I had what was supposed to be a minor surgery August 13, 2002. I was sick for the next 2 weeks. I had emergency surgery on my abdomen on August 27, 2002. I was in the hospital from August 13 till the third week of September. When I was released, fluid started leaking thru my staples. I called and was informed to put a bandage on it. I let the Surgeon know that it was more then a bandage could cover. I kept it covered the best I could. After my staples were removed, the strips put over each spot were gone by the time I arrived home, as so much fluid was leaking. I went back in and the Surgeon had me lie down and cut about a 2 inch strip and told me how to pack it. Never explained what he was going to do or why he did it.
The next day I visited with my second Surgeon and he explained why that had been done and I asked him if he would test for Staph. After he did the test, when he took it out there to be sent off, it was a big joke to the nurse that they had forgotten to do that the day before. I was on antibiotics for 3 weeks. No follow up tests were done to see if I was infection free. June 3rd of 2003, I had another Surgery. After being released, my abdomen kept filling with fluid. It was drained 3 different times, and then my Surgeon put a drain bag in, which I had in for 11 days. Removed the drain bag, and my abdomen filled back up with fluid, in talking to my Surgeon I was informed to ignore it and it would absorb back into my body. Never was any of the fluid tested to see if there was an infection. I was made to feel like I was a bother.
My sister commented to her Doctor about my condition. She suggested I contact a Doctor in Fort Collins, Colorado. The Colorado Doctor did some tests and had a drain bag put back in. I had 2 pockets of fluid in my abdomen. After 4 days of having the bag in, I was not feeling well. I went back to Fort Collins and I was admitted to the hospital. Emergency surgery was done the next night. The fluid in my abdomen had turned septic, the nurse let me know, had I not gone down, I would have lived probably another 2 days. I left with a pic line and a wound vac attached to my abdomen.
My staph turned into MRSA and I was informed to get my affairs in order. I had another Surgery; this was to remove two pieces of mesh that had staph in them. Finally on February 4, 2004, I was informed I was MRSA Free. I have had numerous Surgerys as I have had to have Incisional Hernia Repairs.
On December 5, 2008, I was informed once again that I had MRSA again. I had another pic line put back in, every 24 hours I went to the hospital for a treatment. On December 10, I had another emergency surgery to clean my abdomen out. Pic line was removed and another one put in. I had a blood clot. Once again I had a wound vac attached to my abdomen which was removed April 7, 2009. I went back on Zyvox. I was on this for about 2 months, had to go off of this medication as this is the last known drug to treat MRSA . I went on another antibiotic which I was able to come off, July 10, 2009.
This is a shortened version of my illness, from a Surgery gone terribly wrong. Half of my stomach was removed, the vagus nerve was removed (tells your stomach to digest the food) and my epiglottis was removed as these were dead from the surgery error during my minor surgery on August 13, 2008. I will be on medications for the rest of my life and l will be facing more surgeries.