Bugjune wrote:
That initial point of infection then enabled the toxin to spread systemically, causing many of the symptoms I had assumed were due to Valtrex

So it wasn't a reaction to Valtrex, it isn't HSV-1...everything has changed!! It must be v disconcerting to find out your doc ph**ked up, and the volte-face of opinions. BUT this is a better diagnosis than HSV-1, cos it's a one-off. Ghastly, yes, but not something you'll worry about the recurrence of.

I will be v interested to hear what your derm says. He is the real expert.

I must've written that paragraph below in my mind 1,000 times. It's the God's truth. And I was looking back on my initial questions to this same PS from a year ago, when I asked him point-blank: 1.) Isn't the MixTo too aggressive for my fair, thin skin? and 2.) Why did you tell me Fraxel was not appropriate for my skin when in fact, it has the least "downtime" (3-4 days) of any of these facial resurfacing lasers? He just extolled the benefit of MixTo's technology: zapping every fifth cell, and the greater variability in settings to ensure a good outcome. In retrospect, it sounds like fitting a device to a patient, instead of understanding a patient's needs and applying the best device to that situation.

In my case, it wouldn't have mattered if MixTo zapped one out of every five cells (as claimed) or one out of every 5,000. The point is, it took only ONE nuked cell to act as a "doorway" for staph to get in. Yes, the other 4 out of 5 cells are not compromised, and they are there to help one recover faster, but that poor, obliterated fifth cell is the problem. Microscopic bacteria would easily get into the body through that opening, and so it did.

There's simply no way to prevent bacteria from being on the face after laser resurfacing. If you applied rubbing alcohol to the person's face, they'd probably die of shock and pain right there. After my MixTo, I was put in a chair in "recovery", slathered with Aquaphor, and cool, wet gauzes were placed on my face. Well, that could've introduced the staph right there: was the water sterilized? How about the hands of the person putting the gauzes on?

I'm going to take my GP's advice to heart and "NEVER get this procedure done again". I will maintain my new skin with lots of sun block and healthy treatment going forward.


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I Bug U

you may want to ask for a copy of the report. the report should include what infection was present, and a list of meds (antibiotics for staph) with either an "s" or an "r" out to the side to indicate which meds it is sensitive/suseptible to and resistant to (sensitive to which particular antibiotics, resistant to which particular antibiotics, since different antibiotics are used to treat different types of infections). maybe your doc looked at it and saw that it was sensitive to keflex and that you were already on that med so kept the treatment the same.

however, since you are still having symptoms it wouldn't hurt just to make sure that kefelx was one of the meds that would treat it. and it also wouldn't hurt to do a second culture to make sure that the infection is no longer present, and that if it is still present for some reason, what meds would treat it now (sometimes a treatment with a med that doesn't clear the infection can then make the infection resistant to that particular med and then requires another treatment with a different med).

only suggesting these as things you may want to consider because it sounds like you are now pretty far out from your procedure, and still having significant symptoms, and none of the docs have you on any meds to treat those symptoms, and you would probably like to put an end to all of the symtpoms and just be healed. since you have an appt tomorrow you could get a culture and know for sure what is going on and how to treat it. (helpful whether bacterial, viral, fungal, etc., for example, could still be staph requiring more anitbiotics, or the antibiotics could have created a yeast infection requiring an antifungal, or it could just be pimples and irritation from the procedure and rapid regrowth of skin cells which occlude the pores or from the occlusive topicals used as treatments after the procedure, or something else could be going on, just won't know for sure until it's tested in some way, and the correct thing is being treated with the correct meds, etc.)

again, not trying to worry you, just trying to mention things in case they may be of some help. good luck and feel better.

The link does not work for me.

I actually think someone has breached emails on MMH. I would change my email on there for anyone who uses them regularly.

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DCNGA has left the board and is no longer taking PMs.
She requests that if you wish to e-mail her to use her direct e-mail address which is: laserandiplsupport@gmail.com

Well Bug, I just looked at your latest pics and you do look like you are on the mend but oh what you've been through!!
I think it's great that you're moving on and at the same time your PS owes you big time.Like a free facelift 10 years from now!!!

I went to my primary care doctor a couple of years ago for a Baker's cyst on my finger.She gave me a shot of steroid in the finger and I noticed she rubbed it after and wasn't wearing gloves and didn't use alcohol.A couple of days later I got the most painful infection there.I was going out of down, got some antibiotics and ended up in throbbing agonizing pain for 24 hours until the meds kicked.My finger got so huge and I couldn't move it!
I was so pissed at her that I haven't seen her since, wrote her an angry letter and switched doctors.She of course called and said she had never seen this happen and apologized.Sorry...some things are unforgivable.It's call negligence.

Yes, Stache, that is a good thing: progress! I have been putting some cool compresses on my eyes the past day, and even dabbing a BIT of OTC cortisone on the red area (my GP said it might help reduce the redness, as that IS inflation), so the redness is coming down even more.

Watchthemoon: I'm glad you gave that doc the BOOT! There are some things that a professional simply can NOT afford to f-up: sterile procedures at the doc's office, in a restaurant kitchen, in operating rooms ... these are the basics. Shame on her for not following those basics and then acting like this was some kind of RARE event! Gross.

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I Bug U

^^^^

yes - might be stressful and have been horible to go through but you will look great..

sorry, didn't realize you were still on the keflex. thought you'd finished it and were still having symptoms. also, i wasn't suggesting that the staph you're dealing with isn't treatable with antibiotics, just that specific types of staph require specific types of antibiotics, that's all. and since i thought i'd read that you'd finished the kelflex and were still having issues, it was possible that a different antibiotic might be helpful, or a longer course of the same. sorry for the confusion. hope you're feeling better!

You can put the link to the photos in your signature if you want.

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Can hardly walk. Need hip replacement.

Ye gads!!!! That sounds horrific to be in the burn ward - and those poor, suffering people. I can not fathom how they deal with the pain of raw skin. My uncle spent many MONTHS in a burn ward after he was blown up at the gas pump when houseboating. It's a wonder he survived. Someone was smoking at the gas pump, he yelled out, and ... too late! Ka-BOOM.

It's a coincidence that I had groused to my MixTo doc that he basically sent me back to the hotel with a controlled, 2nd degree burn - something other folks recover from in a hospital! And the GP doc said exactly the same thing to me yesterday.

When I told him my MixTo doc taught seminars on the MixTo device, the GP just guffawed and asked, "Where?" At seminars. "Not at teaching hospitals, I take it." Yeah, that says it all. It's a lot of marketing hype and not enough sound medical practice behind this.

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I Bug U