I did some light reading last night - included webmd, wikipedia, and some other medical pages that came up when I googled MRSA.  I guess if I was the type that procrastinated and was scared to go to the dr, it could kill me.  Lucky for Bill, I've always been proactive about going to the dr. 

I'm a busy girl and my memory is kinda crappy - so I have no idea when this spot first appeared on my leg.  I know i had it when we went to disney in January but I have no idea how long I had it before Disney.  It started out as a little pimple looking thing - so I assumed it was an ingrown hair.  It seemed odd to me that I would have an ingrown hair, I have practically NO HAIR on my legs anyway but I called it an ingrown hair and forgot about it.  I got busy doing pregnant things, post-baby things and I never really paid much attention to it, other than a fleeting thought "wow that's taking a long time to heal and go away!" 

Recently, I noticed it was getting bigger and hard, and it itched for a while and then it started to hurt and get more red.  We had some topical bactrim and I applied it twice a day for about 2 weeks - it didn't do any good.  So i went to the dr, which i only dreaded because I remembered how long and miserable the wait was when I took Stewart and Parker.  I also dreaded calling to schedule the appointment because I would be a new patient and they gave me the whole you must be an established patient bs.  So i told her I had an infection on my leg and I thought it was staph and my 2 kids and my husband were already established patients - they got me in first thing the next day. 

The first dr i saw (Friday) gave me a 14 day prescription of Keflex that I had to take FOUR times a day!  He told me to stop putting the bactrim on it - he said that topical antibiotics aren't usually effective for skin infections.  He said he ruled out spider bites etc because I've had it for so long.  I took the antibiotics Friday - Tuesday morning and I didn't think it was getting any better.  In fact, I thought it was getting worse.  So i called the dr back and wanted to talk to the nurse.  Apparently when you say "I think i have a staph infection and it's not getting better" they take you very seriously.  I got to talk to a nurse and she told me that the extra pain, redness and swelling was probably not an effect of the antibiotics - she got me an appt to come back in 2 hours later. 

The second dr i saw (Tuesday) was a really sweet pregnant dr.  She seemed young.  She looked at it and said the antibiotics were obviously not working and she pushed around on it - which hurt like a truck - and she told me she thought it was MRSA.  She said she could just give me a new antibiotic and it would probably eventually clear it up or she could SLICE IT OPEN, SQUEEZE OUT THE GOO and give me a new antibiotic.  She said she would numb it first - cause i told her I tried to poke a hole in it the previous night and I wasn't successful because it hurt too much.  (I like to self medicate.)  So she comes back in the room with a pretty little tray of gauze, a syringe, some kind of long q-tip in a plastic container and tape.  I had to look away when she took the needle and stuck it right in the sore spot - it didn't hurt that bad - and then she started pushing in the numbing medicine and I wanted to scream.  So i grabbed a handful of my shirt and took a deep breath and reminded myself of the joys and PAIN from Parker's birth.  And then she was finished and it was numb!  I didn't feel it when she cut a hole in it and then i watched her drain out the grossness.  I expected it to be yellow and green - but it was very bloody.  Despite the numbing, it actually hurt quite a bit as she pushed and squeezed trying to get it all out - and then it wouldn't stop oozing dark red blood.  She bandged it up and I went on my merry MRSA way.

I've learned that there are two types - the kind people get in medical facilities, hospitals, nursing homes etc and one they call "comminuty" MRSA.  The community kinda is very common in athletics, gyms, etc.  I remember a few weeks ago, I told Bill that I thought the spot started to get worse soon after we come home with Parker.  And I said tht didn't make any sense to me but I wondered if it had anything to do with hormones and having just had a baby.  But now I think the wierd pimple on my leg must have picked up MRSA when i was in the hospital for delivery and then when i was in and out with Parker.  And I did spend a full week in Pediatrics with him.  That week I think i only left the hospital for a total of an hour.  

I hope it goes away soon.  It looks terrible.  And i'm worried about how contagious it is.  And did i mention it still hurts and it looks like death.