Having a Really Bad week

[anonymous]

Hi,

I was not going to post but I figured I could use the support and also to vent......

Thursday was the day from hell for me.... When I got home from school on Thursday I go an email from my Cf nurse telling me I culture MRSA. She said it wasn't a big deal and that it was sensitive to Vancomycin and Bactrim.. Could be why in the past I always felt better on Bactrim then I did Tobra.. But anyway, I have never really cultured anything before, I did pseudo once but it went away. Remember I was dx at 29. My nurse told me that I would not be able to get rid of the MRSA. Of course you know I am in nursing school and this will greatly limit my options..and this has made my Cf so real for me.. it is crazy.. I can't even think about that yet so then later that day I get a frantic call from my mother, her husband my mom's love of her life was killed in a airplane crash ( a small plane that he flew himself)

I quickly booked a ticket and now I am in Flordia with my mom and brother, the relatives are slowly making there way here. I don't think I have felt more sorry and sad for my mom since her and my dads divorce, In some ways this is harder because she has been so hurt before and she finally was happy. It kills me and rips my heart out to see her suffer, I want so much to take her pain away. I feel like I would do anything to make her just feel better.

I can so much more easily deal with things happening to me then I can with things happening to the people I love. I feel helpless and I want to stay here and take care of my mom forever, unfortunatly with every day of school I miss, I have to write on average a 25 page paper to make up for each missed clinical... I am coming home on Wed night.

Gosh, this is so hard. If anyone has any ideas what I can do for my mom to help her in along in this process I would sure appreciate it.

Thanks for letting me vent,

Jennifer (Jennifers_hope) sorry I forgot to sign in

32 w/ CF and Addison's Disease

 

[anonymous]

Me again. Can anyone who has or does culture MRSA tell me if they were able to get rid of it and how? Also what has happend to your lungs since culturing it??


Thanks

Jennifer 32 W CF and Addison's

 

[Mockingbird]

I don't have any advice about your mom, or about MSRA. It does sound like a very terrible week, and it doesn't make things any better having all that school work hanging over your head. Let's hope you get a good day soon... or even just a good hour or so, to make things a little more bearable. =-)

 

[ccflewallen]

Well, I am certainly no counselor, but here is what I would do. Obviously, there is nothing that your Mom can do right now except deal with such a great loss in her life. I dont know what I would do if something happened to my wife; I dont even want to think about it. If you pray, this would be a good time to do that. Many people, including myself find comfort in knowing that someone bigger than us is in charge, and we can overcome so much.

You are going to need to be there for your Mom. If she is hurting as bad as you say, and the two of you are as close as it sounds, Wednesday could be to soon to leave her there to deal with it. Do you have brothers or sisters? I think someone should be with her for awhile to give her comfort and the love that she needs and will be so badly missing.

I dont know about your school situation. Try explaiing what has happened, maybe they will be compassionate and understand and perhaps be willing to make arrangements so that it will not be SO hard if you miss a few more days. 25 pages a day? That is rediculas! Anyhow, this may not be what you needed, but I do hope that you and your family can find comfort somehow in these coming days. It will be dificult. I will be thinking about your family and keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. I know others will be also. God be with you and your mother.

Sincerely,
ccflewallen

 

[kybert]

so sorry about your week <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif" border="0"> best thing for your mum is just to be there.

i used to have mrsa when i was young. this might sound terrible but my brother was the 'source' of the mrsa and when he died, the rest of the family and i managed to get rid of it without antibiotics. mind you, i was very healthy back then. i had an fev1 110%, my body was in great condition etc so i was able to fight it. the odds of eradicating it when you are not in good condition are slim, but not impossible.

 

[julie]

Jen,

I'm really sorry about your week. I don't have too much to say (rare, I know) except that I'm here if you want to talk....

Regarding the MRSA, there seems to be a huge debate about it in the medical field. Some say you can erradicate it, some say that you can "clear it up" with medications but that it will always linger and can be triggered by other bugs. Dealing with MRSA on the ward I use to work on, and my medical experience with it...... I rather agree with the latter. You will find others who say something else though.

I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers!

 

[Diane]

Hi Jen,
Gosh im so sorry you and your mom are going thru such a rough time. I agree with ccflewallen about your mom not being alone just yet. I hope someone can stay with her for a while. If you cannot stay with her longer, than make sure to call her everyday just so she has atleast that phone call ( from you) to look forward to. Maybe sending her a random "cheering up" card here and there would also make her smile. I dont know much about MRSA, but i do remember my nurse telling me when i asked about it that all it really meant was "you'd be resistant to a certain antibiotic ( methycillin) and that it isnt the big deal everyone makes it out to be". <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif" border="0"> Hopefully so.
I will keep you and your mom in my prayers <img src="i/expressions/rose.gif" border="0"> <img src="i/expressions/rose.gif" border="0">

 

[anonymous]

Thank you so much for your support. I don't have the option of staying with my mom, unless I quit school. Being in the nursing program is very demanding and rigerous. They can be as sympathetic as they want but they can't change the rules. The rules are mandated by the state. Since I do clinical rotations that I am accountable for every hour missed. For every clinical hour missed, I do 16 a week I have to write a paper, I have to get the information from the state (continuing education) and pay for it. It averages out to about a 25 page paper for each day missed. The paper has to stay in my file at school.

Of course I care more about my mom, but I can't stop my life, I have to be able to pay for my meds, and my living expenses and to do that I have to finish school. My brother is able to stay longer then me, but she is going to be on her own soon, and to make matters worse, her husband forgot to put the 401k in her name, it is still in his ex wifes name. So now she has no money..

I can't tell you how devasting it is for me, I want so bad to be able to stay with her...

Thanks agian for the support,

Jennifer

 

[JustDucky]

Jenn, many hugs go out to you and your family for the loss of your mom's husband...I really feel for you. I agree with the others, the best thing you can do is just be there for her, that would mean worlds to her.
As far as MRSA goes, many people colonize it, they have it in thier system but it doesn't produce an active infection. Here is an article about MRSA and CF in Medscape...I hope it helps you. As I understand it, it is possible to erradicate it or at least decrease the amount of colonization (that might lead to active infection).
Here's the llink... http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/468210
Many hugs to you and your family during this very difficult time...
Cepaciagal( Aka the other Jen in the other CF group)

 

[anonymous]

I cultured MRSA and was able to get rid of it. I haven't cultured it since (it has been a couple of years). I believe each person is different. I'm sorry to hear about your mom's husband.