August 8, 2015 "MRSA!!!"

August 4-(Tuesday-Day 1) Today I noticed a little bump next to Rayden's belly incision. I contacted my friend, Kathryn, whose son also has Spina Bifida and had MRSA recently. She sent me a picture of his wound that looked exactly like Rayden's.  I didn't want to take any chances with this infection getting into his shunt system so I took him straight to Dr. Chiodo's office. There were no signs of infection in his blood so she just put him on a strong oral antibiotic (Sulfamethoxazole) She did a culture but is pretty sure it is MRSA.

I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS!!!! This baby can't catch a break! How do things like this keep happening to him? I'm so angry...

August 8-(Saturday-Day 5) Although we were hoping to prevent a hospital visit, after seeing Rayden's incision this morning I knew that was inevitable. I took this picture and sent it to Dr. Chiodo. She called me back immediately and confirmed that we needed to take him on in to the ER.

UNC ER took us straight back. Since he didn't have a fever they wanted to do an ultrasound to see how deep it was. Rayden was unbelievably good during the ultrasound. He actually slept the entire time so the tech was able to take her time and took over 75 pictures. This had me a little worried though. (Maybe it's just my PTSD of ultrasounds!) The ultrasound showed bacteria under the skin but not a pocket of puss. That's good news actually. This means that maybe we can kill it BEFORE it gets in his shunt system.

They decided to admit Rayden and give him IV Clindamycin. This antibiotic is the best option because if he responds to it he can go home with it orally. If it doesn't start looking any better then they will have to use IV Vancomycin. It is only IV-no oral equivalent! That would mean a 10 day hospital commitment! Please God, let this antibiotic work!!!!!!!

I'm trying to look on the bright side. At least Rayden is not in any pain. He is happy and playful. He doesn't even act like he's sick. Maybe we caught it early enough that we won't have to take his shunt back out.