tjwilhelm
01-22-2015, 03:22 PM
Some of you have already heard the story of my hit-and-run ordeal, three years ago. 5 weeks ago, I had my 5th surgery on my right shoulder, since then. Early on, the top of the right humerus (the knob/ball on the upper end of the upper arm bone) became infested with MRSA -- Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus -- the antibiotic resistant form of "staph" bacteria. These new "superbugs" kill people. MRSA has killed its fair share of unsuspecting hikers, sportsmen, and outdoorsy folks who acquired this infection from simple cuts and scrapes. When the skin and sub-dermal tissues get a MRSA infection, it is literally a flesh-eating bacteria. For me, it was a bone-eating bacteria. It totally rotted away the head of my right humerus, which happens to be the ball-half of the shoulder joint. Thus, multiple surgeries to both deal with the infection and to attempt to regain some reasonable level of shoulder function.
For the first four weeks after this most recent humpty-dumpty surgery, the healing and recovery process was going quite well...until this last weekend. I woke up Saturday morning to greater than normal shoulder pain. When I went in to look at it in the bathroom mirror -- YIKES! All around the nearly foot-long incision the skin was a deep dark red with a distinct line of demarcation between the red color and the normal flesh color. It was also a but swollen and hot to the touch.
Off to the emergency room, again. It was determined that I had a staph-based cellulitis. In my case that probably meant a new MRSA infection that invaded the site of a festering stitch that was sticking out of the skin. Fortunately, they were able to knock the infection down with a relatively new antibiotic that MRSA is not immune to -- Daptomycin (called Qubicin), that costs -- get ready -- $1,500.00 per dose. YIKES, again!
Again, I was reminded that a small break in the skin can lead to a serious infection -- one that may have the potential to kill you; and, our old standby ointment -- Triple -- will not stop these new superbugs.
A few days ago, while waiting in line at the pharmacy, I made a new discovery. Curad has just started selling a silver-based, antimicrobial wound gel called Silver Solution. Knowing that silver is effective at killing nearly all microbes, I immediately bought it for my FAK. It also claims it's been proven to kill MRSA. If this is really true, I think this is a must-have for everyone's FAK, for whatever my opinion on the subject may be worth.
Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/Curad-Silver-Solution-Antimicrobial-Gel/dp/B004W6U58U/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1421953689&sr=8-2&keywords=curad+silver+solution
Just for kicks, here's an x-ray of the first, emergency attempt to repair the head of my humerus after it fell out into the surgeon's hand:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7505/16341722042_5af42f576e.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qU4ACj)02 current 01 (https://flic.kr/p/qU4ACj) by tjwilhelm148149 (https://www.flickr.com/people/55445555@N06/), on Flickr
For the first four weeks after this most recent humpty-dumpty surgery, the healing and recovery process was going quite well...until this last weekend. I woke up Saturday morning to greater than normal shoulder pain. When I went in to look at it in the bathroom mirror -- YIKES! All around the nearly foot-long incision the skin was a deep dark red with a distinct line of demarcation between the red color and the normal flesh color. It was also a but swollen and hot to the touch.
Off to the emergency room, again. It was determined that I had a staph-based cellulitis. In my case that probably meant a new MRSA infection that invaded the site of a festering stitch that was sticking out of the skin. Fortunately, they were able to knock the infection down with a relatively new antibiotic that MRSA is not immune to -- Daptomycin (called Qubicin), that costs -- get ready -- $1,500.00 per dose. YIKES, again!
Again, I was reminded that a small break in the skin can lead to a serious infection -- one that may have the potential to kill you; and, our old standby ointment -- Triple -- will not stop these new superbugs.
A few days ago, while waiting in line at the pharmacy, I made a new discovery. Curad has just started selling a silver-based, antimicrobial wound gel called Silver Solution. Knowing that silver is effective at killing nearly all microbes, I immediately bought it for my FAK. It also claims it's been proven to kill MRSA. If this is really true, I think this is a must-have for everyone's FAK, for whatever my opinion on the subject may be worth.
Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/Curad-Silver-Solution-Antimicrobial-Gel/dp/B004W6U58U/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1421953689&sr=8-2&keywords=curad+silver+solution
Just for kicks, here's an x-ray of the first, emergency attempt to repair the head of my humerus after it fell out into the surgeon's hand:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7505/16341722042_5af42f576e.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qU4ACj)02 current 01 (https://flic.kr/p/qU4ACj) by tjwilhelm148149 (https://www.flickr.com/people/55445555@N06/), on Flickr