MRSA

I have spoken about how Richard contracted MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) while in Kindred Hospital.  MRSA is a drug resistant infection.  It is highly contagious and can be life-threatening.  Richard was complaining about sensitivity in his ankle, while at Kindred, and the doctor came and looked at it and said that he needed to go back to UNM to the emergency room.  He couldn't be taken anywhere without an ambulance so they sent for one and took him over there.  I have previously told the story about the surgeon that started draining the infection with minor pain killers and what a traumatic experience it was for Richard.  Here is what the ankle looked like when he was taken to the hospital.

They evenutally operated in a regular operating room.  It was then he was sent to St. John's and denied his antibiotics.  It looked like this:  

The infection was obvious.  

Months later (August) after we took him home, we were playing games with our friends Brad & Melissa.  Melissa is an EMT so she was concerned about how the ankle looked.  We called another ward member (from church) who was a nurse.  She said he needed to go have it checked out as she thought it was infected again. It was. They operated and this is what it looked like after that operation: 

It kind of looks like Frankenstein to me, but the doctors were pleased. We were visited in his hospital rooms on several occasions by groups of doctors from the center for disease control. I didn't realize how serious of an infection it was at first, but I certainly learned that summer that MRSA is nothing to mess with. 

Today, almost 10 years later, his ankle looks like this:  

Outside
You can see the sore that the AFO has caused.  You can also see the fibula has moved down and is protruding out at the ankle.  

Inside of the ankle

We have been told that the MRSA virus goes dormant in your body, but never goes away.  We have been told my others that that is not true.  It continues to be a concern for us, especially when considering any future surgeries. 

It is such a miracle that the foot is still attached.  Remember, this is the ankle that the surgeon told us on the day of the accident was severed and that he was going to take it off.  I said something, so he said he would try to save it.  Here we are almost 10 years later, and it's still attached!  That is a miracle for sure, with many little miracles along the way.