Been in UK for a while as my sister was taken to hospital with pnuemonia for the second time since new yrs eve. She has rhumatoid arthritis & had a hip replacement neraly 2yrs ago but they had to take it out & while she was recovering got a grade 3 pressure sore which dr is waiting for to heal to try another hip. The sore had gotten quite small & I suggested the honey dressings(actually pesterd them, well you know what I`m like ), doc said they read up on them & on the Tuesday prescribed them :) Also on that same day they moved sis to isolation saying it was infected, found out on Thursday infected with MRSA & still no sign of honey dressings! I was really angry & upset so made complaint, boy what a change on Friday!!!! Her room was scrubbed out, everyone has to weare gloves & gowns, all nurses issued with personal anti bacterial sprays for hands etc carried on the waist, honey dressings arrived sis with hair combed even !! :)
So thats what I`ve been up to :)
Got no chance of catching up on posts, just toooooo many of em :D Hope you`ve all been good while I was away.......... :D

Christine, Spain

Welcome back, Christine!
:)

welcome back christine.
hope sis is better soon.
Linda :-)

welcome back. Wondered where you had gone. Sorry about your sister hope she is better soon
Hope you enjoyed the great British weather
Jean

welcome back

hi christine, wondered where you were! hope your sister makes a good recovery, take care, x

Welcome back Christine and hope your sister is getting better !! After my CS I signed myself out for many reasons but one of them was because of the state of the ward I was in. It was disgustingly filthy and even my house compared to it was like a palace !! :)

Lucy
xx

Welcome back Christine :)

Nice to have you back Christine, we've saved you a seat :)

Welcome back Christine,

Sorry to hear about your sister. I do hope she recovers soon.

Hope you are not too stressed out yourself.

Take care Pam.

PS (Soap is the only thing to control MRSA).

Thanks Guys :D
At the mo sis is lot better in spirit than she was, will take a while before things are sorted tho cos there are a few things wrong but think we can get her to stage where she is happy & comfy even tho terribly disabled :) I`ll be going back regularly as she only has 1 daughter in UK & she needs help coping & my mums not in the best of health & quite old as well. She has eldest daughter from Australia there now & her youngest arrived yesterday from NZ with 2 g/daughters so thats cheered her up no end :)

She`s on antibiotics for the mrsa Pam. Haven`t done a google on it yet as I`m bit brain dead right now but only know a bit about it
I do know that the wound was sterile when she went in tho but they didn`t start treat her for it till last Sat/Sun? can`t remember which now.
She had diff dr`s treating her & none of them seemed to know what was going on & just said ok I`ll check up on things. Funny they only put hygeine controls on after I complained tho! I`ve just put complaints in writing to send the hospital cos there are a few more that her daughter had spoke to them about but got no where with. Anyays things have defo improved since :)

Think I could be a touch stressed....so am going to raid the dogs vits/supps :D :D

Christine, Spain.

Fingers crossed Christine she gets on top of it.

Not wanting to dominate the thread but so you know,

I have had quite a bit of experience with MRSA and the Hospitals as my father was in hospital and contracted it.

It is either wound isolated or the person is a carrier.  ( wound isolated basically means they caught it in the hospital)

I stayed out of a nursing/MRSA thread on here a while back but for 1 year I saw incredible poor care, management of our hospitals. Not 1 or 2 but 3 of Scotland's total vascular hospitals.  Which sadly is where MRSA is at it's worst.

He was in no position to fight it really with diabetes and an opened wound after a part amputation to the the calf. Due to the wound isolated MRSA they had to removed another part of his leg to the thigh.  The place he was in was " stinking" I make no quams about it.   public toliets are kept cleaner.

Hibiscrub and soap are what controls, it and is the only sussessful prevention.

My father had to sadly have his second leg amputated just recently.  I kid you not when I say I lived with him at the hospital. Scrubbing him daily with hibiscrub with a nail brush at times.  We even brought his food in.

I had heard things had deteriorated badly in our hospitals but could not believe it. I could write a book.  Do you know that is some cases  they actually do not tell people when they have it unless they have to.  That is inteligent thinking when preventing the spread is paramount.  We found out because my dad heard one nurse whispering to another " he has MRSA" at shift change, My father heard this and kept it to himself. He blurted it out in tears one day to me as he thought it was the flesh eating bug.  ( it isn't of course) but they put him through hell. If I held a gun that day I swear I would have used it. 

Sorry to go on, I try not to talk about it as I can't stop when I get started.

If you ever need or want to ask anything and you think I can help please mail me.

Hugs Pam

Welcome back stranger :)
Hope shes ok :)

Hope your sister will be feeling better soon and not spoiling the grandchildren too much :)

Welcome back I was begining to think you had run off with the builders ;)
Karen

LOL@ Karen :D unfortunatley the only thing the gang here now have is brawn Now the gang before them......I`ll just leave it to your imagination :D :D

Christine, Spain.

Ahh but Christine you disappeared when "the other gang was here" not this present gang. :)

Glad your sister is feeling a bit better too :)

Karen 

Shhhhhhh Karen, was hopin noone would have sussed that out!! ;) Should have known you lot are too clever :D :D

Christine, Spain.

Hi Pam, thanks for telling us about your dad, must be hard for you, yes it`s her wound thats got infected with it. We only found out by accident too, 2dys after being put in a room by herself I was going to take her to the cafe in a wheelchair & one of the carers said she wasn`t allowed out & when I asked why said she has MRSA & I should speak to the nurse! Which of course I did only to be told she only had it a little bit I realised she was fudging my questions so asked is my sister infected with it, does she have it & where does she have & it was only then she said yes her wound is infected with it!!!!! I was shocked & now they are saying the nurse had an in depth conversation with us explaing all about, which they didn`t, cos I was there. The only thing they told us was her wound had an infection & they were putting her in a room on her own. I was like you Pam & while I was over there was at the hossy from early morn till around 8pm. The hygiene or rather lack of it was abominal!!! She needs a pureed diet cos she now has a swallow prob,(xrays taken more than a wk ago while I was there but up to last night still no Drs been to let us know whats going on???) they sent things like turkey burgers, steak pie, told us it was difficult to do???? I must say tho that thimngs got a lot better when we complained thru the PAL scheme, they set up a meeting with us & the ward sister the same day but we also going to put it in writing & send it in as well.
I`m really sorry to hear about your dad Pam, bad enough when someones so pooorly but then when they have to put up with shoddy care as well.....it`s heartbreaking. Hope things well for him :)
Have you done some googling on the active manuka honey, they are using it in UK hossies now with great success but you`ve got to push for it, I`ve got a lot of faith in it :)

Christine, Spain.

Hi Christine,

I will need to look into this manuka honey as not heard of it. I thinK I remember Kath talking about it but I never actually looked into it at the time.

I am sorry to hear of your sisters treatment and am glad to hear it has improved. There is alot to be said about the good old sisters of the wards. 

My dad has done better than we ever expected, He is now coping although it must be hard. there was a long period we thought he would never come home as he was so out of it, his 2nd foot ( one that was just taken off) was left so long it poisioned his whole body and he became so ill they could not operate on him.  He was a MD of a large CO. until a couple years back and now both legs gone.
Anyway he is still with us and that is all that matters to me, we cope in the most testing of times.

I will keep you and your family in my thoughts.   I am sure with your positive attitude you will help her no end.

Hugs Pam

Hi Pam, I`ve put a link for you to have a look :) used to have one about the trials done in UK hospitals but can`t find it now, sorry. In the hossy sis is in they told me it is being used on the mastectomy ward & the diabetes ulcers ward, but it`s expensive.
[link[http://honey.bio.waikato.ac.nz/special.shtml[/link]

It`s very hard for all of us when things like this happen, sis is 65 & has had R.A since she was 40, she weighs 5st 6lb now & is so deformed you can hardly believe it. The dr took her hip sockets out cos the new ones just kept dislocating so she needs to be lifted for everything. Thats why it`s so maddening about the sore getting infected. Shes been waiting all this time for it to heal so the surgeon could do another hip op & the op was scheduled for May but now with infection & also its got bigger again it`ll be put off again!!!!
Anyway what were doing now is trying to get her back fit enough to be able to go in a modified flat(she`ll not be able to go home again sadly, her house is unsuitable) & get her back some level of independence :)
Thanks for the kind thoughts Pam, strong thoughts for you & family :)

Christine, Spain.

Welcome back Christine, I was wondering where you'd gone to, it's nice to have you back again. :)

So sorry your sister's having such problems.  I agree about the hospitals, I've seen some disgustingly dirty wards. You already know my Dad's saga, his infection was MRSA. He's still taking the Manuka Honey you recommended and despite having pressure sores and complications with his cancer op wound they haven't become infected. I'm sure the honey in his system has helped with that.  Hopefully your sister will benefit from the honey dressings. :)

Kath. xx

Hi Christine, keep taking the dogs tablets & that Gingko Biloba or Echineacea or whatever it is that keeps you bright eyed and bushy tailed under [pressure :) If only more people complained about dirty hospital conditions maybe theyd improve. Glad your sister is a bit better. BTW hows your chick? Must be about Sunday Roast size now :D

Thanks Lorelei :) Think your right & maybe more peole should complain, thing was tho I can be bit fiery at times but I just couldn`t keep quiet any longer, wasn`t going to have them treat me like a fool & my sis suffering more than she should have to.

Ohhh the poor chick, we went in one morning about 4/5wks after born & was just gone!!!! He was with mum hen & she was looking everywhere but no sign of him, nothing. They were in the shed but in a metal dog cage I have with small holes so don`t think he could get out or anything get in but we just don`t know??

Christine, Spain.

Poor little Tapas. Hope hes gone to the Chicken Run in the Sky where the grain dish is ever full and the henhouse snug.

LOL@ Lorelei

You? Bit fiery at times? I can't believe that C! ;)

Gad you're back, J

Took meself by surprise as well J  ;) :D

Christine, Spain.

Glad to hear your dads still taking it Kath, I`ve also got my sis taking it internally daily, as well as a load of other things :D Just figured that she`s had this sore for so long that she`s got nothing to lose by trying something else ;) Must say tho they changed her dressings over pretty sharpish when I suggested(or nagged???) it, so must be something good in it :)

Christine, Spain.

At the very least the honey's like a healthy nourishing food isn't it? :) My Dad has been taking all these medicines with their side effects for so long he was actually frightened of taking it at first and couldn't cope with anything else adding to his complicated dosing schedule! :(   I just said to him Dad, think of it as food and have a bit on some bread whenever you fancy some, so that's what he does.

As for meals in hopsital.....dreadful!!  When he had the heart op we had to take food in as he couldn't swallow properly either, they just didn't have anything suitable and he was already wasting away. After the stomach cancer op. (different hospital)  he was on fluids nearly a week then for his first meal they gave him a thick ham sandwich! :(  When we complained the nurse said that was perfectly OK, despite the fact he couldn't (and daren't) eat it.

We did suggest putting the honey on his pressure sores when he got home (the nurses would have got shot by matron for those in the old days) but the district nurses "weren't allowed" to put it on. I wish we'd sneaked it on anyway, mind you the district nurses have been brilliant so we wouldn't want to get them into trouble! I didn't realise they use it in hospitals (when nagged ;) :D )

Kath.

Hi Kath, thats the same with my sis,been on steroids & a/bs & dozen other drugs for nearly 25yrs. Steroids have caused osteoporosis & damage to intestines as well! This is the first time she`s agreed to take any alternative stuff. The hossy won`t allow any food to be reheated there at all. Yes Kath, the dressings are used in hospitals, trials & research have been done on them & I think you can also buy them yourself. In fact that`s what I told them I wanted to do, I would buy them as long as they would use them. The honey needs to be iradiated? first to make it sterile as ordinary honey may contain botulism? Something along those lines anyway :) If the sores taking a long time to heal it`s worth mentioning the honey dressings to them, might be worth a try, nothing to lose eh? :)

Christine, Spain.

Kath.

Your dad is still in my prayers also.  he is a touch cookie which is a big help.

Hugs Pam

Thanks Pam,
Your Dad is still in my prayers too. :)  Our Dad's have both been through such a lot but they're still with us, I'm so thankful for that. :)

Kath xx

welcome back christine :)
Heidi

Hello,

Can I ask something here is Manuka honey something you can "store" in your body; I ask because my Mom who is 76 is going in hospital for new knees and I will be in for approx 3 weeks. Will it be worth getting he to take the honey before she goes in?

She is not in the best of health; had had double mascectomy, rhumetisim, (which I can't spell :) ) and hiatus hernia plus of course cataracts. In fast she may well be falling to pieces.

Karen

Wondered where you were,  looks like I'm going to be at Antonio's in 2 weeks.  I was nearly going to go to Gibraltar airport, but it's a long story!!

So pm me & tell me all about it Diane :D You have to pass San Roque to get to Antonios, shall I put the kettle on & have the biccies at the ready then????.....or should that be sangria & tapas ;) :D :D

Christine, Spain.

Hi Karen, good question but I don`t really know :D It`s recommended to be taken regularly so I`d take it that it isn`t, I`ve got sis & my mum taking it daily. Its a good immune booster & antibacterial & also acts on internal ulcers so like Kath says got to do some good :D It comes in different strengths, highest being 16 (I think) but I could only get 10 when I was in UK but you can get more info from the link below :)
http://www.manukahoney.co.uk/

Christine, Spain.

I got mine from the link you gave Christine, they do a 10 and a 16. I got the 16 ( yes, that is the highest. :) )  The highest one in our local health shop was 5 so we used that till the 16 arrived.

Kath.

Hi Heidi & thanks :) Long time no see where & what have you been up to??? :D

Christine, Spain.

Welcome back christine hope you are ok.

Hi Christine welcome back. I am glad your sister is slowly recovering and even gladder you were around at the right time for her. Hospitals do seem to be less careful nowadays. My dad got an infection when he was in for a hip replacement last new years (slipped in the bath) (had to have 4 ops in 6 weeks as it kept going wrong). He was in traction and somehow his hip still managed to dislocate! He then got the infection on the injection site. They forgot to write to him for his physiotherapy and when he asked about it they said they were sorry they had forgotten but it was now too late and he would have to carry on walking stiffly. I wish I had known at the time about this but of course he only told me when it was too late.

Will PM you over weekend.

Gina xxxxxxxx