lately
/
Things have been quiet lately.
Here, that is. Life has been anything but!
I could give a long post explaining all the reasons for quiet, but it can be summed up this way: ick. MRSA ick. Virus ick. Antibiotic-induced ick.
Lots o’ ick.
We have had a lot of non-ick stuff, too, so the past few weeks have been one of those difficult yet wonderful seasons in life. Many more posts will be coming that highlight the wonderfulness of it all.
As far as the ick, I’m going to offer some explanation because people keep asking what the deal is with the MRSAness.
MRSA is an antibiotic resistant staph infection. It’s often called a superbug because it doesn’t respond to typically used antibiotics. Certain antibiotics do work, but they’re the stronger ones that usually have more side effects. (Yep, that makes life fun.) MRSA used to be a hospital-based infection, particularly dangerous there when it affects those who are already sick or when it settles into surgical incisions. Nowadays it’s more and more common outside of hospitals, often called “community-acquired MRSA” or CA-MRSA. While the reasons are many for the rise in CA-MRSA, we all can help prevent the spread of it by good hygiene and by saving antibiotics for when they’re truly necessary (for example, don’t ask your doc for them to treat viruses).
The prevalence of CA-MRSA is one reason I get it easily, but the primary reason is that I’m in one of the susceptible groups for it. You know, when you hear about the need for the flu shot or other measures for folks with compromised immune systems? Yep, that’s me. For starters, I have a couple of autoimmune disorders (click “health” on the bar above for more on that), which means that my immune system is like yours – fighting off bad stuff, like viruses – with some extra overachieving attributes that cause it to fight the lining of my joints (that’s what happens in rheumatoid arthritis) and my thyroid gland (that’s what happens in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis). The RA has already eaten away at edges of bones in my wrists, thumbs, and fingers, according to MRIs and x-rays, and we’ll be checking in the spring to see if it has gotten worse this year and if additional bones have eroded. In order to tone down that overachieving response and slow or stop bone damage, I get IV drugs every eight weeks that target the inflammatory response of my immune system. That medication suppresses my immune system, which is usually beneficial for my health – because, remember, my immune system is overactive, so suppressing brings it closer to the level of a normally functioning immune system – but can also make me somewhat more susceptible to infection.
My MRSA infections – now numbering eight in the past two years – have all been localized to the skin. The fatal MRSA cases that make headlines are ones in which the bacteria enters the bloodstream, but – praise God! – I’ve never had that happen. Even though mine haven’t gone full-blown systemic, they still hurt. A lot. Even the words "boil" and "abscess" sound yucky. Three have required incision and drainage, and two would have if my doctors hadn’t been concerned about the scars that would leave on my face.
One of those was the week before Christmas. My face doesn’t usually look like this. (And, yes, I am trying to smile normally. My skin was stretched too tight for anything more than these lopsided attempts.)
Thankfully, the antibiotics did their job. The infection was halted before it entered my bloodstream, before I went septic.
Now, I look like myself again.
Soon, I’ll be feeling like myself too (though we will probably be switching drugs, because I’ve had too many serious infections on this one). Which means – hopefully! – that blogging will resume as usual soon.
Which is a good thing, ‘cause I have lots o’ blog fodder saved up – pictures, reviews, rambling thoughts; all posts that focus on the wonderfulness of the past month instead of the ick. After all, it's much more fun to write about (and read about) more pleasant topics than this one!
Here, that is. Life has been anything but!
I could give a long post explaining all the reasons for quiet, but it can be summed up this way: ick. MRSA ick. Virus ick. Antibiotic-induced ick.
Lots o’ ick.
We have had a lot of non-ick stuff, too, so the past few weeks have been one of those difficult yet wonderful seasons in life. Many more posts will be coming that highlight the wonderfulness of it all.
As far as the ick, I’m going to offer some explanation because people keep asking what the deal is with the MRSAness.
MRSA is an antibiotic resistant staph infection. It’s often called a superbug because it doesn’t respond to typically used antibiotics. Certain antibiotics do work, but they’re the stronger ones that usually have more side effects. (Yep, that makes life fun.) MRSA used to be a hospital-based infection, particularly dangerous there when it affects those who are already sick or when it settles into surgical incisions. Nowadays it’s more and more common outside of hospitals, often called “community-acquired MRSA” or CA-MRSA. While the reasons are many for the rise in CA-MRSA, we all can help prevent the spread of it by good hygiene and by saving antibiotics for when they’re truly necessary (for example, don’t ask your doc for them to treat viruses).
The prevalence of CA-MRSA is one reason I get it easily, but the primary reason is that I’m in one of the susceptible groups for it. You know, when you hear about the need for the flu shot or other measures for folks with compromised immune systems? Yep, that’s me. For starters, I have a couple of autoimmune disorders (click “health” on the bar above for more on that), which means that my immune system is like yours – fighting off bad stuff, like viruses – with some extra overachieving attributes that cause it to fight the lining of my joints (that’s what happens in rheumatoid arthritis) and my thyroid gland (that’s what happens in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis). The RA has already eaten away at edges of bones in my wrists, thumbs, and fingers, according to MRIs and x-rays, and we’ll be checking in the spring to see if it has gotten worse this year and if additional bones have eroded. In order to tone down that overachieving response and slow or stop bone damage, I get IV drugs every eight weeks that target the inflammatory response of my immune system. That medication suppresses my immune system, which is usually beneficial for my health – because, remember, my immune system is overactive, so suppressing brings it closer to the level of a normally functioning immune system – but can also make me somewhat more susceptible to infection.
My MRSA infections – now numbering eight in the past two years – have all been localized to the skin. The fatal MRSA cases that make headlines are ones in which the bacteria enters the bloodstream, but – praise God! – I’ve never had that happen. Even though mine haven’t gone full-blown systemic, they still hurt. A lot. Even the words "boil" and "abscess" sound yucky. Three have required incision and drainage, and two would have if my doctors hadn’t been concerned about the scars that would leave on my face.
One of those was the week before Christmas. My face doesn’t usually look like this. (And, yes, I am trying to smile normally. My skin was stretched too tight for anything more than these lopsided attempts.)
Thankfully, the antibiotics did their job. The infection was halted before it entered my bloodstream, before I went septic.
Now, I look like myself again.
Soon, I’ll be feeling like myself too (though we will probably be switching drugs, because I’ve had too many serious infections on this one). Which means – hopefully! – that blogging will resume as usual soon.
Which is a good thing, ‘cause I have lots o’ blog fodder saved up – pictures, reviews, rambling thoughts; all posts that focus on the wonderfulness of the past month instead of the ick. After all, it's much more fun to write about (and read about) more pleasant topics than this one!