Good vibes request

[frogmarch]

My late sister’s 24-year-old granddaughter, a single mom, contracted methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) a couple of months ago while working as a nursing home care giver, and has had several surgeries to remove the awful, ever-appearing deep skin lesions. The infection has also damaged her heart. She is now in the hospital again, her body literally covered in sores, this time fighting for her life.

To make matters even worse, her two young daughters are now being tested for the infection. Like the rest of our family, I’m very worried. I can’t stop crying. Please send good vibes for my grand-niece and her two little girls.

Here’s a picture I took of the girls at the Sturgis rally last week with my niece, their grand-aunt. (That's a birthmark by little Kay's eye.)

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[RebelOne]

1. Adorable looking little girls.

Sending good vibes to them and their mother. Hope they will all recover soon.

[frogmarch]

9. Thank you, RebelOne.

I appreciate your good vibes and well-wishes.

[irisblue]

2. big vibes getting hurt at a job..ugh n/t

[frogmarch]

10. irisblue, thanks.

Nursing homes and hospitals are said to be the places where MRSA is most often spread.

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. I send vibes and wishes for a full recovery!

Who is minding the little ones while all this is going on?

[frogmarch]

4. Their grandmother, my other niece is

watching the girls. They can't return to daycare until the results of their tests are in. If they test positive for the disease, I don't know what will happen, but they won't be returning to daycare.

[frogmarch]

5. Oh, no.

I just found out that Lexie, the baby on the left, tested positive. Oh, no.

[yellerpup]

6. Best of vibes to your niece and her girls.

Those MRSA infections are truly horrifying. Peace, to you as well and good news to ease your mind.

[frogmarch]

11. Thank you, yellerpup. Until this

happened, I'd heard only a little about MRSA. My grand-niece has already had a lot of tough breaks in her young life, and now this. I hope we soon hear some good news, such as an assurance that everything's going to be okay.

[yellerpup]

17. Don't give up hope.

These infections can be overwhelming for any family. I'll send you vibes for extra strength with hopes for the speedy reply full of good news and assurance. Remember to breathe.

[frogmarch]

19. I'll try to, yellerpup. Thank you so much

for the kind words of hope. And the hug. They're much needed right now.

[applegrove]

7. Vibes.

[frogmarch]

20. Thanks, applegrove. :-)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. How horrifying, my dear frogmarch...

And now one of the little girls has it too. I am sick to hear this awful news.

Major, major vibes flowing out to all of you, for as long as you need them!

[frogmarch]

12. Peggy, thank you. It's

heart-breaking. My grand-niece had been told by her doctors that her daughters wouldn't get the infection unless they had open cuts on their bodies at a time when their mother's sores were seeping. Wrong. I'd been worried all along, because that never did sound right to me.

[handmade34]

13. (((...)))

we hope for the best...

[frogmarch]

14. Thanks, handmade. Scary times. :-(

[handmade34]

15. my daughter

was exposed awhile back (as a fingerprint technician) and it was scary for awhile... I know

[frogmarch]

16. I'm glad she didn't get it! Yes,

it must have been unnerving while you waited to find out. It's nothing to scoff at, that's for sure.

[GoCubsGo]

18. Sending good vibes.

Oh boy. Keeping my fingers crossed for her and those darling girls.

[frogmarch]

21. Thanks so much, GoCubsGo. This is

something I wouldn't wish on anyone. I am an optimist by nature, but being one is very hard right now. Still, I have to cling to the hope that it'll be okay.

[femmocrat]

22. Oh my.... what a terrible shame.

Sending your relative and her beautiful family best healing vibes.

[frogmarch]

25. Many thanks, femmocrat. Your

healing vibes are greatly appreciated!

[HeiressofBickworth]

23. I can't begin to imagin

how scary a time this is for you and your family. I hope it all turns out for her.

[frogmarch]

26. Yes, it is a very scary time. Thank you

for your well wishes, HeiressofBickworth. I'm making myself believe everything will turn out okay.

[hedgehog]

24. Oh, many prayers headed your way!

[frogmarch]

27. Thank you, hedgehog. I appreciate

it very much.

[susanr516]

28. Sending many good thoughts and vibes

Those little ones are absolutely gorgeous.

[frogmarch]

29. Many thanks, susan516. They're both

just as sweet as they look, too.

[turtlerescue1]

30. Prayers and hugs and more prayers and more hugs.

Anyone who ever worked in health care knows this never should have happened, its a mean thing. Known too many caregivers, took a long nerve-racking time with frazzled nerves to beat it.

[frogmarch]

32. Thanks, turtlerescue. There is a good chance she can

beat it, we think, but it's going to take time. The baby is on antibiotics now, and we hope she doesn't become as ill as her mom is. We also hope her sister doesn't get it, or their grandmother (my niece) who's caring for the girls now.

What astonishes me is that after her first surgery to remove the initial lesions, almost as soon as she was home from the hospital her doctor signed a release for her to return to work, assuring her and everyone else that she wasn't contagious. How many people did she infect then? I think the doctor should lose his medical license.

[turtlerescue1]

38. Yep, that's the part I'm referring to frogmarch.

Its not just ONE medical doctor my friend, repeatedly the same steps are taken. Likely its the infection's ability to be unseen/undetectable, but it is the reason for fear. MRSA scares me more than West Nile! BECAUSE its got a history of being "cured" when its not. Puts way too many at risk. Its nationwide, small towns in California, big hospitals in Minneapolis, and here in the Ozarks too. The friend in Mpls was in a cancer treatment ward when she got it.
The ones in California and here in Arkansas were caregivers. It ain't a choosey entity.

Prayers and Hugs because this isn't a short term battle.

What role does our Immune systems play in overcoming this?
I wonder because I've an auto immune thing that flares every few years. Its been treated with Steroids, most popular, but once with the drug given to those exposed to high radiation, which worked just as quickly and as well as the steroids. So much we still don't know.

[frogmarch]

41. Thanks for your

reply, turtlerescue. I've been trying to find as much information as I can about MRSA, as have other family members. Until my grand-niece was infected, I hadn't even heard of MRSA. Now I learn that it's not all that uncommon, and that it's everywhere and that the number of infected people is growing.

I would think that having a healthy immune system would be a definite plus in dealing with MRSA, but even people with strong immune systems have to be extremely careful. Chlorine bleach is what is most often recommended for killing the bacteria on fabrics and hard surfaces, but of course, people can't drink the stuff. I hope that there is soon a real cure for this and other potentially deadly diseases.

[GreenPartyVoter]

31. Oh, no! You got 'em!

[frogmarch]

33. Thank you, GreenPartyVoter!

Vibes really do seem to help. Thanks again!

[blueamy66]

34. good vibes and prayers being sent your way

nt

[frogmarch]

35. Thank you, blueamy.

I very much appreciate this.

[blueamy66]

36. not a problem frogmarch

I just hope that something good comes of all of your troubles.

[HopeHoops]

39. Vibes here.

[frogmarch]

40. HopeHoops,

I got your vibes, and I thank you for them.