My son is going through round two of this, and is in the hospital currently. Two years ago he had osteomyelitis and had to have his bone scraped and tissue removed. During recovery the antibiotics were not working and it was found that it was MRSA. He was on IV antibiotics for eight weeks. Today IV antibiotics were started again. They are still draining the infected site and talking about possibly another surgery tomorrow. I am reading all I can about this.

I probably contracted MRSA on a trip to the emergency room at a NYC hospital a few years ago. My first outbreak was a pimple on my chest that grew large enough for my doctor to drain and pack with iodine. It cleared up in a week or so and I was given a tube of clindamycin cream to apply. In subsequent appearances of large, red pimples, I applied the clindamycin and the pimples slowly disappeared. I was particularly careful with apparent MRSA in my ear and close to my eye. Recently, an outbreak developed unnoticed behind my scrotum and grew large, red and eventually painful. Waiting to see my doctor, I applied clindamycin. On the next day, the infection broke through the skin and some blood and pus drained out. I continued the clindamycin and the swelling shrank but never fully disappeared. Because I take prednisone on a regular monthly cycle, I am more susceptible to these infections which occur a few times each year. If I spot them early enough, clindamycin cures them quickly. This appears to be the procedure of choice.

About 14 months ago I was bitten by a spider. I was put on antibiotics and steroids. It healed, but about a week after I finished the antibiotics, I got three pimples on the back of my leg. I went back to the doctor got more medicine. Then about a week after I finished those antibiotics, the same thing happened again, but the spots were also on my back. This went on until I had to visit the ER one weekend because I was in so much pain. They lanced and swabbed one of the sores. When I went back to my family doctor the following Monday, the results were back: MRSA.

I have 6 month follow-up checks after having a cancerous tumor removed from my ureter. Each time I went to the hospital they checked for MRSA. All were negative until April. I developed a cyst in the groin area, had it checked and MRSA was present, but no treatment was given.

My son-in-law has had MRSA sores off and on for some time. Sometimes he would seek medical help at the ER when one gets really bad. Not having any insurance or Medicaid, regular medical treatment was not an option. Last week my son-in-law died at age 50 after having a heart attack and stroke on both sides of his brain. They found a staph spot on his heart, which meant that his heart was pumping the infection all thru his body. He recovered from the coma caused by the stroke, but the infection took his life.

I had MRSA which developed into a critical stage. I spent 3 years and thousands of dollars trying to find out why I was ill. I was diagnosed with a sinus infection that would not go away. Eventually I fell into a coma and nearly died. I spent the better part of a year in the hospital. When I got out of the hospital I found out that my joints, heart, blood, and nervous system had all been affected by the MRSA. It has been 3 years since that time and I have had 4 relapses, as if appears this bacteria goes dormant and likes to rear its ugly head on occasion. I have had to learn to walk again, I have now developed diabetes, and I never have a day without pain since getting this infection. I worry about who touches me and where I go. I will never recover to the health I had before getting this, but feel lucky because I have heard or know many others that have died due to either the infection or complications of MRSA.

I contracted MRSA after having surgery for a brain tumour and trigeminal neuralgia. The hospital actually sent me home before checking blood test results I had for a fever and sickness after my operation, and then the hospital frantically phoned 24 hours later to get me to come in to be readmitted!