P.S. the Dr. Howard at the end of the last post was one of my attending ..didn"t mean to use her name..Jung419
My lungs are clear on xray and when listened to--no chest pain, increased heart rate, chills, or breathlessness unless coughing spell that lasts some time (seldom). The issue is that a "normal bronchial" infection for me hasn't occurred in six years..have had two pneumonia vaccines..five years apart, the culture is what showed (now I know) mrsa..Pulmonary doc thinks I was colonized some time ago(had Staph Epidermis..gram neg) with hip refraction and spacer, vanco etc. in 2008--hip replacement. Will be seeing infectious disease doc on friday for consult regarding whether or not to involve hip surgeon again and what to do there. Pulmon doc said he might not even tret mrsa as he thinks (pcp also) culture is from colonization, not from "coming down with mrsa in the bronchi" if that makes sense. I have no symptoms as he said. So I was only imagining the worst before I knew the culture results. Now I await instructions as to how to proceed. It doesn't seem, if i stay with my health routine, that vanco will be necessary..ie, it is not systemic.. I don't have a raging infection with the fever, chills, etc. Believe me, if I did I would be stat in hosp. by him. So by friday I hope to have another culture..I suspect I gave a nasal early morning back of the nose drain mucus along with several coughing sputum ssmples and they chose the darkest..from the nose. Make sense? That's where mrsa lies. I feel enormously better..little hacking cough now or uncontrolled coughing. (Iwas in hosp for edema, fluid overload imbalance and COPD exacerbation. All docs are attending to the fluid issue as well as the breathing..strict restrictive fluid and sodium, plus daily weigh-in..I am definitely responding and have worked two full days. Many thanks for you atttending to this. Dr. Diane Howard
Hi!
Symptoms of MRSA, other bacterial, viral, fungal lung infection are almost same—fever, cough with sputum, chest pain, breathlessness, increased heart rate, chills etc. So symptom wise it is difficult to say. If you have a cough then the sputum can be cultured. Bronchial lavage can be performed. Also since your doctor diagnosed thrush in throat, maybe you have thrush or fungal infection in lung. Your health condition is quite serious, and it would be best to discuss with your treating doctor, and since you are not getting much relief from your puffs, yes an immediate medical help. So if going to emergency is the option, then please exercise it. Keep your treating doctor informed.
Take care!