. The doctor there told me it was a staph infection! What? I thought you only got those in hospitals and usually people die from them! This particular doctor told me not to pop or squeeze it anymore. They put her on a strong antibiotic, Bactrim. This is the antibiotic of choice for these type of infections.

My sweet angel limped out of there and we started her medicine. The next few days the area proceeded to get extremely worse. The medicine did not seem to be helping at all. I decided to take her to her pediatrician now. He cultured it, drained it and kept her on the antibiotics. He got a lot of yucky stuff out of her leg, so he thought now it would get better. The best way to heal staph infections is to drain them and let them ooze! The other doctor was wrong! We went back home and I continued to monitor her leg. Staph infections are so scary and can go from bad to worse in an hour.

Now, keep in mind my poor baby had been in a doctors office almost everyday this week. Her leg was in so much pain that you even looked at it and she would cry! On Saturday, I went out to run some errands and when I returned home she looked really bad. Her fever was still sticking around and she was just flat out puny. I decided we needed to go to the ER! I called the nurse and she recommended it as well.

I have to tell you that if you ever want to get into the ER quickly...tell them your child has staph! I never even sat down and we went straight back. Once they saw her leg they told me that she would more than likely be admitted overnight for IV antibiotics.

The doctor came in and looked at it and that was the first thing she told me. Looks like we were spending the night in the hospital! Thank God I dragged my mom with me! I just could not take one more time of holding her down screaming without some support! Brian stayed home with Christian.

The nurses came in and put some numbing patches on her legs and arms to start an IV. They also were not sure if they would have to cut open her infection to drain it better. They were talking about doing surgery and putting in a drain...my head was spinning at this point. How in the world had an ant bite turned into this?

After her loratab and IV! Feeling a little loopy!

The IV was not to terribly bad. There was crying, but the area was numb, so not so bad. She did extremely well considering this was the 5th day with a doctor! They started her antibiotics there and then moved us to a room.

They have a numbing patch over the opening...that is cream under it!

The room was small with two chairs and a bed. Henley cried and cried because all she wanted to do was to go home. How do you explain to a three year old that you have to stay overnight. Finally around 11pm she fell asleep! My mom stayed with us too! Bless her! She slept in a pull out chair. I told her to go home, but she wanted to be there in case I needed her. Being 61/2 months pregnant and staying overnight in a hospital is not exactly something relaxing. I had to sleep with Henley in a child’s bed and that was not comfortable! I thought it is only for one night, I can handle this.

The next day was Sunday and if anyone has ever been in the hospital on a Sunday...well everything is just a lot slower! We waited forever for our pediatrician to come and talk to us. When he finally came it was not the news we were hoping for. She had been on IV antibiotics every 8 hours, but her infection was not looking that much better. The doctor told us that she had to stay in the hospital until it went completely away. These are not things they like to mess around with. Needless to say, we were there for two and half days! We left the hospital with her leg looking so much better. They felt like we could come home and continue to treat it from here.

Sound asleep...worn out!

We have antibiotics for 10 days, we have to use a special cleanser and we have to give her clorox baths! The doctors don’t know exactly why she was so susceptible to getting staph and may not ever get it again.  We did learn that it is common, it is out in the public everywhere and the only prevention is wash your hands a lot!