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!
I also am unable to take my arthritis medication now because of the infection. So I am unable to walk (it's in my foot and knees), and have a painful back.
Ever since I was diagnosed, my rheumatologist has told me that if I ever am sick or have an infection, I need to use what little strength my immune system has in fighting off the current illness/infection, and my arthritis medication suppresses everything. It helps my arthritis, it works miracles. I am on Enbrel and Methotrexate. I just cannot be on it while fighting off an infection, because I need my immune system to take care of this first.