2010-Just when you think you have life under control! (alwaysmekelly)

My life has always had some sort of drama or event happening in or around me. So here I was working on getting fit this year.

Starting in January to lose the extra weight finally that I have been carrying around for the past few years. And nope not talking about all that old emotional baggage we sometimes hold onto and won't get rid of.  That my friends has been and is handed over to the higher power daily.  Talking about just getting caught up in life, and pity and everything else where you double your size and attitude in the process and never know it until one day you look at a picture and realize the person you see is not who you want to be or thought you were.

So over the next few months I learned allot when joining weight watchers.  Learning about reading labels, learned about calculating calories, learned about diabetic diets would benefit people far more then weight watchers counting.

But not for nothing less,  my goal was to get in shape, and working out at the gym 2 times a week, doing taekwondo once a week and watched my weight and over the next several months I proceeded to lose a total of 23 pounds. Man looking younger, feeling younger and good life is getting on track.  Keeping in mind this is for health reasons I would not let it get to my head.  But the excitement of how it even changed all my blood work and this was good.

Then that rug under my feet was slowly being tugged.  In April playing with my dog I didn't move my hand and my thumb got cut on his tooth.   It wasn't bad but I knew to watch it.   Soaking and cleaning it with alcohol it was healing nice. It was a little scratch healing awesome and during this time don't you know because I work so much with my hands I didn't keep it covered all the time and traveled all over.  From NY for my grandfathers funeral to Cocoa beach to visit someone I had not seen in 13 years. The the thumb looked good I was doing well and life was good.

Then one day in May I woke up and the thumb was a little tender and by the time the week was out I would be in urgent care and then a hand specialist. Why because not keeping a band aid on that little bitty scratch that was healing so good; that I cleaned daily with alcohol.  I still touched a door handle, shook a hand or touched something in my travels that had the MRSA bacteria on it. And it took off in my little bitty thumb. With that being said by the time I made it to the hand specialist, it had abscessed, and hurt and trust me when I say the thumb no longer went to my body.

So here I am now having minor surgery cleaning out the abscess and being put on 3 different antibiotics over the next several months to clean out the infection.  And although it was healing it just would not go away. What happens next is because of the meds I start feeling like junk and because of the minor surgery couldn't work the thumb so I then started losing my training and working out schedule. Once the thumb healed and the wound closed.  I started back..

But things just were not right.  Something just wasn't working. So finally they ordered an MRI to see what is going on with this on going saga.  Here a little bitty wound in April now is in July and still stirring up problems. And don't you know just when I am looking good and everything else was feeling good. That wonderful little wound of the thumb actually turned into MRSA in the thumb joint bone.  Better known as Osteomyelitis! I would say it can only happen to me but now that they have me in getting antibiotic therapy treatments with two major meds for the next six weeks twice a day for 2 hours each visit. So during these times of treatments I have met several people treated for this once super bug bacteria would only be acquired through hospital visits or nursing homes.

Which is so not true anymore in the year 2010.But that doesn't surprise me.  The world is a mess; from gushing oil into our oceans, wars in many corners of the world from military to drug..  So why wouldn't there be super bacteria that has invaded every place we touch, breath or go near. And why not me; to be one of the growing population to have a stupid little scratch healed over with bacteria inside waiting to rot my bones and kill me if I don't take care of it.     It may sound much! But it is.. If this next six weeks does not cure the issue then the hand specialist will have to go in twice into the thumb joint.  Once to scrape and drain the issue. And the second to fuse the joint and bone back together.

So my prayers is that this treatment works.   And share a very valuable simple lesson.  If you ever have any open wounds anywhere on your body.  Always keep them covered until they are gone.


WHAT IS MRSA What Is MRSA? Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacterium that causes infections in different parts of the body. It's tougher to treat than most strains of staphylococcus aureus -- or staph -- because it's resistant to some commonly used antibiotics.

The symptoms of MRSA depend on where you're infected. Most often, it causes mild infections on the skin, causing sores or boils. But it can also cause more serious skin infections or infect surgical wounds, the bloodstream, the lungs, or the urinary tract. Though most MRSA infections aren't serious, some can be life-threatening. Many public health experts are alarmed by the spread of tough strains of MRSA. Because it's hard to treat, MRSA is sometimes called a "super bug." A Closer Look at MRSA What Causes MRSA?Garden-variety staph are common bacteria that can live on our bodies. Plenty of healthy people carry staph without being infected by it. In fact, 25%-30% of us have staph bacteria in our noses. But staph can be a problem if it manages to get into the body, often through a cut. Once there, it can cause an infection. Staph is one of the most common causes of skin infections in the U.S. Usually, these are minor and don't need special treatment. Less often, staph can cause serious problems like infected wounds or pneumonia. Staph can usually be treated with antibiotics. But over the decades, some strains of staph -- like MRSA -- have become resistant to antibiotics that once destroyed it. MRSA was first discovered in 1961. It's now resistant to methicillin, amoxicillin, penicillin, oxacillin, and many other antibiotics.While some antibiotics still work, MRSA is constantly adapting. Researchers developing new antibiotics are having a tough time keeping up. Who Gets MRSA?MRSA is spread by contact. So you could get MRSA by touching another person who has it on the skin. Or you could get it by touching objects that have the bacteria on them. MRSA is carried, or "colonized," by about 1% of the population, although most of them aren't infected. MRSA infections are common among people who have weak immune systems and are in hospitals, nursing homes, and other heath care centers. Infections can appear around surgical wounds or invasive devices, like catheters or implanted feeding tubes. Rates of infection in hospitals, especially intensive care units, are rising throughout the world. In U.S. hospitals, MRSA causes more than 60% of staph infections. Community-Associated MRSA (CA-MRSA)But MRSA is also showing up in healthy people who have not been living in the hospital. This type of MRSA is called community-associated MRSA, or CA-MRSA. The CDC reports that in 2007, 14% of people with MRSA infections had CA-MRSA. Studies have shown that rates of CA-MRSA infection are growing fast. One study of children in south Texas found that cases of CA-MRSA had a 14-fold increase between 1999 and 2001.CA-MRSA skin infections have been identified among certain populations that share close quarters or experience more skin-to-skin contact. Examples are team athletes, military recruits, and prison inmates. However, more and more CA-MRSA infections are being seen in the general community as well, especially in certain geographic regions. It's also infecting much younger people. In a study of Minnesotans published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, the average age of people with MRSA in a hospital or healthcare facility was 68. But the average age of a person with CA-MRSA was only 23.


Well Thanks for reading and I hope this saga is helpful or you have gained some awareness. As I thought I knew all there was to know, and my normal germaphob self had everything under control. Guess I was fooled, this round. And who knows what is next but it is in God's hands and what ever path he carries me down. I will deal with. But sure hope I finished with this one.