Topic: Skin Staph Infection After Mastectomy??

Hi Leslie,

So sorry to hear this, and yes, you are legitimately concerned. Regrettably, Staph,,aka. Staphlococcus, is present in the community, but even more so in hospitals.

Did you Doctor take a culture of your skin blisters by any chance? I know you said you were on Keflex, so perhaps she did not.

Clindamycin is usually pretty active against Staph, yet at times Staph can be resistant to it too, so you and your doctor will work closely together, yes?

You definitely want to report, even this weekend, if after 24 to 48 hours on the Clindamycin there is no improvement of the skin lesions and please call sooner if this worsens. It's important to make sure the right antibiotic is found to correctly treat your Staph. Do you have a followup appointment with her for next week?

Hopefully this won't involve your breast reconstruction. Nothing you can do other than just keep an eye on the incision for redness and change in appearance, and on the chest wall for redness.

At home, extra hand washing by family members, not sharing hand towels (maybe a paper towel weekend), and separating your clothes to be washed on hot just for a few days may be good to allow the antibiotic to take effect.

One last point: your doctor should report this to the hospital you had your surgery at so a infection control case manager can start working on a report, including talking to you.

Again, I'm sorry you have this problem. I had several surgeries myself and always was concerned about acquiring an infection. Hopefully the Clindamycin covers your particular strain of Staph, will kick in soon and you'll be just fine.

Keep us posted.
Tender

This is a hospital borne germ.  Get on it quick.  Some of them are resistant to various antibiotics, with Vancomycin one of the few left that usually work.

So don't let this go.

Hugs, Shirlann

Hi Tender,

Thank you for checking on me!   I finished the antibiotics yesterday morning, and all the blisters (about 5) are all flat and dried up.  So hopefully that means it is gone and not coming back!

Thanks for your tip about the yogurt....I have been eating it daily and taking acidophilus.   I have some mild diarrhea from the AB's (sorry...too much information?), hopefully it goes away soon.   I have heard horror stories, including my mother in law, who got the C.Diff from antibiotics and landed herself in the hospital for a week, it's very dangerous.

Reconstruction going well, had first fill. And going to PS tomorrow, for probably another one.

Leslie

Hi Leslie-

I just went through the same thing. I had a mastectomy and a lat flap reconstruction. My PS used a tissue expander. It was very painful, and I'm highly resistant to pain meds, so instead of asking for more pain meds, I used a heating pad. I ended up with what we thought was a burn, but a couple of weeks later, my breast was still swollen and really sore. I thought that would have gone away in the first three weeks. So I went back to my PS and he looked at my reconstructed breast and felt how hot it was, and knew that I had an infection. He drained some fluid and let it grow in the lab, and sure enough it was staph. I was called the day they found out, and they scheduled surgery for me the next day. I had to go in and he cleaned out a ton of fluid, removed my tissue expander (thank God because that really hurt!) and put in an implant. I stayed in the hospital for one more day, and then begged to get out so I could go to work to pay all of my hospital bills! I was put on Home care with a Home Health Nurse, and I also had to give myself two weeks of vancomycin IV, twice a day for an hour and a half each time. After two weeks, it seemed much better, but he put me on Bactrim for another two weeks. I had NO idea that I was allergic to Bactrim, but I took one pill and BLEW UP! I had to go to the ER and get a shot of Benedryl. My skin looked like I had been burned! I just took valium for four days and slept through it because nothing could help me out of my misery.

Two weeks later, I go to see my PS. I was scheduled to do the other side reconstruction. I was nervous because in my mind, I was still being treated for the staph when it was interrupted because of the allergic reaction. I asked him what we were going to do, and he said I do not have staph anymore. I asked him why I was still having these pimple like things on my arms, and he said it was from the allergy. I asked him why my lungs were not working as good as they used to , and he said it was from my allergy. Basically everything was because of the allergy I had. He said "You CANNOT have two things wrong with you at the same time! So the Staph is gone and everything else is due to the allergies". When I questioned that statement, he got SO angry. He was going to put me on three weeks of Prednisone (steroids), but I refused to take them for that long. I told him that I wanted to see the Dermatologist who recommended this, and when I did, he said he would not put me on ANY steroids. I also asked my PS if I had to continue taking meds for the staph, and he was so angry and said again that it was gone. I said, then why was I taking Bactrim if I didn't need it and the infection was gone? And he said, "Because that is the standard procedure". I wanted to tell him that HE was one of the causes for the MRSA "Superbug" Staph that is killing so many people. Giving out unneccessary drugs/antibiotics.

So now I sit here, I have no idea if my staph is really gone. ***ARE there ANY tests for this????? I'm still very itchy, but no one will help me with that, either. And the worst part is that I'm stuck with one halfway done breast and a Plastic Surgeon that is SO mad at me that I don't think he wants to work with me anymore (and I don't know that I want to work with him either!)

As if this whole thing isn't hard enough!!!!

Thanks for letting me vent!

mitzi 

I know this is long, but I guess my point is, stand up for yourself, question your doctors to make sure you stay healthy, even if it means losing them. I'm afraid if I had some staph leftover, and then took three weeks of steroids, I would have ended up really, really sick.

It's been a nightmare and I'm glad you are back on track!!!

mitzi 

Leslie,

I took Clindamycin for a tooth infection last Feb and fought a C.Diff infection for 4 months after that.  It would clear up then return a week or so after finishing the antibiotics.  After the third time (and three antibiotics that failed) what finally worked was taking 1500 mg of Saccharomyces boulardii each day.  Saccharmoyces boulardii  has been shown to smother out the C.diff.  It is common treatment in Europe for C. diff infections. Make sure you purchase it cold and keep it cold otherwise it won't work. The diarrehea from the C.diff was as miserable to have as any of the symptoms from AC.  The 1500 mg (its alot!) cleared up my symptoms in 2 days, just like the antibiotics.  I kept taking it for at the high dose for 2 weeks then slowly took it down to zero after about 2 months.  I've not had a problem in 4 month!!  I hope the infection doesn't return, but if it does please consider the S. boulardii.  It will kill the C.diff while also repopulating your flora and fauna.  If you take it now with the antibiotic (it won't hurt anything) you can probably get a way with a half to a third of the does, but I suggest you take it for at least a month.

Thank you guys for sharing your stories!   Water girl, I'll definitely check into the S. boulardi.   I am taking some kind of Flora thing from the healthfood store, I'll check if that's in it.  I've been eating a LOT Of yogurt too!    I certainly hope I get rid of this fast!!!!