The Sharing of a Life's Lesson.....

What part do I play......?

I did not fall off the face of the earth, have had a few things happen and spent time in lots of thought.... Many things to think about and
what direction(s) to examine as to where to go next and how I wished to handle things.... I Had much time to think on this as well as many other things this last two weeks as I sat in a semi-isolation room in a hospital.

Spirituality, Mortality, Family, Accomplishments, Failures, Plans and I can say personally, the list goes on. You begin to examine every
nook and cranny of your life when the percentage of the game of life hands you not just a stacked deck but a split one as well... But, with my knowledge and constant re-learning of Jediism and the Force within my beliefs as a Christian Jedi, helped me to keep it together... I am a firm believer that no matter how much you learn, we continue to learn more each and every day.....

Break down of the last weeks events for me....

Sunday, May 28th, Doing my chores in the kennels, I get stung by a bee. Now I am not allergic to Bees but am sensitive to bug bites.... (a little extra swelling and itching) but the bee took a unplanned flight as I flicked it off my arm just as it was stinging me....

Well, after Kennel chores I came in, washed it, cleaned the area, put neo-sporin on it and a band-aid, a few hours later when the stinger festered out, did the whole clean up bit again and went to bed....

Morning came and my arm looked as if someone had planted and full size orange under my skin that was now dark red and hot!!!

Tried to deal with it and get some personal things organized, had a feeling went I went to the emergence room I would be there for a
while...

Tuesday morning I finished getting things sort of ready, arm was now twice the size from the previous day and it had started draining. I already had the thought that it was a Staph infection, good chance it was MRSA.... (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) but as a Retired Nurse, I would leave the diagnosis to the Doctors.

Not even in the Triage area for more than 5 minutes as the Doctor just stepped into introduce himself and tat he would be taking care of me in the ER, told me right off the bat, it was definitely a Staph infection, tests would answer if it were MRSA and I was going to be
admitted to the Hospital....

Well, I arrived at the Hospital that I was transferred to at 2:30 a.m. after getting settled in, sleep was not on the schedule. In the
morning I met the Doctor that was to be my Doctor there and then the infectious Disease Doctor, then C-T scan and the next day an MRI.

In the mean time High dose antibiotics were started. And the results came in, MRSA but a low count at +1, not the +4 that is usually seen.

I was Lucky in that part.

So as painful as it was, pain I do not wish to have again, the nurses kept trying to drain it but it wasn't enough and Saturday morning, the 2nd of June, I had to have surgery to drain it and I now have a hole in my arm that will take weeks to heal. But the bright side, I didn't loose my arm, it stopped trying to travel to my chest and lungs, etc.... I had someone(s) watching over me and I can say I am blessed to have been lucky enough for the antibiotics to go to work immediately. I remember patients I took care of with this disease and spent weeks in the hospital. 5 days is a blessing. Even my doctors were happy with my response to the medicines etc.....

So, even if I was a nurse that is now retired and still wash my hands like crazy out of habit, here's a little lesson for all.

Some Bacteria, even Staph that lives on our body without being sick constantly, can one day, out of the blue cause something to happen.

There are things in this universe that no mater what we do, can out do us. Never take anything for granted in your life. No matter how
small a detail it may be. Be grateful that we have Clinicians out there that are always looking to help or create medicines to help heal.

Then again, be humble and grateful for whom watch over us. There is so many unknown things that play a part in our lives that you may
ask yourself at times, What part do I play in this universe? I've learned, just as much as the rest but not afraid to say humbly, that it is much bigger than I.....

Wonderful words indeed. The phrase \"live each day as if it were your last\" comes to mind...one I wish I payed mre attention to each day. Thank you for sharing this with us and MTFBWY

As a still active Geriatric nurse you`ve certainly given me something to think about. We just had a \"known\" MRSA case at our place. This certainly made me think about the safety of my family especially my child. As you said there is nothing you can really do about it. There is nothing you can do except to be careful, hope and take each day as it comes. I do pray however at the end of the day, that I have done my bit and the Force does the rest.
It is also interesting that you mentioned your spiritual experience during your hospital stay. These seem to be two things which go hand in hand. Many mystics in history have gone through this. The first one who comes to mind is St. Francis of Assisi.