MRSA and Me

If you haven't heard about MRSA, you need to get out of the cave you're in and join us in the world of the living. LOL! Seriously, it's that antibiotic resistant staph infection that is freaking everyone out right now (myself included). Locally, the people who've had it (or have known someone who has) say that it begins with something that looks like a spider bite and then just takes over.

Anyway, Saturday morning, I woke up with what looked like a spider bite on my tummy. Great. Somehow I've contracted MRSA. I start searching the internet for stuff when I realize that I'm over reacting. Being a person that loves to cook and eat what I cook...and what others cook, I'm not the picture of thinness. I've got some tummy blubber. Okay...a lot of tummy blubber...but I digress. My jeans like to hide out in the space where my waist should be. And, because of the colder weather, my skin's pretty dry. Well, apparently, the waistband (specifically, one of the belt loops) of my jeans decided to rub up against one part of my waist to the point that there was a mark.

Even though there is an explanation for the mark, I've still got it in my mind that I'm going to die. Dad tells me that if I do, indeed, die, he'll make sure my headstone reads, "see, I told you I had antibiotic resistant staph!"

I put some Neosporin and a Band-Aid on it and go about my day.

I forgot that this time of year, because my skin is so dry, I have a hard time with Band-Aids. Once I realized that I was getting a reaction to the Band-Aid, I took it off and left it off. Sunday morning, the initial mark is a lot better but one of the spots that had a Band-Aid on it is all red and puffy. Nice.

Yesterday, I took a look at it and noticed that my first injury is looking pretty good and is almost gone. The Band-Aid mark is now itchy and still a little swollen. Great. And, of course, I keep thinking that maybe I do have MRSA.

I tried one of those "advanced" Band-Aids that are meant to totally enclose the injury...another lesson learned. Those do the exact same thing as regular Band-Aids. So, now I have two Band-Aid marks on my tummy. What's funny is they are shaped just like the sticky part of the Band-Aid. The good news is that I now have a good excuse to wear my sweat pants all day.