Has anyone had MRSA?? Im so angry with the hospital!

[mosschops30]

The dramas of my ever exciting c-section wound continues.
After looking after my leaking open wound myself, and being told by the maternity department it was clean with no bugs in it, I to see consultant yesterday who tells me that it was infected with MRSA.

Now being a nurse I know I probably have it in my nose and throat anyway. But to find out that it was in my wound and no one told me, or took any action has made me sooo

The wound has now healed, is clean and looks good (although Im not counting my chickens just yet) so they are not doing anything because I have no symptoms and no open wound. Of course Im now worrying that the infection is still there and that it will break down again.

Im upset and bloody angry. If anyone knows anything about this or has had this would be good to hear what happened

I had mrsa in my c-secrion wound, which was a tiny bit open at one end, i put breast milk on it and it healed well , was left with very keloid scar but no one sees it so not that much of a problem

Hi Mosschops, I had it afetr c-s, and like you was given no treatment in spite of the fact that I couldn't walk properly Afetr many many visits to GP, a diffrent Dr gave me some stuff to shower in (Bactroban?) and cream to put on the wound (that mmight have been teh bactroban, I can't remember!). After 2 weeks, I swabbed clear. The pain lasted a lot olonger, and itw as 3 months post section before I began to feel back to mormal, but I had otehr infections too, which were equally debilitating.

I would ask to see another Dr and ask them to follow the treatment protocol for MRSA. That's how I got help. Good luck!

Nope, but I did work with a post C-section mother who had something very similar. In her case the wound didn't heal for about 3 months and it was really rather horrific, but they wouldn't prescribe different antibiotics and just kept insisting it was healing very slowly.

With good infection control it can be fine - but you're a nurse so you know this - as long as it's on your medical file if you have to have another op.

Good that the wound is healed now. Does it feel right and healed deep down? Have you had any unusual bleeding? If you have then you need to get it checked again - that was the first sign for the woman I was working with that something was wrong. But you're a nurse so I'm kinda preaching to the choir here, aren't I? You know tons more than me! All I can say is that I knew someone it happened to and it took a while to heal but she's fine now.

Sorry - that was a nope to MRSA. In her case it was a different antibiotic resistant bacteria.

moss _ I just wanted to say as my post sounded a bit negative that my wound has healed very well. I still get pain sometimes now ( a few years down the line) but nothing that's really bad IYSWIM. Hoep you heal well and are soon on the road to recovery.

i think mine might just have been colonisation but who knows the power of breast milk

Im not having any bleeding or oozing from the wound now for almost 2 weeks.
Its very sensitive but I guess thats normal anyway.
My obs consultant said she has spoken to microbiology and also the wound team today and both have said that I dont need any treatment as they would be treating the result rather than the patient. I have very little pain now (although was inagony prior to the pus oozing out episode so someone should have picked that up me thinks) just slight dragging feeling when turning over in bed and walking far. Other than that am feeling pretty good.

Did all your wounds heal nicely?

Yes, mine did. In fact, rather ironically, it healed better that friends wounds without MRSA. However, I think that in general I heal very fast with little scarring. Every day it will get a bit better and a bit easier. It's hard to hold on to that when you are there. I know I felt like I'd never get better, but I'm now at the stage where I'm considering doing it all again!

ooh dont think I'll ever get to that stage

I had it in a bowel surgery wound, but had all sorts of infection problems due to a perforated colon so was well looked after.
I went to the wound clinic at the hospital (UHW) and the district nurses visited every day for months to do the packing and dressing, they were marvellous.
It did take a long time to heal, but not purely down to the MRSA I think.

you need to let your oh dept know even though you are on mat leave. they may want to swab you because you wont be allowed back to work if you are infected with it.

In your case it has the advantage of someone being on the case as such. Are you having skinsan/aquasept washes or similar and bactroban ointment? Have they done full swabs?

Does the wound still have mrsa on it even though it is closed? And if so what treatment are they giving you?

moshie is that the same UHW as me?

nellie the consultant said that neither microbiology or wound team want to take any action, although I will have to have a full screening, which I would have to have anyway to return to work so I am not a risk to patients.
I havent been given anything to wash with and they cant really take a swab from the wound because its just skin, healed, it would just be a skin test as such

moss - I had swab on closed skin, and was given the stuff to wash in, as apparently it can hide in all sorts of moist places - armpits and groin as well as nose etc. (nice, eh?) Keep pushing. i had to make a PITA of myself before I got what i needed. I've rememebred the bodywash is called Aquasept and cream is bactroban. Hope that helps!

yes but having worked in the hospital for the last 5 years I am likely to have it in my nose and throat anyway.
.

Yes that's the same UHW as you, I don't understand why we were treated so differently when there is a clinic specifically for problem wounds there. They specified the treatment needed which the district nurses carried out.

if the wound is healed then that's a good sign -it wont heal if it is infected.

Tbh I think your next step is your gp or practice nurse. see them, explain your concerns and ask if they will swab you. If you are positive anywhere the treatment can be started. Hopefully not though.

Its very bad of them not to tell you what you were infected with though.

i think it was different moshie because by the time anyone bothered to look at my results the wound had healed. Bloody good job i was so meticulous in dressing it properly, if it was left to maternity it would have just been covered in a dressing pad.

nellie i did speak to my gp on the phone who said that if the wound was healed and i was pain free and no other signs of infection then he wouldnt recommend any treatment either because it would be treating the result and not the patient. However he did suggest a full mrsa screen before returning to work.

I am seeing gp again on monday for post natal apt so will ask again then and see what they say

afaik if you are healthy then mrsa only lives for 24rs on the body so hopefully you will be clear.