Thanks for the kind words, Mishelle.  My Mom is actually doing quite well at 95. She has MRSA on the skin and in the urine, and a discharge planner at the hospital mistakenly was telling post-hospital facilities that she also had in her mucous.

I found out rapidly that this was like a kiss of death in getting her into places - no one wamnted her and she was isolated. This is OK, I guess, if true, since the spread of MRSA must be worked on at every level.  The only problem here is that she did NOT have it in her mucous (confirmed this in writing with her Dr) ... such misinformation is horrendous to patients ... it creates a stigma that can follow people forever.

The morale of the story is that, on one hand, we need to do everything possible to educate the public re MRSA and its impact on the world, but also we need to be diligent and cautious about exactly what we say. Certain types of MRSA, and where it is in the body, are critical as well. A person can have MRSA and be minimally contagious to others, while some MRSA patients are extremely contagious. Also, there needs to be extreme caution in determining exactly the type of MRSA a person has, and EXTREMELY sure of the severity and extent BEFORE communication it to others in the profession.  Erroneous reporting of information can be devestating to a patient for the future.

Thank you.

John M

Mishelle wrote:

I am so sorry to hear about your mother our prayers are with you and
your family. Our moms were very simular my mother made us swear we
wouldn't let anyone catch what she had. And like you we too tell
everyone we can about MRSA. The day before my mother passed away, my
daughter had surgery here in Georgia, my mother was in Orlando,
Mishy caught MRSA too. Six months before that I had never heard the
term before. In fact none of there doctors called it MRSA, they just
called it an infection. I learned it's name a week after my mother
passed away. By then it was too late to make sure she had proper
medical but I did make sure Mishy had good care.

I like your site, I like your idea, RID is doing alot in the way of
trying to help, according to them, more people die of hospital
infections then in car accidents, breast caner and AIDS
combined...yet you hardly hear about it...there has to be something
we all can do to help get the word out there...

So if you have some ideas Im all ears. My email is
chinisup@comcast.net now, that's why the delay, I'll try and update
my site, but please both my sister and I would really like to get
involved....in the meantime....our hearts are with you and yours, we
know what you are going through, please keep in touch..

Take Care,
Kathie

--- In MRSA@yahoogroups.com, "Dee" <sunshine_bc@...> wrote:
>
> Mom passed away peacefully on Wednesday September 27th, 2006 @
4:50 PM
> with Christina & me by her side. With my mom's blessing we have
> created the "Wanda Hildebrand MRSA/VRE Education Fund" so we can
> continue to "spread the word" in her honor. If our efforts stop
the
> spread of MRSA in any way then mom's death will not have been in
vain.
> This was my promise to her. Please visit the group I have created
to
> find out more about MRSA located at
> http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/MRSA2006/
> Thank you for your time and God bless.
>