(MRSA) Golden Staph has ruined my LIFE

[hsv26c]

Last year i had a work accident where my tendons snapped in my right ankle.
After exhausting all options which included intense physio 3 days a week 2 cortizone injections and 4 months of rehab,My gp and a foot specialist in reservoir melbourne decided that i needed an ankle reconstruction as well as staples to pin back the tendons.On november 2006 i checked in to the latrobe private hospital for surgery where i was due to stay in for 2 days.After surgery i was in a plaster cast for 6 weeks and then i was put in a fiberglass cast for 3 weeks so total of 9 weeks in plaster.Somehow in hospital i contracted the superbug called mrsa.after a while i was getting huge boil type infections around my legs and buttocks so i went back to the hospital and after numerous tests and coultures,infectious disease unit was called in and i was re admitted to hospital and they put me in a room on my own and pumped me up with morphein and an antibiotic called vanconicyn through a drip.Any way ill cut the story short,it has been almost a year now and currently i have almost 20 odd holes around my body as the infection eats into your skin and leaves nasty scars and holes.I thought i could live with that as no more signs of staph were poping up on the skin,but in the last 2 months i was struggling to walk or use my hands to even was my car.So i went back into hospital and after various tests and a bone density scan it is now certain the golden staph has entered my blood stream and is attacking my joints and i have bone infection,so they stuck needles in my joints and preety relieved them abit and sucked most of the infection out.Today i am stuck with acute arthritis,i also suffer septic shocks where i feel like im having a stroke.The most annoying thing is no one is taking responsibility.The surgeon blames the hospital the hospital blames the surgeon and blah blah blah.In the meantime infectious disease control unit vists me regularly but there is no cure for this crazy bug wich lives in hospitals mainly.

Guys i urge anyone who needs to go into hospital for a procedure to have a blood test prior to your surgery and also have a follow up blood test done after you are discharged,the earlier its recognised it is easier to nip on the butt,There is a problem with this disease but for some reason the government is keeping a lid on it.I say this because when i was re admitted to the northern hospital i had met somany others who were suffering the bug.

Worst of all there is no cure for it!!!! i just keep going backwards and forwards and keep changing antibiotics as it gets immuned to the antibiotics very quickly.
Sorry guys for the long post but just wanted to share the story.
And alert others that becareful this mrsa bug is out there and its breeding in our public health system.

[AttaBoy]

I feel for you mate, you went through a lot. That gotta suck.

[dodgy]

With any luck your kidneys will still function well, it's MSRA or the meds that can effect the kidneys. I also know someone who went through this recently (withing the last 12 months) and the meds they were given seemed to work. They spent 1 month in ICU and 5 months in a ward and rehab.

[Scooter79]

I wonder if the media would be interested to hear your story.

[jules]

it's been covered in the media. it's a major problem in our hospitals, if i recall correctly the cause is negligence on the part of health care staff (sounds like it's hard to pin it down to who exactly) who don't sterilise stuff properly and transmit it.

you should talk to a lawyer if you haven't already.

[jet_pilot]

i think it was the traralgon hospital in vic that was demolished because of golden staph but it stay's in the dirt now theyve built a pshyc ward on the site and have cases of it there now but wont do anything it is bloody disgusting

[hsv26c]

My solicitor applied for some personal documentation from freedom of information and after 2 months of waiting finally got it.

Just in this hospital alone last year till date there have been close to 12,000 reported cases aswell as 6oo deaths wich were staph related but 200 of them were elderly patients in ICU who contracted it after heart surgery.


What ticks me off the most is the health system is not equiped to deal with this bug.Because as much as they isolated me to a room on my own i still was using general shared showers and toilet.The machine to check my bloodpressure was brought over from the other ward each night to check my blood pressure.?

I told the n urse that this was wrong but she replied with,theres 2 machines between so many patients.And also due to 2 wards wich were not operating due to staff shortages i had to use there toilets and showers.

I feel bad incase others were infected on my behalf as these sores do bleed alot and release puss when showering.

The nurse also told me due to the australian government not having any mental institutions or drug clinics open 24 hours alot of the ice users or injecting drug users end up in emergency wards.And when they come in contact with hospital equipment they also increase the risk of diseases spreading in the hospitals.

I really dont understand why they are keeping such a tight lid on this issue.

guys believe me ive got so depressed at one stage i felt like filling a syringe with my infection and sticking it in minister or premier just so they can understand and maybe do something.As ive come to understand when something serious happens to the guys at the top it seems theres always a fix to the problem as they also get publicity and better ratings for next elections.
Sorry if it sounds harsh or unfair but its how i feel angry and helpless at times.

[Keepleft]

For a whole lot of reasons, including medical litigation, people do not like these figures to be out," says Collignon. "People don't like the idea of their hospital looking bad."

Much information on say a Google search; examples

7.30 Report - 07/06/2004: Golden staph infection raises antibiotic fears

Health & Medical News - The hidden toll of golden staph - 07/04/2005

Staphylococcus aureus - golden staph - Better Health Channel.

Folk should have a read and take note.

[ProphetVX]

I really feel for you mate. For an infection that only requires proper sterilisation treatments in hospitals, I am amazed that people can still get this as readily as they are.

Last year my ex's niece contracted a staph infection only days after being born in the maternity ward. Luckily they caught onto it real quick, but it just goes to show how easy it is to get it in hospitals.

[TheForgotten]

man I feel for you too. a mate of my mum's caught GS in royal adelaide. he sued for damages, but due to loopholes in the system he lost. he's old though, 60odd i think, and his time's nearly up. they don't think he'll see xmas '08

[sv9946]

well, i don't know what i can say that will help you in anyway. i doubt anyone here can say i know what your going through. i'd be scared if i woke up from a dream of that happening, let alone it actually happening to me for real. i guess its one of those things you always say "nah that will never happen to me"

i'm 17, and i had a motorbike accident 5 years or so ago where i rode a quad bike as quick as possible across the drains in a paddock on our farm the family owns, anyhow at the end there is 2 drains that are so massive its not funny. i used to count up to them, and the turn around before them. obviously this day i counted incorrectly. my sister was behind me when the motorbike did a full 360 in the air, i came off when it had done a 180, and fell into the next massive drain followed by the motorbike falling ontop of me. anyway i done fairly major damage to my left knee, and slight damage to my right knee. luckily my perents employed the no helmet-no ride rules, and i didn't damage my head, lol

i did however split a week old $450 motorcross helmet from front to back, was a little sad about that. i don't remember even riding the motorbike to this day, only what i was told by my sister who was riding behind me. when i did come back to this planet all i was worried about was the helmet and motorbike lol

anyhow i was told i needed 2 reconstructions, was going to go have them done till i watched rpa or something, and i've never been game enough to go back. this kind of story really scares the **** outta me, as it should. it does make my job of been a mechanic really bad leaning over the guards to reach the engine etc etc, but i still live

just goes to show, no matter ho bad you are, someone is always worse than you. you've made my knees feel like a papercut compared to whats happened to you. i hope for your misses and family's sake u don't have kids, becuase if its as bad as you say it would only be hard on them too.

hope u get the compensation you deserve, starting with 7 figures. you can't even put a price on that. sorry to hear that mate. really don't know what to say. you've made me feel positive about having the health i have. thanks