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["Lynda" <lurine AT com-pair.net>]

O.K., I've been the MRSA route.  Had these hive like, rash like thing going 
on.  Wouldn't go away, and wouldn't go away.  They were hot, were painful 
and they itched like crazy and nothing would stop the itch.  Then DH gets 
them and shortly there after youngest gets them.   So, I head on in to the 
local clinic as that is what we've got unless you want to drive 2 hours, 
which I didn't.  Major hysteria.  OMG!!!!  You have MRSA.  No tests.  Just a 
big speech about how she had worked in the jungles of whatever and had seen 
lots of it.  She gave me a script for an antibiotic that cost an arm, a leg 
and hocking half a kidlet!  Had to get an authorization from the insurance 
because it was EXPENSIVE!  Plus, she said MRSA could be highly contagious 
and that everything should be bleached (towels, undies, bedding).  Get the 
antibiotics home and the list of possible side effects were huge and nasty, 
so I didn't start taking them.  Besides, I had spent a whole day washing 
everything and its uncle and I was just plain tired of all of it.

So, long story short, a couple of days later was DH's routine appointment 
with his doc and we asked him about the hives/rash.  Allergies or a contact 
dermatitis he says.  Something we had eaten or something we all came in 
contact with.  He also said that with my kidney history that I shouldn't 
take the antibiotics.  (He's a good guy and often talks to all of us when he 
sees DH and doesn't bill anyone but DH)

He also said that MRSA is the "in" diagnosis and that NO ONE should believe 
it without a culture.  He said that so far about 90+% of the *supposed* 
diagnosis are found to be false when cultured.  He also said that doctors 
are going to create an even more super staph because they are all 
prescribing antibiotics for anything that even vaguely looks like it might 
be a "damn rash."

Now, as to the UTI, no one did a culture?  And I don't mean the spin thing 
in the office, I mean sent out and checked for sensitivities.  If they 
didn't, again, they are flying blind and setting you up with unnecessary 
antibiotics.

And, yes, what you describe sounds like a kidney stone.  Been there done 
that and ain't planning on ever doing it again!  The pain is, IMNSHO <g>, 
much worse than child birth!  UTIs (kidney infections), on the other hand 
are merely annoying in comparison.

I think the last doc you saw is the go to guy!  Sounds like he didn't go to 
graduate stick up the arse school!

lynda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "EarthNSky" <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>


> Evening y'all
>
> First, before I forget again, I have to correct something I wrote the
> other day.  I said "Last night they confirmed I have MRSA"  I meant
> confirmed my own suspicions, but I did not write that and implied a fact
> not in evidence.  The ER doc said that it was MRSA in his opinion.  He
> also said my 'kidney infection' was probably MRSA related since I had
> had no prior symptoms before the fever and pain...the paper work and
> diagnosis sheet I got to take home also says MRSA, however, to confirm
> it, you have to culture it, and it was not cultured at the ER...the ER
> doc just might be full of it...ok so anyway...
> First appointment today was the ophthalmologist...good news there-my
> pressures are at the high end of normal..yeah.. I got a new prescription
> for glasses, but the doc is an a-hole and was definitely in his a-hole
> mood today.  He was such a PITA that I am considering filing a report
> against him.  Long story short, I will have to pay an optometrist to
> make the measurements of my eyes that are needed to get my glasses via
> mail, as the one today refused to do it saying he is treating me for
> this and this and this, not so that I can get cheap glasses from a
> company he has never heard of.  And that was just the beginning.
>
> Finally, I got my follow up with the PCP, whom I love.  He is very
> thorough, very patient, and has helped me a lot over the years, and yes,
> he is also open to alternatives.
> He spent about 20 minutes reading my history and labwork for the last 3
> years, and he thinks that I don't have a kidney infection at all.  He
> thinks I passed a small stone, because I recovered so quickly...10 hours
> later I was fine-urine color almost back to normal.  He saw the first
> spider bite in his office last summer, and he says that he is not
> convinced that 3 or 4 boils/bites in 6 months means MRSA, especially
> since the first bite healed with 2 rounds of antibiotics, so he also
> lanced the boil and took a sample to culture.  Three days, but of
> course, with the holidays, who knows when... I hope he is right and that
> this is just plain staph that will be undone by the antibiotics I am
> already on now and hopefully not MRSA.  If it is MRSA, he will put me on
> another antibiotic and then after that, IV antibiotics if needed.   He
> is also starting up an entire battery of testing to try to figure out
> what is going on with my liver.  He wanted to repeat testing done at the
> ER just to make sure the medicine is working.  It works for me.  I
> talked to him about getting off Enbrel, and he asked if I had mentioned
> it to my rheumie...no...he suggested that when I see her on 1/6 that I
> discuss it.  He agreed that perhaps I have been on the meds too long,
> and wanted me to be sure and discuss it with her.  He also said that if
> my bilirubin and enzymes were still high on the blood they took today,
> that that would warrant him calling her for consultation and I would be
> seeing her sooner than 1/6.  I then discussed baseline testing and
> fitness evals...he ordered bloodwork for cholesterol, triglycerides and
> all of that kind of stuff, plus a mammogram, too.  Since my heart is
> doing good, he said shoot for target of 140 bpm, and stick with no or
> very very low impact exercise and to be careful with the weights.  I
> told him that I wanted to get off some of the meds I was on, a few of
> which he had prescribed, and he understood and actually agreed that I
> should try this this and this, blah blah blah...he did not suggest an
> alternative that I had not heard of, but I was glad to have a chance to
> talk to him.  That is 3 less prescriptions I have to refill now.
> As a side note, I got my pedometer and chin up bar today...(and also my
> rice seeds!!!) so I can carefully and objectively record my progress
> next year.  I did not think I would like a pedometer, but I borrowed my
> friends for a couple of  weeks last summer and I was hooked.  For me, it
> spurs me on to do more...8000, I can do 9000, 10000 is almost
> 12000<g>...I found myself getting up and walking to someone's office
> instead of calling on the phone, just to run the stairs and add steps on
> the ped.  It a good motivational tool that costs about $5.  Mine was $8
> but it's got a calorie counter, a stopwatch and some other stuff on it.
>  I figured the stopwatch would be good for taking my pulse.
> I can't even do one chin up or pull up, but I did put the bar together
> practically blind<G>, if that counts.
> Except for dealing with the a-hole, it was all pretty good news...
> I am really starting to get excited about getting healthy.
> I'm sharing a lot of personal stuff with you guys in hopes that maybe
> some of you will also take the time and spent the money on yourself.
> Even if you don't like western med, at least find someone to do some
> screening bloodwork so you will have an objective way to measure whether
> or not all that oatmeal you are eating is lowering your cholesterol or
> if you just feel better because you are getting more fiber.  If you know
> the facts, you can adjust what you need to adjust on your own.
>
> Bev
>
>
>
> --
> The true significance of Sacajawea's involvement in the Lewis & Clark
> expedition is that it was the first documented trip in history where men
> asked a woman for directions and followed them, allowing them to arrive
> at their destination.
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