I HATE GERMS

You know who this little guy is. He is a 'Super Bug'...his name is MRSA. This guy has taken over my house. We have had periodic visits from him in the past. Both K and S have had episodes where they have formed small skin abscessed that require lancing at the docs office and a round of meds. These have been few and far between though. M on the other hand, hasn't been so lucky.

It started in October. He developed an abscess in his diaper area around his hip. I tried to manage it at home without luck. He ended up at the doc's office with a draining and antibiotics. It cleared up nicely but a few weeks later, in November we had a recurrence. This time instead of just one abscess, he developed multiple 'pimples' all over his diaper area. Probably 15 - 20 if these little boils. One of these boils, actually located behind his knee abscessed requiring another doc visit and another round of antibiotics.

We had been doing real well until this past Monday. Monday morning he was fine. Monday at noon he was fine. Monday at 4pm he was covered. I took off his diaper only to find about 20 new little boils all red and pus filled. I have no idea how they all developed that quickly. I tried to manage it at home at first. I still had the topical ointment from the last time, and I am a nurse with some basic understanding of how to heal these suckers. I actually did quite well until Thursday morning. By then most of the little ones had started to dry up, but inevitably, he developed an abscess to his buttocks. Thursday night I was able to drain it at home, but by Friday morning (4am) he spiked a fever to about 102 and became miserable. At that time another abscess was found around his ankle.

So this morning another doc visit and another round of antibiotics. Unfortunately these abscesses are a little deeper than the others and we need to reassess them tomorrow. If by noon, the swelling and redness hasn't lessened, or he continues with fevers, we will be off to the hospital for a surgical draining. I am confident this won't be the case. After a nice warm bath his buttocks drained again and I got a lot out. I am waiting for him to calm down, and I will try to drain the ankle one. His fevers have been down and no new spots have appeared. I am keeping my fingers crossed on this one.

I am trying really hard to clear this house of our little visitor. I purchased surgical soap which we will all use the next week or so. I also asked the doctor to prescribe all of us nasal swabs that contain an antibiotic. You see this little guy likes to hang out in the noses of its carriers. I am certain there are a few of us in this house that have been hosting this guy in our noses. Hopefully between M's medicine, surgical baths and nasal therapy we will clear this crap from our house.

**Posting pictures now**

This is about one third of one of M's cheeks. These have all opened and are actually getting better. Can you image how much pain you'd be in if your bottom was covered with these, in addition to one large on that was below your muscle layer? This is why M has been lying on his stomach for the last 24 hours.
This is the one above his ankle. Due to this one, M can't wear pants or socks or even walk all that comfortably.