Saturday, April 4, 2009

Bad news...

Tuesday we took Charlie in for what appeared to be a skin infection/irritation and came away with some antibiotics. The infection was three little pimple like blisters that were clustered together. Two popped on their own before we got to the clinic...the third was popped and sent to be cultured by the NP. We were hoping it was just a staph infection...

We got the results yesterday: MRSA. My biggest fear. Here is a definition of MRSA provided by Mayo Clinic. It is a form of Staph, just more resistant to the antibiotics. Charlie is on Bactrim (sp?) and fortunately the strain he has is not resistant to the bactrim.

What is really difficult about this is he is still very small. It is hard to medicate correctly an infant, no less a preemie, that is that small. The NP called the Neonatalogist over at RMH and was able to confirm our dosing. So far we are on the right path.

So what do we do now? Well, for starters I am asking everyone to give us a bit more time before coming over to visit. Charlie is very susceptible to infections and it is hard for him to fight them off. It makes him very tired..if he is too tired he doesn't eat, if he doesn't eat he gets dehydrated, if he gets dehydrated he has go to the hospital. See where this is going? Also, Daddy and Grandma need to get tested (I was tested multiple times in the hospital as the hospital is a breeding ground). However Daddy is very low risk so he may not get tested. Grandma goes on Monday. She can't hold him or be around him until she is confirmed negative.

Honestly, we don't know where the infection came from. He very well could have carried it home with him from the hospital. But we have to rule out the possibilities.

Charlie doesn't seem sick and is still eating really well...but we want to keep it that way. We need him to get bigger and stronger so that these things are no longer a worry for us.

1 comment:

  1. I'm very sorry to hear ... my heart goes out to you. I have you guys in my prayers. May God have his hands over Charlie and he gets well soon.

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