-
UTI is MRSA
We heard late afternoon yesterday that Dick’s UTI culture showed that the bacteria is MRSA so they changed the antibiotic to Bactrim which is supposed to work. Today he is running a low grade fever that doesn’t respond very much to Tylenol. I sure hope that it responds soon to the antibiotic. If he doesn’t get better they have to put him on IV antibiotics in the hospital. I don’t want anything to interfere with him starting chemo. We meet the urological oncologist Thursday.
Volunteer Coordinator
ABLSC20 Replies-
Might be worth something to checkout looks interesting, this RC I never really said too much but they had a hell of a time trying to get me stabalized, and as I said I just can’t take another trip to the OR. Thanks, Joe ;)
-
I just had Laser back surgery last year…might be an option, and you can go home the same day…my problem was with L4, L5, and S1…I had 2 regular surgeries and the laser is the one that finally gave me the relief…I went from not being able to walk, and having “Foot Drop” to sitting Indian Style in the recovery room…I haven’t had any problems since the surgery at all.
look here for more info…
http://www.laserspineinstitute.com/
Karen
Caregiver for my Wonderful Husband Angelo, who has Metastatic Bladder Cancer.Life isn’t about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.
Julie all I can say is I guess everyone is different. I have the Indiana Pouch and I have had 2 different UTI’s. The first one my Dr. put me on Cipro and this worked for me. The second one I had they switched to Bactrim and that also worked for me. Keep in mind my wife is a nurse she finds out but I never knew what bacteria I had nor did I care as long as it went away. I am also still on pain meds because of my back ( 25 yrs of trucking ) and I don’t think I could get out of bed in the morning the pain is so bad. Four major surgeries in the last 7 years I am not about to go under the knife right now for my back thus the pain meds for the time being. And right now it appears that back surgery may be the only cure for these disc problems but like I said no more operations for me now. Joe
The confusion is related to running a fever I’ve seen it when he is not on pain medication. The pain medication will make it worse. I think the infection also plays a part.
Today he has done OK so far. He woke up in a cold sweat with a temperature of 94. I checked his blood sugar and that was 104, his blood pressure was 128/82. One of the doctors mentioned he might have rebound lows. So I gave him hot chicken broth and hot chocolate and he changed into a dry night shirt. He put on a wool cap and gradually he warmed up. Today so far no fever.
Once when he was in the hospital they gave him something other than tylenol to take down the fever as he didn’t respond to Tylenol. I finally got a copy of the lab reports and one day his creatinine was up to 1.6 which I think was because of the NSAID.
They cut his Vancomycin dose in half and Dick says he does feel somewhat better today.
Volunteer Coordinator
ABLSCJulie…what is his pain medication? That may well be the answer to his behaviour problems. I’ve seen it happen many times especially with the heavy narcotics.
PatJulie, Boy he is having a bad time of it. I hope he can get beyond this and back to some normalcy, at least feeling like a real person again. Yes we all forget our med’s. I do as well, but the heart med’s are very important to take at the same time. Gene is different than before his r/c. I can’t put my finger on it but I guess it has made him old in some ways. His leg leg still bothers him, and the nerves in his upper inner thigh..the doctor says to give it time,so we are in recovery still,and will be for the year I think.He is going to work 3 days a week for 6 hours each day. This is good as he doesn’t do anything hard just sells high end lawn equipment. I have nothing to complain about after hearing what you both are going thru, but we haven’t grabbed that the way we were thing, in alot of ways it will never be close to that. He mentions when he hasn’t gone to the bathroom in a couple days, and he rubs his bag , sort of a reassurance that its there, or that its not showing. I want to get past these things ,I do get depressed because I am right in it with him as you well know . We can’t excape it either. Maybe in our minds just for a little while. I go to Target, Its cold up here now so outside is not an option. You have to watch your husband carefully now I assume. It seems he is disattached somehow..I hope it gets better for you both, and soon!!!!! You can escape to the Caregivers forum, we can talk about our feelings we have, from a caregivers view…take care and keep me up on things…Ginger
Ginger, I think what makes it so difficult is the change between when his temperature is normal and when it is elevated. His ability to even talk can change in an instant. Today we were talking at the kitchen table and he didn’t finish a sentence. I repeated the sentence and he didn’t respond. There he was in la la land again. It took an hour to get him to take his medication and use his inhaler. Right now the antibiotics are affecting his appetite and he is not eating well at all. He has lost 20 pounds in the past two week.
You are right he is sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. I hope he will be able to get better but the chance of that seem to be increasingly remote.
We can all forget our medications I know I have managed to forget to take mine more frequently than I would like.
I hope your Gene doesn’t have any more hospital visits.
Volunteer Coordinator
ABLSCJulie,
Sorry to hear he is not responding, and not listening as well. Gene went to the cardiologist, seems because he missed 2 doses of lopressor it could have caused the defib hospital visit..so now I have to watch him as well, but he is up and working so he has no excuse..sometimes your there wifes and mothers as well. I hope something starts working for you soon and he will feel better as I am sure he is fed up with feeling bad all the time. take care,,,Ginger Beane
We saw the urologist Friday and they were going culture his urine again. I phoned them today to report that nothing has changed. Dick still does not seem to be responding to the antibiotics. His fever is too low to be in the hospital but too high for him to function. I have to watch him all the time. I gave him the Bactrim Saturday evening and thought he took it. He found it Sunday noon on his computer desk untouched along with his pain medication. So now i have to stand and wait until he puts it in his mouth. He doesn’t like it when I keep reminding him but unless he gets irritated he will just sit and pay attention to his breathing.
Volunteer Coordinator
ABLSC
Julie, yes my poor husband has been through the mill these pass 4 years. But this time is by far the worse of all. And it kills me to see him like that. We have had our share of ERs as well. We live in Long Island New York and we go to North Shore University Hospital. They have a wonderful emergency room. We really don’t have to wait long and once they know that my husband is a chemo patient they take him faster. But even with that we hate going to the ER so I can understand your point. Anyways it seems that you have it under control!
[quote author=Julie link=topic=1416.msg10311#msg10311 date=1195018544]
I was wondering if I should be tested for it as I have been changing his dressings and there is drainage still. Of course I have been very good about washing my hands anytime I do personal care for Dick. I don’t seem to have any signs of an infection. I did read that some people can carry the staph without showing any signs.
[/quote]
It’s true that you can carry bacteria without being sick. That’s becuase carriers are not infected. It is very difficult to eradicate the carrier state with antibiotics since antibiotics don’t achieve high levels in non-inflamed tissue. Nasal carriage is the most common, other than on the hands that do the dirty work. Washing your hands will eliminate the carriage from your hands. Antibiotics rarely eliminate the carrier state from the nose and most treated carriers revert back to the carrier state after stopping antibiotics. The answer there is common sense good hygiene. Just like you wash your hands after using the toilet, you should wash your hands after blowing your nose, and you should always wash before handling a patient even if you washed 5 minutes before and can’t remember touching anything.
Should you be tested? What would you test if you have no symptoms. I think you end up chasing your tail when you do cultures on asymptomatic patients. Just remember to take any superficial infection seriously and inform your doctor of exposure to MRSA.
-Warren
TaG3 + CIS 12/2000. TURB + Mitomycin C (No BCG)
Urethral stricture, urethroplasty 10/2009
CIS 11/2010 treated with BCG. CIS 5/2012 treated with BCG/interferon
T1G3 1/2013. Radical Cystectomy 3/5/2013, No invasive cancer. CIS in right ureter.
Incontinent. AUS implant 2/2014. AUS explant 5/2014
Pediatrician
Thanks for the links Karen. As i read it a lot of MRSA can be treated at home using Bactrim then if the infections does not respond then IV antibiotics would be necessary. We were told that Dick should start the Bactrim and then call back on Friday. We have also been told that they don’t consider a fever a problem until it is over 101.5° so I am monitoring him closely. The fever broke last night but has returned this morning.
We dislike the emergency rooms here immensely and I would rather take care of him at home as his diabetes is not treated properly when he is in the hospital. We have had 5 ER visits in the past year here and the wait time is intolerable. First time I was there it took 9 hours until I was admitted and the 2nd time when I knew what was wrong it took 13 hours from the time I walked in the door until I was admitted to the hospital. If the Doctors decide he needs to go to the hospital then they can admit him directly and not have him go in via the ER.
Wow almeth you have sure been through the wringer with your husbands bouts with MRSA. Do they think it caused the heart problem? I know staph can cause a large number of problems. My sister had an allergic reaction to a staph infection and was very, very sick with ruptured blood vessels on her skin and there was concern that she could have internal bleeding.
We do have access to an infectious disease specialist and would not hesitate to involve her if Dick doesn’t
respond to the first line treatment.
Volunteer Coordinator
ABLSC
I thought to that once you got MRSA that the best course of treatment was IV antibiotics? It is worth at least asking a few questions anyway. Also it may be available in an injection to start off, followed by oral antibiotics. My feeling is that if it can spread even through a hospital or school, then how can you not disinfect yourself and your home. A can of Lysol and some antibacterial soap are very cheap precautions. Here are links for you to read.
http://www.cdc.gov/Features/MRSAinSchools/
“An ounce of Prevention is worth a Pound of Cure”
My little ones just came down with fever/runny noses etc…and my husband is on Chemo so to prevent him from getting sick I went as far as to spray their bed linens and pillows then stripping the bed, & washing everything every morning. I also spray the faucets, door knobs, light switches, and the toilet just to prevent the spread. It may be over kill, but it is the best I can do to keep everyone, and my home germ free. Did you ever read the back of a can of Lysol? Worth a few dollars.
I found that the “Crisp Linen” has the most pleasant smell.
Caregiver for my Wonderful Husband Angelo, who has Metastatic Bladder Cancer.Life isn’t about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.
My husband has had his share with MRSA. When he had his original surgery with bladder cancer he got a new bladder (neobladder) and with that a staff infection (MRSA). It was very hard to get rid off. He got a hernia from the surgery so the following year he did surgery to repair it and did not heal do to MRSA. So in 05 he came down with heart failure and had to go in the hospital 30 days with IV antibiotics before he got heart surgery. This year just a few weeks ago he was in the hospital because of temperatures and his urine sample came back positive, MRSA. He was treated with IV antibiotics at first and then sent home with oral antibiotics. I have not been treated with anything and don’t have any signs of the bacteria in me. I guess it depends on the individual. But just talk it over with your doctor. And if he is still having temperatures I would call the Dr. or take him to the emergency room, MRSA can be bad if not treated properly specially if on chemo. Also after the first infection we learned to hire an infectious disease doctor was the best for us. They seem to be more on top of these things. Good luck!
Well Warren, you are totally right, and I agree, in the fact that we over use antibiotics in this country but after the fifth student came down with it they decided that it was not going to get any better,and since left untreated it can get so serious. All five along with the teacher were hospitalized to receive a special course of IV antibiotics, They did put the whole class on the oral antibiotic, (It was parents choice of course but all agreed) I must be mistaken about the name but I was sure it started with a “P”. and it was one of only a few drugsthat this virus was not immune to. It was spread through contact, and I think it is just wise to take extra precautions, can’t have the caregiver get sick!
Caregiver for my Wonderful Husband Angelo, who has Metastatic Bladder Cancer.Life isn’t about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.
Sign In to reply.
