What Do I Do, I Got Mrsa From A Spa?!?!?
Posted by: Alan in Rheumatoid Arthritis Drugs, tags: From, Mrsa, What
I went to a spa on May 24th (Trillium Spa, Water Park of America). I got a deep tissue massage and even bought the oil used, because it smelled so good. After the massage, I took a shower to get the oils off of me. Three days later, I start getting infections all over my back. I thought it was an allergic reaction to the oil, however I have no allergies. At this point I had about 10+ all over my back where my massage was. They were painful, itchy, hot, and sore. I went to urgent care, after the the Benadryl and Allergy Creams weren’t working, and he said it did not look like an allergy. He cut one open and got a culture of it, taking 2 days get results. He put me on an antibiotic in the meantime. In that meantime, it got WAY worse. I had a fever, shortness of breath, irritable sleep, and there were 20+ sores all over my back. Some huge, some oozing of puss, some bright red, some scarred over. I cannot sit, stand, walk, move any part of my body without it hurting so painfully. I feel like my back is on fire. I get a call then with the results saying I have MRSA. The one person I live with got tested and does not have it (he also came w/ me and got a massage, w/ another massage therapist though). The doctor said to look into the spa and speak with the manager because the representative there is most likely not practicing good hygiene. I was diagnosed w/ Rheumatoid Arthritis at 10 years old, so I have a weakened immune system. My doctor said that the woman who gave me the massage was most likely carrying the bacteria, didn’t wash her hands before my massage, and it got transmitted to me, and because of my weak immune system, I broke out. The spa is closed and I left a message, the manager will be there tomorrow. This MRSA has caused me to take 3 days off work, endless hours of pain and restless sleep, lots of spending in creams/antibiotics/drugs, and I keep getting told to take some sort of legal action by friends and family as this is a severe matter (especially considering my weakened condition). Any thoughts, advice, anything would be oh so helpful. I feel so helpless and horrible inside and out. Thanks so much!
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December 14th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
That is definitely grounds for a lawsuit. Follow the advice of your friends and family and sue! Not only to get some compensation for your medical expenses and pain, but also to protect others from suffering. The facility is responsible for ensuring a sanitary environment and is responsible to make sure it’s employees are washing their hands and keeping equipment free from infectious bacteria. Keep all receipts pertaining to this and keep a record of time you miss from work, you will need them for court. I feel for you, I have seen MRSA cases, and they do indeed look painful. My heart goes out to you.
December 14th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Very very bad luck,MRSA usually lives in hospitals it loves the intensive care unit.It is very hard to catch it outside of a hospital even if you have rheumatoid arthritis.
December 14th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
The doctor probably gave you the antibiotics you need. There are several oral antibiotics that may cure it. If it doesn’t you may need IV antibiotics. Without more information, I don’t really understand why you cannot take your arthritis medicine. If you are on COX2 inhibitor or a medicine with acetominaphin you may be afraid of liver toxicity depending on the antibiotic. Won’t your doctor work with you to find another that may offer some level of relief? If you have one that metabolizes through the kidneys and another through the liver, you should be OK.