Surgery #2 - MRSA Staph Infection

September 1986, I was supposed to start the 7th grade in a new school.  Well almost… I missed the first few days of my new school, because of my second surgery.

I was admitted to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.  Dr. Lewis performed his second surgery.

I remember being in the hospital bed waiting to find out about the surgery.  My mother had waited all day to speak to the doctor.  She went to the bathroom (in my room) and the doctor came in and left before she exited the bathroom.  The total time she was indispose was maybe 5 minutes.

He told me that he would see me the next day at surgery and left.

My mother ran down the hall to try to catch up to him, but he was GONE!

The nurses joked and called him Dr. Ghost.  He would come and be gone before anyone even realized it.

The following day, they prepared my for surgery.  I remember going into the operating room and smelling that weird smell again, and I was out.

When I finally came to in recovery, my mother and father were there again.  I remember that this time, the pain was intense from my arm.

My mother had told me that they really scraped the bone and removed some bone.  I just remember wanting them to cut my arm off a this point.   I was in agony and I figured that this would just be routine, surgeries every few weeks.

My spirit was finally broken!

I spent a total of 14 days in the hospital this time.  They told me they thought they got all of the Staph Infection out.  I wasn’t convinced.

They sent me home and I continued 22 more weeks, of IV Medication.  This time the IV Medication for the Staph Infection was changed.  Due to me being allergic to Penicillin, I was put on Ansef.

The final diagnosis was Chronic Osteomyelitis.

Enter - IV Medication to fight MRSA

I remained in the Hospital of Joint Diseases  for a total of 22 days.   While in the hospital, I had a Broviac Catheter  placed into my chest.  This IV tube went into my chest and directly into my heart (or at least that is what they told me).  This was for IV medication they would use to administer medication over a long period of time.

I was released from the hospital on the 25 of July 1986.

I went home and continued the IV medication.  My mother was tasked with changing the dressing on my arm and caring for th IV and administering the medication.

Three times a day, IV medication of Clindomycin.  Which really didn’t do much, except make me jump and hit the ceiling every time the cold medication would hit the veins inside my body.

It was several weeks and the incision showed no signs of closing by itself.

Back to the doctor for more visits.  I really thought that sitting in a doctor’s office for 2 1/2 hours was the norm, and then he would speak to you for 5 minutes and we were gone.

I was told that another surgery was immanent.

So I waited…..

7 Days of Waiting! - Then the MRSA bombshell!

After the surgery, I was back up in my room. The next day was July 4th, 1986. I was told at this point that I was going to be kept in isolation. This meant that I could only have immediate family members and medical staff enter the room. Every time someone wanted to enter the room, there was a SUPER production, of scrubbing, gowns, face masks, gloves, shoe coverings. etc. Yeah, this was great (sarcastic).

I started to learn the TV schedule inside and out! I knew what time every show was on and my good arm could FLY through the channels. I know that my mother would make the trip from our house to the hospital, everyday! This was easily an hour including parking, if there was no traffic into the city. I would always put my request in for food for her to bring, because the hospital food…. Well my dog wouldn’t eat it. I think she spent more in food than the hospital bills.

I continued in isolation for 7 days. All the children on the floor were brought over to the side of the hospital where you could see the fireworks, but I was told, I was not allowed to leave the room. I had to watch it on TV. Mom couldn’t stay into the evening in fears of the traffic, trying to get home.

7 long days in isolation. I had this triangle thing on top of my bed, so I could readjust. I was given Clindomycin, via IV, which I did not seem to react to at all.

Well, I kept asking when I could go home….. As the days went on they assured me that they would be removing the staples in my arm and then I could go home.

Now…. Finally it was here! The day I could home….. The technician entered the room and removed the cast/splint that was on my arm. It turn out that I only had a small incision, about 2 inches long. A whole lot of pain for only a 2 inch incision.

When the technician began, he pulled out, what looked like a simple staple remover, however it was packaged up so that it was sterile.

He removed the three staples and then said something that I will never forget! “OH MY GOD!, OH MY GOD, I will be right back!”.

When I looked, I saw the incision actually open up. A puss ball seem to rise and fill the hole. It was puss and blood. I started to say, “Oh my god”.

The technician came back with a nurse who both stared at the incision, horrified. The nurse said, i have to call the doctor. Well, I might have only been 11 years old, but I knew that something had gone horribly wrong.

The doctor came in about 2-3 hours later. He explained that I wasn’t going home, and that it looked like the staph infection wasn’t gone. He said it is tough to get it all the first time.

I was crushed! I just wanted to go home and start enjoying my summer.

I was told I was staying in the hospital and that they would schedule me for a second surgery.

When I woke up in recovery - after the first MRSA Surgery

I remember waking up in the recovery room. My mother and father were sitting next to my bed. I remember just wanting to eat, and since cheeseburgers were my favorite meal, my father kept asking me if I wanted a cheeseburger. I remember falling in and out of consciousness. They said I was in recovery for about 4-5 hours.

I felt extreme pain in my left arm, and noticed a HUGE cast, that went from my shoulder to my wrist. I was trying to lift my arm and would feel pain shooting through my arm, so I stopped trying to move it.

I asked my mother, “Am I bionic?”, and she laughed with a half cry and said, not exactly.

She explained that it wasn’t cancer as the doctor had thought. She explained that they found an extensive Staph infection in the bone inside my arm. She said the doctor scraped that bone and that I should be ok. I was really very confused. I didn’t know how an infection could get in my arm. I rested my head down. I kept apologizing to my mother, and she told me there was nothing to apologize about.

I almost thought I let everyone down. Hey there is the kid that was suppose to have cancer!

I remember finally making it up to my room. I asked about those Cheeseburgers that my father was talking about in recovery, except I really didn’t think I could eat much.

I finally found the most comfortable position I could find and dosed off. I didn’t realize that the roller coaster hadn’t really started yet. I had not clue what was to come…. That this was just the first of many surgeries……

And so the story truly begins……..

Preparing for the First Surgery - MRSA

It was July 2nd, 1986. I was admitted to the Hospital of Joint Diseases - Beth Israel Medical Center. I was remember when I was getting admitted that the guy who took blood was the best blood collector I had come across. He was quick and fast and after being poked and prodded for a week already, I was grateful for someone who could stick me once and hit a vein.

I was then brought up to my room. I had no clue that I would remain in that room for the next 22 days, except for the surgeries. I got comfortable and was happy that I had my own TV. I soon learned the whole TV schedule inside and out. My whole day would be watching TV and getting poked.

I received Last Rights before the surgery and remember a few clergy in the room.  I was telling them that I appreciated them stopping by, but I really didn’t understand the whole Last Rights thing.  I was born and raised Roman Catholic and I knew what the sacraments wer, but I could not understand why I was getting Last Rights.  I remember the priest telling me that one day I would be in place that I would not feel any pain.  Hey, I thought, I am all about that!  I did not realize he was talking about Heaven at the time.  I thought he was talking about another room in the hospital!

July 3rd, 1986 - I was taken into surgery. Dr. Lewis met me in the operating room. I remember being scared out of my mind, but there was a really nice nurse that talked me through everthing. Dr. Lewis was really stand offiish. I remember them strapping my left arm down and shaving it. I always though my first shave would be on my face, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers.

I remember when they told me that they would be putting me out. I watched the fluid go down the tube and they told me when I woke up that I would have a steel rod inserted into my arm. They joked I would be the bionic man. I just was curious about what all my friends were doing. How was graduation? Who was having a graduation party that I was missing… and then I smelled a strange smell and I was out………….

At the Doctor’s Office- The first visit to the Bone Specialist in New York City MRSA Infection

I entered Dr. Michael Lewis, 77th Street office.  It was huge.  I remember a gigantic waiting room, but I really remember the people I was in the waiting room with.  There were people that had pins coming out of their skin, attached to metal brace structures.  I remember thinking, “How to they sleep?”.  I was also starting to think, this wasn’t so cool after all.

After the 2 hour wait (which turned out to be about standard for his office), I finally saw the doctor.  He spent about 15 minutes explaining how the steel rods worked, and how I would be admitted to the hospital and how repeat visits would be the norm.   He also explained that as I grew he would have to readjust the rods to account for my growth.

We discussed radiation and Chemotherapy and he explained that I would lose my hair like many of the children I say in the waiting room.  He said that the only way to keep my alive was to get to bone as quickly as possible and get the cancer out, before it spread.

I remember my mother asking about the possibility of it being an infection, which was quickly discounted and she was told that even if it was infection, he would probably still have to remove the bone.

I think he actually looked at my arm for 20-30 seconds.  He said he would see us over at the hospital.

July 2, 1986, I was admitted to the Hospital of Joint Diseases.

MRSA - The first diagnosis - Cancer or Infection?

Mom came to the school and picked me up.  She drove me right over to Good Samaritan Hospital  in Suffern, New York.  I entered the emergency room and registered.  Dr. Michael Resnick, my Orthopedic doctor met us there.  My family doctor, Dr. Louis Ferindino, also met us there.

They took x-rays of my left forearm and blood work.  The results of the blood work were normal white and sediment counts.  I was admitted for more tests and treatment.

It was at this point that I was given an IV through a Heprin lock.  The medication I received was Penicillin, which I had a severe reaction to.  I guess this was the first time I realized I was allergic to Penicillin and all of the Mycin derivatives.

Dr. Resnick diagnosed my problem as a Bone Sarcoma.  He stated that he believed it was a cancerous growth that we already in the bone of my arm.  I remember he left the room with my mother and  my Mom came back in and explained that the outcome was probably not going to be good.  She was in tears, and explained that the Parish priest was going to come over.  Once again, 11 years old, and I was told I had cancer in the bone of my arm.  I overheard the nurses saying that the doctor believed it was cancer in the bone and they thought U only had a short time to live.  I believe the number was 6 weeks.

Well, I apparently thought that this was impossible.  I figured if I had cancer I would have known it, and well, what was the big deal, just take the cancer out.  Well, I soon learned it wasn’t that simple.

Dr. Ferindino on the other hand was convinced it was an infection and stuck to his guns.  He also did say that an infection in the bone could be something really nasty to get rid of, but with the proper treatment, he felt it could be dealt with.

5 days in Good Samaritan Hospital.  Tons of test, blood work every day, CAT Scans, MRIs, and nobody could tell me anymore.  They said it was time to go to a Hospital in New York City.

An appointment was made for me to see Dr. Michael Lewis, who was located at 69th East 77th Street, New York, NY to assess the treatment options.   I was told he specialized in replacing bones with steel rods.   He worked out of the Hospital of Joint Diseases, part of the Beth Israel Hospital.

“Hey, that sounds cool!”, I thought.  I just remember my mother in tears, during the drive.

MRSA Staph Infection - The symptoms experienced by an 11 year old boy.

It was 1986, and I was in 6th grade.  My elementary school was a K-6 in upstate New York (20 minutes outside of the New York City).  It was about 4 days before graduation and while at outdoor recess I noticed my left forearm was about 3 times the size it should have been.  I had injured my arm a few weeks earlier playing soccer and had been to two doctors to check on the pain.  The said it was not broken but may have been “sprained” (which usually means that the doctor just doesn’t know).  Well being 11 years old, and seeing that my left forearm was swollen three times the size that it was  only days before, I thought what every 11 year boy would think- “I’m getting muscles!”.

There was only one catch, it was extremely tender to the touch, and in the area of the swelling, my arm was red and hot.  When I say hot, you could feel the heat on my arm.

I really was hoping it was “muscles” because I didn’t want to miss my 6th grade graduation.  This was going to be a real high point of my life.  At 11 years old, this was that first BIG step.

Well, my friends ran and told the recess aide, who sent me to the school nurse.   Unfortunately, for the school nurse, my condition was not solved by the two catch all solutions.  Eat a cracker or go sit on the toilet.  She called my mother, who came to pick me up from school.

My mother made an appointment with my orthopedic doctor, who I seen quite a few times in the past, who told my mother to bring me right in.

This is where the story starts…….

My MRSA Infection - Background

I am a 33 year old male, at the time of this post. I live in New York.

I was diagnosed with osteomyelitis, a staph infection in the bone of my left arm 22 years ago. This is MRSA- Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, in June of 1986.

My journey with MRSA, lasted for a little over 3 years, 5 surgeries, months of hospitalization, and over a year of home IV medication. Once I was able to beat my spat with MRSA I continued on with my life. I graduated from Fordham University, I did 11 years in the Military, (United States Marine Corps and New York Army Nation Guard) and I currently a Police Officer for almost 10 years. The reason I tell people this is to show that I have fully recovered and even though the doctors had just about written me off and shattered all of my childhood dream, I made a full recovery. Well, almost full recovery.

MSRA Infection - Staph Superbug

MRSA, which is an is an acronym for methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a type of bacteria that has become resistant to many antibiotics, has hit the news and everyone seems to be running scared! From parents to school districts, everyone has been saying, “This NEW superbug is something that we really need to be scared of!”.

Well, not that MRSA, or a Staphylococcus infection isn’t scary, but the news has really done an injustice to their viewers and readers. They have done a great job of having people glued to their TV and selling newspapers, but I would like to tell you the real story. I can because I had MRSA, over 20 years ago! Officially it was finally diagnosed as osteomyelitis, a staph infection in the bone.

I decided to use this blog to tell my story and answer some questions for those that are truly concerned with this not really new SUPERBUG.

I will try to make entries every few days, to tell my whole story, in order to better educate yourself about this nasty little infection.

Please don’t hesitate to leave any comments and I will try to get to all of them.