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6 Feb 2009

Unclean Unclean!


Well you know how I love a catchy title, especially when talking about the mumborg. What am I yammering on about this time? The lovely topic of mumborg and the not so lovely fact that she has MRSA again.

The not so curious case of MRSA and The Mumborg 2009
The mumborg arrived in hospital on Monday with a suspected dislocated bionic hip and possible shifting of one of the pins holding bionic leg together. She is assessed and kept in the observation area of the hospital, swabs are taken and she is clear of MRSA at this point.

After being diagnosed with a broken 'cup' part of the bionic hip, also some problems in the locking mechanism and lining, the mumborg is sent up to the orthopaedic wards. At this point she is settled in and more swabs and bloods are taken. It is after the results come back from these tests, that it shows she is now positive for MRSA and is promptly moved to her own room.

This reminds me of a biblical quote by this bloke:
'People who come down with a skin disease must wear torn clothes and leave their hair uncombed. They must cover their upper lips and call out, 'Unclean, unclean!'
Leviticus 13:45
Okay that one is a bit extreme, let the woman comb her hair and keep her nightgown in one piece.Maybe the original blogger Samuel Pepys can sum it up better, using the plague of 1665 as inspiration.
This day I did in Drury Lane see two or three houses marked with a red cross upon their doors and "Lord have mercy upon us" writ there, which was a sad sight to me." Plague was so common that this would have been a common sight in London with the person seeing it simply feeling sorry for the family inside the locked house.
 Does the NHS need their own personal Great Fire of London (1666), to sort this bloody MRSA mess out?

Excuse the drama llama in me and I do not wish to appear flippant, I just need to vent. I understand the reasons of putting the mumborg in her own room, heck if I was in hospital, I would love my own room! That's better than mad old Betty trying to get in bed with you or her trying to use your chair as a commode (true stories). Also I would not want it passed onto anyone else, especially the ones even more vulnerable than my mumborg. Anyhoo back on track with the tale of the unclean.

Once she is safely away from all the other patients and in her own room, the nurses have to take special care when they are in the room.Wearing disposable plastic bibs over uniform, disposable gloves and washing hands thoroughly after removing said gloves.

Today she went into surgery to have the broken hip cup replaced, locking mechanism fixed and some new lining put in. It was a seven hour operation and fingers crossed everything went well. The problem is that now she has had surgery, the risk of infection is even higher than usual and there is no way of knowing if the wound will get infected or not. They will want to get her out of hospital pretty sharpish, but at what cost?

I am not shocked by the fact that the mumborg had got MRSA again whilst in hospital, even though it is shockingly disgusting that it has happened. I am disappointed though and it leaves you wondering what they are actually doing about it, in the big picture sense. All of the hoo-ha about it in the news, over and over again, yet there it is, still hanging around ready to pounce on the vulnerable. I use the alcohol gel repeatedly on entering and exiting the ward. Do you? Are you ever asked to? Should you be asked?. All I know is that they are very very strict on the times you can visit your friends/family, keeping the doors locked till its exactly visiting time and kicking you out promptly when visiting time runs out. I have never been asked to clean my hands, but it certainly wouldn't bother me if I was. Would it really irk you if you were asked to do it? I know I am guilty of tutting very loudly when I spot somebody not using the gel. Do people really not know how important it is?
Did you hear they've banned Scrabble from hospital wards? 
They're scared patients will get MRSA.

24 comments:

  1. Banning Scrabble... gads this is horrid the MRSA stuff. Sounds like they need clean cops there. I bet your right, a ton of people go in there without cleaning themselves, and they probably just stepped off some kind of public transportation that has every germ in the world. Gads!!!!

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  2. Just goes to prove that stupidity is world wide.
    It makes no sense at all that they'd be that lax on sanitation, especially with your mom's condition! Incredible!!!!
    If it helps at all, you all are in my prayers....
    ~~~Blessings~~~

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  3. Actually, all the times we've been to hospitals, they have never asked us to wipe clean. And it shows. My oldest niece caught a staph infection as a newborn, which nearly killed her, and my sis, my mom, and I all got it, as well.
    It's completely amazing how people who should be aware (more than anyone) can overlook or be blase about something so dangerous.
    Best wishes to you and your mom!

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  4. You know, I've heard it said more than once - that hospitals are the most dangerous places for picking up disease. Sad, but true!!

    I have my fingers and toes (but not eyes) crossed for your mumborg, I hope she heals well and fast.

    My own mum (not quite a 'borg' but almost) had three surgeries in the course of a year to try and fix the arm she so indelicately smashed to smithereens (left arm just above the elbow) and in each operation they put in a metal plate and screws to hold everything together. The second one they used artificial material to do a bone graft (the screws had come loose and her arm hadn't healed at all) but then, she had the same problems after the first.

    Finally she got a second opinion from some high and mighty professor dude and he put in some special non-slip 'lockable' screws (sounds lovely, doesn't it?) and a big assed metal plate (the other ones were apparently not strong enough) and finally, everything is healing, if slowly.

    Why won't these mothers just stay in one piece like all good mothers should?? What's with all the falling apart already, huh??

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  5. you are right to rant ....I have never been asked to wash my hands or apply the gel, although it is up on posters at most hospitals .... we should be made to (I suppose that idea to be 'made to' is all against Human Rights or summut and there would be stacks of whining people claiming against the NHS!! rant....tsk!!)

    your poor mum she is certainly going through the mill... hope she is home soon (but not too soon... i.e. bed needed too soon)

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  6. I hope they get the MRSA under control and out of there...

    My stepmom had it during her knee replacement, and they suspected Dad had it during his last days (he did not).

    For stepmom, we only had to use the foam/gel on our hands... With Dad (he was in Surgical Intensive Care) we had to gown up and wear gloves.

    It's nasty stuff. My husband keeps telling me not to take him to the hospital. He doesn't want to get sick from being there.

    My best to you and Mumborg. Hoping for a speedy recovery. Big hugs!

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  7. Glad her surgery went well, though sorry to hear about the MRSA..then, as a doctor once told me, a hospital is pretty much the unhealthiest place to be, particularly if you're already unwell, since every kind of nasty germ is floating around everywhere.

    Wish you hadn't put that Leviticus quote there...with my chronic psoriasis, this could really affect my social life...I mean, how am I supposed to pick up babes if I have to yell "unclean! unclean!" when I walk into the damn bar?

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  8. I don't know if this helps, but...according to one of my doctors, once someone has MRSA, it never really goes away. It may go into remission, but it can flare up at any time. It doesn't mean she got it in the hospital this time. Crossing my fingers that she gets well soon.
    All the best to you, the Mumborg, and the whole family.

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  9. what a nightmare!!!!!!!! Hope your mum recovers quickly from surgery and things are under control.

    I like your humour and quotes, and thank goodness for a sense of humour eh!

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  10. I've been out of town & out of touch....I'm sorry to hear about this latest turn of events. My thoughts are with you & mum....and I DO HOPE you are getting some sleep! You know how I worry 'bout that. ;) Seriously....remember to take care of Claire too! XOXOXOXXOXOXOXOXO

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  11. I'm sorry to hear about your Mum! I was surprised, as I thought the MRSA was only over here in the U.S.! It is very highly contageous and stubborn infection, specifically in hospitals and skilled nursing facilities(nursing homes). You just wouldn't think of that in a hospital, with how clean and sterile they keep it, but it happens. Well, I hope your Mum has a speedy recovery, and the stress for her and yourself goes away considerably...

    xoxo

    Erik

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  12. Hello lovely girl,

    I shall immediately pray for your Mother and light a candle for her here:
    http://www.gratefulness.org "Light a Candle" (sidebar) ... a very serene place in the universe to focus on good intentions. You are a good daughter and friend to her and I am touched by your tenderness that you openly share. Stay strong and I will keep you and her in my prayers. Take care :)

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  13. What you're saying makes perfect sense. The hospitals here are the same way. When I've been in the hospital having babies, sometimes people have to be reminded to wash their hands before holding them. It's just silly that you have to remind some folks what they should have learned in grade school! It should be standard rule to clean your hands upon entering!!! If someone was offended by being asked, they probably shouldn't be there anyhow!

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  14. Tough times, hope she gets well soon :)

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  15. Knowing Britain, it wouldn't surprise me if Hospitals DID ban Scrabble for that reason.

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  16. Sorry I haven't been around lately but I'm even sorrier to hear that not only did the Mumborg have to go in for new parts but that she managed to come down with MRSA at the same time. You would think they would have gotten this horrible infection under better control by now but it sure the heck doesn't seem that way, does it?

    Best wishes for a quick and successful recovery and that your Mum gets out of there and back home soon. Keep yourself healthy, too, while you're at it - okay??

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  17. Hi!
    love to see your artwork! beautiful cartoon..
    See you around.

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  18. Yoohoo!
    Sorry to hear about Mumborg!
    I think you should suggest that she walk in wearing a giant condom next time and insist all staff only touch her after they've wrapped their own arms in condoms and rubbed themselves off on a alcoholically lubricated jiffy tube.
    It's the way forward I tell ya. 99.9% effective!
    Ahem.

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  19. I think everyone should be asked firmly but politely to clean their hands before entering a ward, perhaps not even be given entry if they do not do so - heavy handed? Not really when you consider the health risk to someone vulnerable like your mum. Hope she's getting on ok and things are more chilled for you now.

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  20. I too got MRSA, even though I use the cleaning gel stuff on the way in and out. Bionic MRSA, just what we need(!)

    Oh, and don't get me started on patients who bogart your bedside chair. Sometimes you just can't get rid of a nosey patient who plonks themselves into your chair and just won't shift.

    Your newest whorshipper, as it appears. Xx

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  21. It is insane that the most likely cause of a crisis is something that could be cured by a definite application of bleach. Where is Flo Nightingale when you need her.

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  22. "The original blogger Samuel Pepys..." Oh, Claire.

    Here's wishing the Mumorg well, as always. You know, this part of being bionic, they never talked about on the TV programs.

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  23. Claire,

    What a horror story! Made worse because it could have been so easily prevented. Hospital care in the U.S. is nightmarish unless a person has great insurance and can go to private hospitals (and even then, you are at risk). Most hospitals in the U.S. are understaffed with *qualified* personnel--people who are performing RN duties often have only minimal training and less common sense (and I am starting to think that common sense is more important than training/education/anything).

    You know, I have been by this blog a few times and never realized it was yours! I am glad to be back and will definitely be stopping back by soon.

    Don't work too hard in school!

    Melinda

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  24. I have only just started reading your blog and your "misadventures" with mumborg. I must say, you are handling all this in a terrific way. I want to comment on MRSA though.-- I first came upon this while working in a hospital back in the early 80's. I am sort of shocked to see that they (the hospitals) handle it less seriously now than they did then. It used to be that an MRSA patient was the last surgical patient of the day, now they say it doesn't matter and likewise with making them isolation cases. Is it any wonder why the stuff is so rampant??!! My sympathies to you and your family and most especially to your suffering mum.

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