Quarantined...

I thought this week would turn out to be a most memorable one, after my candidate swept the election...well I wasn't wrong, but its not memorable for that reason alone. Kayla has been struggling with a persistent rash on her nether regions for months now, since the summer. We have been to the doctor for it half a dozen times. It has gone from a staph infection, to a yeast infection to an irritation, to strep, and now, the most definitive and terrifying defintion: MRSA. Now for anyone who doesn't know what that is, its a antibotic resistant staph infection. She also has impetigo, which she has had before, and will clear up, but is still gross and itchy. When the doctor said MRSA however, I became near hysterical. MRSA has KILLED people. My mother had MRSA during her illness, and I was warned, as I was pregnant at the time, that it could be transmitted to Kayla through contact with my mother. There wasn't any concrete proof of this, and we took precautions, but I was absolutely guilt ridden and sick with myself, thinking I had caused this to happen to Kayla. There's no way to prove I didn't, but Dr. Holtzman thinks it would be HIGHLY, HIGHLY unlikely. She also assured me MRSA as it exists in the pediatric community is much less severe and life threatening then it is in within the adult community. She gave Kayla some heavy duty antibotics, only one of two known to effectively treat MRSA, and we should be on the way to a complete recovery. Being the neurotic person I am, I have been surfing the web and have discovered that 77 kids died last year from a combo of the flu and MRSA and MRSA has been linked with respiratory problems. My mind immediately goes into overdrive...one, Kayla has a cough, which she developed this week, so is it a cold or MRSA reeking havoc on her system? Two, she hasn't gotten her flu shot yet...we're due to get it Friday...is she going to end up in a very serious situation?
My whole point with this is, will I ever get to the point when I believe what a doctor tells me? I have been assured she will be all right. I have to keep her on the antibotics and I am quarantining her just because I don't want to expose anyone else to it, but I can't lose the feeling like this situation could go another way, a very scary way at any moment. I need to stop, and breath, and realize it will all be all right. In the meantime, I am not sure if my sanity will stay intact between an itching child, endless cartoons, sterlizing everything in sight, and everything else! Wish us luck!