I thought I'd be spending more time at my Mother-in-law's house unpacking this week. But her sister stayed with her to unpack until Thursday afternoon, so I didn't go help. Well, that was one reason. The main reason was that in addition to the kids' 4H projects and the County Fair this week, my 1 yo G has an MRSA infection on his leg that has made him a feverish, miserable baby most of the week.
It was a bug bite (or appeared to be) last week. On Saturday it started to get a "head" of infection on it. Sunday there was a marble-sized swelling under the skin, and the "head". Monday the infection had spread under the skin, and there was a 2-3 inch circumference swelling. It had sealed over so it couldn't drain, and he started running a fever Monday night.
I took him to the Dr. on Tuesday afternoon, and we decided it was best to lance it so the infection could begin to drain. That didn't go over so well with him. Poor baby! They took a culture, and started him on antibiotics that are effective on MRSA, which we suspected it was.
He ran a fever until Thursday afternoon, and we had to keep him on ibuprofen to manage the pain. As the ibuprofen would wear off, he'd begin to limp more, be more restless, try not to put weight on that leg, and eventually would reach the point of crying and shaking. :( That's also how he woke up each morning, crying and shaking.
Today, we took him back to the Dr., and his leg was un-bandaged for the first time since Tuesday's incision was made. It looks so much better already! The swelling is down quite a bit, it's bruised, and there's still an incision we have to pack to keep it from closing ... but it looks much better. Thankfully, re-packing the incision and re-bandaging the leg was not as traumatic as Tuesday's original procedure. Test results were in today ... and it's definitely MRSA.
I'll be bandaging and packing his wound every couple days for the next 2 weeks. He still has to finish his antibiotics (which he does NOT like taking) and we'll see how it looks in two weeks. At that point, the entire family will be put on an anti-MRSA regimen (not oral antibiotics) to make sure that it doesn't spread to anyone else.
And now that Steve's Aunt has left, we'll be spending more time at Steve's Mom's apartment, helping her sort and unpack. Unfortunately, she and her sister really didn't accomplish much this week. We knew she wouldn't be able to do so on her own (with her alzheimers) but had hoped she could with her sister's help.
I stopped in tonight with 1 yo G before we took her to the fair with us. I managed to empty and remove 4 boxes from her bathroom(some were already half-empty), but she still has two boxes of toiletries and cleaning supplies in there. It won't all fit. Next time, I need to sit and sort what she really can use and needs, and what is excess to get rid of. Tonight I removed some things like men's deoderant, and nearly empty lotion bottles. Some of the things she claimed hadn't been in her bathroom ... but since I packed the bathrooms, I know they were.
We also need to finish unpacking her kitchen, and get some of the boxes out of her living room so she can sit there and relax. One step at a time, I guess. :) Unpacking is much easier when it's your own home, but she isn't making any progress on her own, so we'll need to help. I'm not sure whether it's best for the whole family to descend on her for a full day, or for me to go over alone for just a few hours every now and then. I'm not sure which would be most productive, nor which would be easiest on her. Packing was easier with kids present to distract her. It might be true of unpacking, too.
At the moment, 1 yo G and I are waiting for Steve to come home from the fair with the other kids. They have wristbands that let them ride all the carnival rides they want today, so they're having a blast! Steve's Mom is there watching her grandkids enjoy themselves. I offered to bring her home when I left at 9 pm, but she wanted to stay longer. Her feet and back will probably be hurting her tomorrow, but I guess she felt it was worth it. :)
Hoping next week is calmer,
April E.
