Why I’m thankful for my daughter’s MRSA

“What time is surgery today?” Ellie, age 12, croaks. She hasn’t opened her eyes yet, but she knows she’s headed to the operating room … again. It may be the fourth surgery this month, maybe the fifth. We don’t know. What we do know is our routine has changed from soccer carpools and homework battles to twice-weekly trips to the operating room, where the orthopedic surgeon will slice open my baby girl’s thigh and attempt to wash out the deadly bacteria accumulating in her right femur and knee joint. We’re trying to learn the new routine and master a new language. The vocabulary is demanding. There are procedures, medications, devices and acronyms. Most are scary — wound vacuum, PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter), clinical failure of vancomycin, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The only one who seems to have any answers is the pediatric resident. Unfortunately, he’s nearly always wrong. Our trip into this alternate reality started on Ellie’s first day of seventh grade. “My knee hurts,” she says. Probably too much soccer and cross-country running, we think. The next day, her right knee has swelled to the size of a small pumpkin. OK, that’s a little alarming. We visit the local emergency room. They suggest an ACL tear, send her home with a knee brace and order an MRI the next day. When we show up for the MRI, Ellie is definitely not herself. She’s quiet and compliant. She’s clearly in pain. A few hours after the MRI, ...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: All posts MRSA PICC line Source Type: news