Now we're learning about infections. It can be a tad bit overwhelming. I think I should have paid a little better attention in biology. (And if I get any of the following information wrong, please forgive me. We are learning as we go.)
The hospitalist explained to us that infections are either "Staphylococcus" or "Streptococcus" infections; E.'s being the "Staph" variety. (But there are over 30 species of Staph and many more sub-species as well.) That much we knew last night. The blood that was drawn on Friday and cultured, already grew something by Saturday morning which tested positive ... that is why we wound up in the emergency room. Each day as the culture grows, they are able to tell more and more about the specific kind of bacteria in E.'s blood. That is important to tailor the right anti-biotics. Right now, E. is on two "high-powered, broad-spectrum IV anti-biotics." Depending on what the cultures show in the days to come, those anti-biotics will be changed to specifically target the bad guys and kill them all dead.
The infectious disease doctor informed us today that they now know that E.'s infection is "coagulase negative" which means that it is a "Non-Staphylococcus Aureus." Because it is not Staphylococcus Aureus, it is Staphylococcus Epidermis which means the infections originated on the skin somewhere. And, using my deductive reasoning skills and a little googling, I deduced that since E. has a NON-Staphylococcus Aureus, he could not possibly have MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) since MRSA is a S. Aureus. I really don't know much about MRSA other than the horror stories I've heard which have effectively scared the bajeebers out of me, so I'm pretty thrilled with this piece of information.
There are potential complications from infections in the blood, including when the infections move into other areas like the spine or the heart. E. did have an EKG done yesterday to see if there were any bacteria camping out in his heart and making themselves at home, but we have yet to receive the results. It sounds like there is pain involved when the bacteria move into other areas (such as back pain when the spine is infected) and E. has not complained of any pain, so that is a relief.
And there was still the issue of E.'s port ... One of the problems with having a foreign object in your body (such as E.'s port!) is that it makes a great little breeding ground for the bad guys. It is very hard to clean and sterilize an object inside your body. So, even if anti-biotics effectively treat the infection, the bad guys hiding out on/in the foreign object (port) could reinfect the body in no time. The easiest answer is to remove the foreign object. Luckily, in E.'s case, he's not currently using his port and there are no plans to use a port in the near future ... so out it came! The good news is that the port is out. The bad news is that removing the port disturbed the bad guys. It riled everyone up in the body and now we have to wait about 24 hours for everyone to settle down (and have a couple of shots of anti-biotics while they're hanging out) until blood can be drawn again. Once that blood is drawn again, we have to wait for the cultures to come back.
I attempted to clarify with infectious disease doctor, "So, they'll draw blood on Monday and if the cultures come back clean on Tuesday, we can make discharge plans then?" The response I got wasn't nearly as encouraging as I had hoped, "Wellllll, cultures can take 24, 48, 72 hourrrrrs." Further identification still needs to be made on the infection. And, the blood cultures need to be negative before they'll discuss discharge. Oh, and the best case scenario at this point is that once he's released, he'll be on IV anti-biotics for a couple of WEEKS yet.
P.S. Room #333 this time around.
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