Friday 11 November 2011

My brush with MRSA

I thought it was about time I shared my experiences of dealing with the so called 'deadly MRSA bug' so here goes..

When I was told I had MRSA, I had already had an infection in the wound on my neck from the 1st surgery to fit my Spinal Cord Stimulator. That led to 8wks on a drip of antibiotics but when that didn't work, they removed the stimulator. They kept me in hospital for another 2 months whilst my neck healed then decided to put the scs back in again. It was at this point that I contracted MRSA. It didn't really feel too bad to me except my side swelled up like a football because the battery pack was completely covered by the bug. It all happened very quickly because I was in theatre within 3 hrs of being diagnosed, this was important because it had already eaten into the surrounding of my spinal cord which has left my right leg a lot weaker than my left. If it had took much longer, I would have been paralysed. After the op, I was in my own room for a further 11 months with no exercise, the MRSA also damaged my pituitary gland so I can no longer produce human growth hormones or testosterone. This also effects your weight so combined with the lack of exercise, I've gained over 70 lbs in weight which I hate nearly as much as the pain.
I still think that MRSA is worse for your family than yourself cos I didn't really know what was going on until I was back in intensive care after the operation with the hardest part over.

over the yrs my wife Kirsty has had to revive me after I bit thru my tongue following a seizure & she has had to call the paramedics no less than 6 times. She deserves a medal.