About Us
Marshall and Christina Jones, in College Station,
TX.
Marshall is a recent survivor of near-fatal MRSA
septicemia
stemming from an infection of the epidural space of his
spine. We live on a ranch with 2 of our 3 children (one is
in college at LSU). We love animals and have a very large
collection of pets (dogs, cats, donkeys, cows, chickens, ducks,
horses...). Marshall is a Realtor and business consultant,
Christina stays at home with the children and runs the
household, her websites (including this one) and various other
projects.
You can read our MRSA story, in PDF form, at
http://www.mrsaresources.com/Downloads/marshallsstory.pdf
We are so concerned about this bacteria and the fact that no one is
aware of it until they already have it, and sometimes not until it is
too late. We are also concerned about MRSA becoming more prevalent
in the community setting. When we needed it, we had the most
difficult time finding relevant information, and we feel that God has
directed us to use our situation and skills to help others in this way.
In the process, we met Denise (below), who has been moved in a similar
way to help others deal with this horrible illness.
We hope and pray that if you are suffering with this life threatening
illness that you will find the information you are looking for here, in
an easy to find format. Please read
our MRSA story, it is one that should
encourage you, as well as open your eyes to some things you might not
have thought about.
-M & C
Contact Marshall and
Christina at
[email protected].
Denise Rauff
My name is Denise. I am the proud
mother of 2 wonderful daughters, Emily and Jeanne. Emily
is 5 years old. She is funny, kind, outgoing,
compassionate and her teachers say she tells the best
stories. Emily is a survivor of MRSA infection. Jeanne
is 3 years old. She is funny, sweet, easy-going,
thoughtful and her teachers say she isn’t afraid of
anything! Jeanne is a survivor of MRSA infection.
I had never heard of MRSA before July 2004. I only knew
that Emily got sick much more often than any of her
friends did. It seemed like as soon as she finished one
course of antibiotics, she got sick again and went on
another course of antibiotics. After two sets of ear
tubes and numerous infections, her ENT cultured the
drainage from Emily’s ears. Two weeks later, the test
results showed MRSA and I found out the reason why my
daughter wasn’t getting better.
It was at this point that I learned about the terrible void of
information available about this bacteria, even in the medical
community. I began to read anything and everything about MRSA
that I could get my hands on.
We took Emily to a Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist. She
was treated with a 5 week course of Zyvox. I took comfort in the
thought that with proper diagnosis, she had a good chance of the
treatment being effective. The medications that are effective
against MRSA are powerful and they come with their own set of
risks. Emily’s blood count had to be monitored while on the
Zyvox and she had certain food restrictions. She was pretty weak
from being sick for so long and MRSA seems to make a person “out
of sorts.” Emily had been on many courses of antibiotics before
this that had held the infection at bay, only to come back again
as soon as the medication was finished. The doctors had told me
that if the Zyvox didn’t work, the next step would be
Vancomycin. So, we prayed a lot and, thank God, the Zyvox
worked! In October, Emily was pronounced MRSA infection free!
In the meantime, Jeanne got an ear infection. She had rarely
been sick until now. Her ear infection got bad really quickly
and her eardrum burst. We feared the worst. The ENT cultured her
infection and we were happy to find out it was not MRSA. Jeanne
was treated with normal antibiotics and the infection cleared up
nicely. The fluid in her ears did not. The doctor advised us to
have ear tubes put in, so the fluid could drain. It was
affecting her hearing and there was concern of possible hearing
damage.
Of course, we were afraid that having tubes put in would make
Jeanne more susceptible to getting MRSA. We asked the ENT, we
asked the Infectious Disease specialist, we spoke with the
pediatrician. At the time, I did not know about hospital
acquired infections. I did not know that MRSA as an ear
infection is extremely unusual. I did not know that the CDC
defined a surgical site infection as one that occurs within one
year of having a foreign body implanted. I did not know that it
takes a certain amount of time for MRSA to develop into an
infection or to incubate. I was simply frightened at the idea of
my 3 year old having ear tubes put in. So, we waited. We
postponed the surgery until Emily was considered infection free.
Since the fluid was still in Jeanne’s ears, we then proceeded
with her surgery.
Within 6 weeks, Jeanne had MRSA infection in both her ears. The
surgeon had taken a sterile culture of the fluid when he
operated, so we know she was MRSA free at that time. Over the
New Year weekend, my sweet little 28 pound 3 year old had pus
and blood oozing from both her ears. Her infection was cultured,
she was put on Bactrim, but continued to get worse. The doctor
then prescribed Zyvox for her for 3 weeks. One of the ear tubes
that had just been put in got pushed out from the severity of
the ear drainage. Emily had a recurrence so for a period of
time, both my girls had active MRSA infection.
This was a very difficult time for me. I was very frightened.
Since ear infections tend to be more painful at night, it was
not unusual for me to be up and down with my children crying in
pain for most of the night. I reached out for support on the
internet, to help me cope with what was happening and to try to
find answers out about how this could happen to two small
children in one family.
Many people offered me their support at that time. When Tony
Field, Chairperson of the UK MRSA Support Group, learned about
my daughters’ infections from another group member, he contacted
me by e-mail. Tony provided me with invaluable information and
provided me with many resources. We remained in contact while my
daughters’ were both ill. Emily & Jeanne call him their friend
Tony from England. They would send him e-mails with smiley faces
and animal pictures and Tony would send them assorted photos of
animals like chickens and cats. It was a bright spot in a
difficult time for our family.
Another person, from the Yahoo support group, held my girls in
prayer. She prayed that God would use our situation for good. I
clung to that prayer like a drowning person would cling to a
life preserver, praying over and over again for my children’s
health and for God to use our situation to help others.
My children have been MRSA infection free for about 3 months
now, thank God. During this time, Tony and I have remained in
contact. Tony and his wife Barbara offered to come to our
country to help spread awareness about this infection in our
country, just as they have done in their own country. My
stepson, James, agreed to accompany Tony and Barbara on their
tour of the USA and keep a journalistic chronicle of the trip.
James introduced me to his friend and colleague, Jeff Beyrau,
Director of Prizefighter Films. James, Jeff, Tony, Barbara and I
all agreed that the best way to make this campaign as effective
as possible was to create a documentary about MRSA and Tony’s
fight against it.
Working towards creating this documentary for me is like a
prayer in action. I thank God every day that my children’s
infections didn’t spread and that they are both infection free
and in good health today. I pray that God will use our situation
for good. If one life is saved, if one limb is saved, if one
family is saved from the suffering caused by MRSA infection, it
will make every effort worthwhile. What happened to my children
should not have happened. I can’t do anything to change that.
But I can help raise awareness about this and try to prevent it
from happening to others.
Contact Denise at
[email protected].
Maureen Daly
In January 2004 my mother, Johanna
Daly, entered the Hospital for Joint Diseases in New
York a healthy 63 year old woman. She had only a broken
shoulder. Mom contracted infections in the hospital
among the infections were MRSA. My poor mother suffered
horribly for four months due to these infections. She
became a unable to move anything but her head, she was
incontinent, on a ventilator and a feeding tube. Perhaps
the most difficult thing was that she had horrible
difficulty communicating. She sounded as though she had
suffered a stroke when she spoke. But she had not had a
stroke all of her suffering was caused by infections.
On May 23, 2004 my mother died as a direct result of the
hospital acquired infections. I knew that nothing would
bring her back. I was angry and heart broken. An
administrator at the Hospital for Joint Diseases told me
that these infections and deaths happen everyday in
every hospital all over America. I was told that I would
just have to accept that these things happen. I was told
that these infections are "the cost of doing the
business of medicine." My anger now became outrage. I
thought it was bad enough that my mother had died from
complications from a broken shoulder. My family and I
had thought it reasonable to believe that one should not
die from a broken shoulder. We were shocked by how
accepting the administrators of the Hospital for Joint
Diseases were of this horrible tragedy. It was quite
simply no big deal to them.
My anger lead me to write many letters of complaint and
inquiry. Most went unanswered. In March 2005, I heard of
a group named RID or the Committee to Reduce Infection
Deaths. I became the first volunteer. We work everyday
to reduce infection deaths nationwide. We are confident
that we will be successful. We are determined to prevent
others from suffering my family's tragedy. We were
delighted when Governor Pataki signed the "Hospital
Infection Reporting Bill" into law on July 21, 2005.
My work with RID introduced me to Denise. I am very
pleased to join forces with her and her organization. I
am happy to support her and Hands of Hope/MRSA Support
in any way I can.
I applaud Denise and the MRSA SUPPORT group for their
hard work and efforts. When my family was going through
my mother's illness and death we felt very alone. We had
no idea how many others were going through similar
experiences. We did not know where to turn. I am
grateful that there is a place to turn for support,
understanding and information.
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