Bout with Staph

[Bill Watts II]

Well, I guess I'm not as tough as I thought I was.  

Yesterday I was released from the hospital after four days on IV antibiotics for a staph infection I got from a cut less than 1/4" on my ring finger.  I got the cut off of a deer skull that I was fleshing out for a European mount.  I was weraing rubber gloves at the time, but didn't change the glove after reciving the cut, and waited for about 1/2 hour before cleaning the cut.  This was on the 27th about noon.

On the morning of the 28th the cut had a black spot about the diameter of a pencil eraser around it and was sore to the touch.  I washed it again, treated it with Neosporin, and wrapped it in a bandaid.

By 5:00pm I started coming down with a fever.  I never thought it was related to the cut, but was probably a flu bug.  I laid down on the couch and took a nap thinking that rest would be the best thing for it.

At 7:00pm I woke up shaking and burning up with a fever.  I knew it wasn't the flu.  I pulled the bandaid off the finger which was now throbbing and swollen.  The black spot was now the size of a nickel, and I had a red streak running from the finger across the the top of my hand, up my arm and into my armpit.  The armpit was very sore to the touch.

I bathed, called my wife and had her run me up to the emergency room.  

By 9:00pm the black area was about the size of a quarter and the streaks running up my arm were darker starting to develop some purple spots along the track on the forearm.  I was put on intraveneous antibiotics and admitted to the hospital for four fun-filled days of tests and treatment.

For the nest 24hours I maintained the fever, and the black spot increased to a silver dollar in size.  The finger now looked like a sausage and couldn't bend.  My armpit was now throbbing.  The meds were now starting to work, and things started getting better for the next three days.

The area around the wound is still about a silver dollar in size but is just reddish in color, and healing nicely.

I asked the infection specialist just exactly what I had and he said he couldn't say specifically, but classified it as a staph infection.

I asked him for two scenarios: 1)what if I came in as soon as I noticed the spot, and 2)what if I waited until the next morning.  He said that if I came in when I first noticed it I would have probably just been given a prescription for an oral antibiotic and all would of been fine.

As for the second he said that at the point I came in, the infection was already at risk of entering my lymph nodes, and that if I waited until the next morning it probably would have been in, and then I'd have real problems.  He said at the rate the "spot" was growing part of my hand and forearm would be infected and that a surgical cleaning of them would be emminent.  It was good that I didn't put it off any longer than I did, to say the least.

So, I guess what I'm getting at is that if any of you find yourself with a cut from working on your animals, don't take it lightly.  Wear your rubber gloves, and in the event you do cut through them and into yourself, clean and disinfect it immediatly, replace the gloves before continuing, and if anything looks suspicious in the healing process seek medical attention immediatlely!  Good luck to you guys in your hunts, and above all be safe!

Watts

[TexMex]

Wow, glad you are okay!

[ishiwannabe]

Glad you are ok, sounds like a close one.

[flatlander37]

Glad you're alright.  That really sounds nasty, but staph is nothng to fool around with.  It has been going around the prison I work at but the state just denies it.  Mark

[numbfinger]

glad youre ok, btw, my wife's mother died in her 40's from staph[ areus , most likely misspelled], that's bad stuff.

[portugeejn]

Glad you are ok, and told your story.  We aren't as invincible as we think we are sometime.

RonP

[Bill Watts II]

As a side note: The only reason I took the thing as serious as I did was because a kid I went to school with died this last summer as a result of a finger cut. He developed Ceptis(sp), or blood poisoning as a result of his.

I'm just hoping that anyone out there who reads this who finds themselves with this will act quickly, and not have to go through the grief, physical and financial, that can result from it. Without insurance this little bout would cost around $5-6000.00. THAT'S A GUIDED HUNT, FOR CRIPES SAKE!!!

Watts

[joekeith]

Good luck, and take it easy....

[Wulomac]

Wow, what an ordeal!  Glad you're okay!

Wells

[Bill Shepard]

We have had a bad outbreak of MRSA here in Washington.  That's the antibiotic resistant strain.  It's been in our jails and hospitals for years, but this last year has seen it in the schools.  Several children have died from it.

I've worked on the Vice Squad for years and that has always been a big concern.  Nasty stuff, I'm glad to hear you are well.  

[Kip]

You were lucky it will get worst all over the country b/c of all the antibiotics given freely our immune systems are very weak.Don't know the answer but be careful.Kip

[Tom Anderson]

Dang, I always seem to at least "nick" myself when field dressing a deer.  I'll be more careful from now on, for sure!

[The Night Stalker]

Kip is very right. I am a OR Manager so I been tracking this for years. Bill, sounds like your just had regular run of the mill staph infection, very common. When it got to the point of getting swollen, you most likely was about to get some cullulitis. If it did get in your lymphatics, you would of spiked a big temp and your WBC would spike.  MRSA the Methicillin resistent form of Staph Aureus is also very common despite what you hear on the news. It usually presents in the ER as a skin infection. Due to the generous use of antibiotics and the use of antibacterial soaps, our bugs are getting smarter.
I encourage everyone not to get antibiotics for every little thing because later in life, you might need them and your body will not have to immune system to fight  the infection off. Tim in NC

[Bill Watts II]

Tim,

My temp in the ER was 101 and the WBC test was way up there.

I hear what you're saying about taking antibiotics for every little thing that comes along.  The only other time I ever took antibiotics in my adult life was in 2001 when they were prescribed by a doctor for a bronchitis I came down with a week before a mountain lion hunt I was scheduled to go on.  I've had bronchitis before, but have always allowed my body to fight it itself.  As a result of the antibiotics, all the natural occurring good bacteria in my lower digestive system was killed off and I developed an invasive bacterial infection in my colon.  Hell on earth, to say the least!  Once again the doctor recommemded an antibiotic to fix the problem, but I declined.  I was eventually able to get things back to normal with supplements such as acidophelis(sp) and natural foods with yogurt being the most beneficial.  All's well today in the lower unit, but you can bet I'll be back on the acidophelis(sp) and yogurt once I'm over the staph.  

Watts

[kawika b]

I'm very glad you caught it in time bro.

[Jeff Strubberg]

Went through a similar ordeal two years ago.  Cut my finger in the shop and didn't think much about it ( i bust knuckles and such playing woodworker all the time).  A few days later, I noticed a faint pink line running up th einside of my arm.  Showed it to my wife (who works in health care)./  She grabbed the car keys and off to the hostpital we went.  Before you know it I was flat on my back with an IV in my arm and the antibiotics flowing.

The docs said another day or two and the infection could have easily reached the heart.  Bad mojo.  

As much as I enjoy my do-it-yourself, outdoorsman image, it only takes a small cut to put a person flat on their back.

[Shifting Shadow]

The hospital where I work has patients with MRSA. A couple times I helped change this guys dressings. Ugly, deep wounds.

[The Night Stalker]

Bill, been there and done that with a bout of the flu. You did the same thing I did, natural yogurt and such to get the bacteria count back up in your colon. That was the sickess I have ever been.

[Chris O]

Thats some excellent advice by the night stalker. I had an antibiotic resistant staph about a year ago. After being sent home from the ER, being told that the huge boil on my neck was nothing and that I just had the virus my regular Dr sent me to a specialist. Fortunately he was able to cut it out and I got better but I still had a quarter sized 2" deep hole in my neck. I do have a nice looking scar to remind me of it.  Glad to hear you made out O.K. Bill

[tomh]

glad you made it ok.