Many of you may have already heard about MRSA or about Alli's experience with it, but for those of you who haven't after watching Oprah today I decided to do a little blog about it. Please look into it (there are some links below to the stuff on Oprah today or go to her website or just google MRSA) so that we can stop spreading it! First off though I am soo thankful to my Heavenly Father for watching out for us and for our little baby. It was probably the most difficult thing in my life to watch my new little baby lying there with an iv in her head (after multiple unsuccessful tries elsewhere) knowing that surgery was likely going to follow. I am so thankful for Him guiding us to a doctor who knew exactly what was going on and how to treat it. That is such a miracle to me and the fact that she healed so quickly is also a miracle. I am also very thankful for my family, they were such an awesome support for me and Ryan! From sitting with Alli so I could have a sanity break to calling and talking on the phone. Each of my brothers (and their wonderful wives) were soo supportive. Knowing we were not going through this alone was so helpful. Even though they couldn't come visit there were so many phone calls offering information (thanks Bryan) and translating the medical terms into English and telling me that the doctor was giving her the right medicines. This was so calming for me. And my awesome sisters-in-law (I remember Annie and Natalie both) just calling and letting me know they cared and were wanting to know how everything was going. And for James and Natalie to come visit was so nice of them, just to see them quickly. I also remember many conversations with Jason and Christie, who could offer a unique comfort from the experiences he has been through. My mom and Phillip were there as much as possible so when I was falling apart I had someone to keep me together. Just calmly allowing me to cry and being there for me. And Ryan was such a rock for me. He was the one in there with Alli when they did all of the ivs. He was always so concerned that I took care of myself even when I didn't want to eat or sleep. I am thankful for those who brought us food and helped with blessings (Erin, Blake, and Jeremy). I know this sounds so dramatic, but for me it was a really difficult time to have just had a baby and to be back in the hospital so quickly without a break. And I know my aunts and their families and everyone else who was fasting and praying and I KNOW that is why she was healed. I am really just so thankful. As hard as this experience was for me, I learned so much and I am so grateful for all that I have. MRSA is a resistant strand of staph infection so it doesn't respond to normal antibiotics. There were two videos on Oprah today so if you want to check those out they are really informative. Here are the links: http://www.oprah.com/media/20090423-tows-grant-hill and http://www.oprah.com/media/20090423-tows-kristen-hunter One article said, " over a million patients are infected with MRSA every year. A shocking 86% of these infections occurred in healthcare facilities. The mortality rate connected with these infections neared 10%. Simple math tells us that is 100,000 deaths a year from MRSA"
On the Oprah show and in other articles, I have learned that 19,000 people die from this each year in the US, which surprisingly is more than AIDS. Pretty crazy. So imagine our shock when we learned that our 3 day old baby could possibly have this. When we brought Alli home from the hospital we noticed there was a lump under her right eye. We asked the doc about it and he said it should go away on its own, well it didn't. It continued to swell so her eye appeared crooked. We took her back to the doc the next morning to be told it was an eye infection and were sent home with an oral antibiotic and told to get her blood tested. That night a lady came to bring us dinner (which ended up being a small miracle that she was the one who came) and told us maybe we should go to her pediatrician. I figured a second opinion never hurt so I took her in. He was expecting to tell me it was just a clogged tear duct (which usually goes away on its own by about 1 year) but she had the escalated version which is where it is so clogged a cyst forms which usually requires surgery to remove. He didn't know what the infection was so he was going to start her on 3 anti-biotics to try to catch everything. He was hoping she would only need to be there for 24-48 hours. He told me (Ryan was at a bball game) to take her straight to the hospital, that they would be waiting for me. Ryan met me and we took her over. They started the check in process (I remember talking to Jason and him telling me it would be okay, that she is tough) and 5 attempts and an hour of her screaming while Ryan is in with her and me walking the halls sobbing with my mom reporting on if they are done, they finally have the iv in successfully in her head. After her iv treatment that night the vein blew so the solution was going just under her skin so she had a silver dollar sized lump on the side of her head. They removed the iv and started all over in the morning to try another 5 times to get it in again. The next morning the first little miracle happened. We'd been told to try to massage thecyst lightly and to put saline drops to hopefully help soften, just to see if it would rupture. Ryan was holding her (I was actually in pumping) and I remember so vividly him coming and telling me (when I saw him I thought something was wrong) that it had burst. After it burst they took a culture and found out what it was so they adjusted the anti-biotics, but since MRSA is soo contagious (and extremely hard to treat, especially in children) they put a lovely sign on our door that anyone going in and having contact with her needed to wear a hazard suit (like the oompa loompas) so the nurses would come in fully covered pretty much everytime. They also were likely going to put in a PIC line which is a more permanent iv that requires a surgery to place. Talking with Bryan I learned many benefits to these, but also some negatives so I was hesitant and still hoping that somehow her iv would continue to hold. We were assuming that is what would happen, but when her doctor came Monday afternoon he asked if we were ready to go home and we obviously said of course. We took her back in that night to get a shot and some anti-biotics, but no PIC line and she hasn't had any re-occurrences. So a very long story I really just wanted to journal my feelings. I am sorry if we offended anyone while we were in the hospital, but really just didn't want anyone else to go through what we were going through. It was such a stressful time so I hope if we did offend anyone they will see that it wasn't them, but more the situation and the hope that other children wouldn't get what she had.
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9 comments:
Sorry I didn't know how to un-underline. Also, I will add pictures soon!
thanks for sharing. i remember how sad this was for you but could not fully empathize till i saw my tiny newborn laying in a nicu with all sorts of iv's and tubes and not be able to take him home. i can in a small scale understand what you went through. i have oprah on my tivo and am excited to go check it out. you are one brave mamma.
I am so glad you are sharing this. I remember when you were going through this. I don't think I understood the severity of it then. I wish I could of been closer to be some support. It must of been so hard for you to see the sign put on the door and realize that if people came in they could be putting their own life in danger. But after talking to you and hearing all the incredible things that happened and the things that fell into place I cant help but realize that Heavenly Father must have one great adventure planned for her, and that it was just as important to him that she get over this quickly. I am thankful to know your family was there, supporting you, Holding you up!!! Sorry that this had to happen and all drama;) that came along with it. But you know what now you can take that experience and teach others about something that I personally had no clue about. You go girl!! And give Alli a big hug for us, we are so glad she is part of our family. Oh yeah and I have been meaning to tell you Alexa has named her baby doll, baby Alli. So cute!
I remember that was definitely a scary time. I am so glad it's over and you have sweet little happy and healthy Alli.
wow amanda, i dont' think i ever realized how much you actually went through. i flipped out when they put took scott away from me the second night to put him under the lights for jondice. they said it wasn't even that serious and i was so nervous! i can't imagine what you must have gone through! but i admire your faith and your testimony. thanks for sharing.
I think all of felt that we wished we could do more to help and support you. I hope you realized that we care about your family and love you very much!
MRSA is so scary! My nephew had it at 4 months old and had to get a PIC line. He was in the hospital for a week. It is so sad to see a little helpless child go through this. I'm so glad your daughter pulled through and she hasn't had it again. My nephew is two and he's had it two times since. It's scary stuff!! That must have been so hard to see your baby go through that. You are a strong woman!!
Boy that was a scary time. We are so grateful to our Heavenly Father that everything turn out well for Ali. I wished that we could of been more help to you. It's hard to live so far away when their are needs in the family. You were bless to have your family so close to help and some of our their to help too. Like Cori said now you can help inform others. Love you!
Oh my goodness Amanda! You are one tough cookie. I can only imagine what a difficult experience that was. Thank you for sharing. Until this post I didn't know anything about MSRA.
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