Bug bite, abscess, and needles, oh my!

Before I begin I must warn those of you with weak stomachs that this story is pretty gross. If the phrase "volcano of puss" makes you want to hurl, then look away now. Don't say you haven't been warned.

(Now if you are like me and you read that first paragraph you are thinking, "Sweet! I love a good disgusting medical tale, don't spare me the details!" And so for you like-minded readers, I will try not to disappoint.)

So we begin our saga last Thursday, approximately, with a simple mosquito bite, not unlike any other many mosquito bites we all get this time of year. But this particular bite bit back, and somehow, probably by him scratching it, acquired a secondary infection and started to get a bit red and swollen. We thought nothing of this for a couple of days and treated it alternately with Neosporin and hydrocortisone cream. Jump to late Saturday and into Sunday and the mosquito bite became more and more swollen, hard, and scarlet red. And Luke started to run a fever. Time to see the doctor. Monday morning I paced the floor until the pediatrician's office phone lines opened at 8am and I called and got an appointment with anyone available at 8:30 that morning. We made our way to the office and as soon as the doctor walked in the room she exclaimed, "oh my goodness that is quite a Staph infection you have there". She went on to explain that it is very common to get a Staph infection after a bug bite, scratch, or scrape, but that she wanted to treat it as if it is MRSA- methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus- until proven otherwise. MRSA is a much more serious strain of Staph that is resistant to most antibiotics, and by coincidence (or not?) she had seen several cases of last week. In order to diagnose that this was MRSA she had to retrieve a sample from inside the wound to culture. What followed was one of the most harrowing experiences of my life. While Luke's legs were pinned down by me and his arms held down by a nurse, the doctor squeezed the abscess again and again and again while Luke wailed in pain. Twice she attempted to drain it by using a syringe needle to pop it, to no avail. Luke was screaming "Mommy!! Mommy!!" and I was crying right along with him. Eventually we decided to stop trying to pop it and to try again 48 hours later when it would be more "ripe". (Think teenage hormone fed monster zit times 100. As an admitted lover of popping zits, this would seem as if it were a dream come true to me, but given Luke's obvious horrible pain it was a nightmare.) The doctor drew a pen line around the redness and said if it spread beyond the pen border to immediately bring him in and that we'd probably have to admit him to the hospital for a surgical incision and drainage and IV antibiotics. We left with a prescription for oral antibiotics and one mad and hurting and pen-marked up little fellow.

What is this a picture of, a heat map of Antarctica? No, it's Luke's belly

The next day the sore had grown to the size of a baseball and was hard as a rock. Half the baseball was under the skin, half was above. He didn't seem in too much pain unless you directly touched it, so all was as well as could be expected while we waited for the antibiotics to work their magic. Then Luke suddenly broke out in humongous hives. One hive was the size of his entire upper leg. We rushed to the doctors office again while I panicked and feared he was going into anaphylactic shock (which he was not). The doctor said it was a common reaction to this type of antibiotic, and that we should switch him to this other antibiotic and start him on a precription antihistamine. She tried very briefly to squeeze the huge abscess again with the hopes of getting out some puss to culture, but it wasn't budging and Luke was in excruciating pain, so we planned on trying again the next day and we left, again. Within an hour of him taking the antihistamine the hives had started to subside and my nerves were finally starting to settle down a bit.

Now it is Wednesday, today, and the dreaded second attempt at popping the sucker was here. By now our warm heat compresses had helped the sore to come to a white head and it was just begging to explode. The doctor squeezed a bit, stabbed it with another syringe needle and it suddenly erupted like hot molten lava out of a volcano. A huge surge of puss and blood shot into the air literally 3 feet high, no exaggeration. Greenish yellow thick puss and blood sprayed onto the wall, onto my shirt (which, of course, was white), all in my hair, onto the doctor, on Louis and all over the table. It was epic. It was Quentin Tarantino movie worthy. Two other smaller 6 inch to 1 foot high eruptions followed, along with a chorus of "whoa!" by the doctor and me and Louis. Definitely MRSA she says, as no other type of Staph causes greenish thick puss like this. (Of course Luke was screaming bloody murder during all of this, but I know it must feel much better now that so much of that pressure was released.) The doc said she'd done hundreds of these procedures over the years and had never had one squirt out like that. She seemed impressed and surprised, and I think that's saying a lot for a jaded doctor. We later heard her excitedly retelling the story to the doctors and nurses in the hallway and their replies of "ewwww!". She thinks it should all heal up nicely now, and it already looks somewhat better although it is still the size of a ping pong ball and remains hard and very red. But I think he is now on the mend as long as the antibiotics do their job and whip some bad bug butt.

The funny thing about this doctors visit today was that a teenage boy was in the room and had been following our doctor around for the day. Sort of a "so you wanna be a doctor" kind of experience, and he witnessed the entire screaming baby green puss eruption and was obviously slightly traumatized. I asked him afterward if he was ok, and he never really responded with more than a "wow", and I won't be surprised if he ditches the medical school plans and joins a rock band. I'm sure he had quite a story to tell his friends though.

Post volcano, all bandaged up with a Care Bears Band Aid and a big dose of ibuprofen

While growing up my mom always said to us "don't pick that scab, you're going to get a Staph infection!" I never did get a Staph infection and probably thought she was paranoid and over-protective. Hmm, maybe she was right... Don't tell her I said that. I'll never admit to it.

To hopefully dull the image in your brain of a Staph infected wounded Luke I have included a sweet picture of my sleeping beauty in one of his more serene moments. I snuck into Luke's room while he was sleeping (to check for more hives) and found this cute scene- Luke and Koko (the Koala bear) cuddling while snoozing. (His Aunt Yasmine sent him this Koala from Australia when he was born and it's been in his crib since day 1.) Sweet dreams little tough guy. You're a trooper.

End note:

While waiting in line to check out at the pediatrician's office today, my friend, Erin (of Martin's blog http://www.dandreafamilyjournal.blogspot.com/), called with terrific news. Their new son, Mr. Winston Raphael D'Andrea, was born today! Welcome to the world little guy!! And don't pick your scabs!