The mother-in-law of two babies with a life-threatening skin infection was told by her doctor to ‘toughen up’ after she underwent abdominal cramps and liposuction for her 28th birthday.
Jamie Hilburn, now 39 and from Edmond, Oklahoma, said she received the surgery—which removes fat and excess skin—as a gift to herself to help boost her confidence.
But several days after the procedure, the skin on her left side became painful to the touch and turned red like a sun. The barber called his doctor – who hasn’t been named, yet was told to ‘harden up’ and that was part of the recovery.
When the pain intensified – even after going to the hospital to get medicine – her grandmother called the surgeon and said: ‘Listen friend, this is not a “hard recovery”. Something is wrong. He is in a lot of pain.’
He was then referred to another hospital where they diagnosed MRSA and kept him in the ward for ten days. Hilburn – who was forced to file for bankruptcy from the experience – still has a scar on her left side from treatment.
MRSA is a potentially life-threatening infection, as the bacteria are resistant to many types of antibiotics. According to estimates, more than half of patients die, and 20,000 Americans are killed annually by these super-resistant bacteria.
Jamie Hilburn, now 39 years old and from Edmond, Oklahoma, was left to spend ten days in the hospital after contracting MRSA following liposuction and a tummy tuck. She is pictured above while undergoing treatment for the infection.
Revealing the experience 11 years later, Hilburn says she still has a scar on her left side. She’s pictured above with her fiancé and daughter, 7, after an exam she had
Describing his experience to The Insider, Hilburn said: ‘It’s just something you’d never have thought of in a million years on a silly, pointless process.’
She said: ‘I wanted to have surgery for obvious reasons – for appearance, for insecurity, but I don’t care anymore.
‘It has made me fall in love without needing anything else.’
After calling the doctor for the first time, Hilburn revealed that she spent the night lying on the arm of her couch pressing on the red skin because that was the only way to relieve the pain.
The next day she went to a nearby hospital where she was diagnosed with cellulitis, a common bacterial infection.
Hilburn says they gave her pain relievers and sleeping medication, not antibiotics that can kill bacteria, before discharging her.
Once the pain intensified and after another call to the doctor, he was referred to a major hospital in the state for treatment.
There tests quickly revealed an MRSA infection, triggered by a staphylococcus bacteria capable of resisting many known antibiotics.
Fortunately, one of the hospital’s ‘last chance’ antibiotics was able to kill the bacteria and clear up the infection.
Hospitals have stockpiles of these antibiotics – not available elsewhere – that are only given to patients when other commonly used antibiotics have failed. They are held back in order to maintain their potency, because if the drug is used too often the bacteria can learn how to get to it.
After 10 days in the hospital, Hilburn then spent another month in home care, where she was attached to an IV and had a drainage bag.
It was unclear how he caught the infection, but the Mayo Clinic says it is possible to become infected during surgery if medics are not strict about washing their hands and cleaning equipment between patients.
Hilburn said her plastic surgeon backed out the procedure and covered her home care after she was diagnosed with MRSA.
But that didn’t cover hospital bills totaling $125,000, forcing her to file for bankruptcy. Her insurance also refused to cover them as the journey started with a cosmetic procedure.
She was the single mother of her son at the time, which she said helped him ‘make it through experience’.
But she has since become engaged, and has a daughter—now seven years old—and returned to school to study psychology.
Jamie Hilburn got himself a tummy tuck and liposuction as a gift for his 28th birthday. But when she suffered a skin infection – eventually diagnosed as MRSA – she was initially told by her doctor to undergo a ‘hardening’
Liposuction is a surgical procedure that removes fat from areas of the body – such as the hips, buttocks, arms or neck – whereas a tummy tuck removes excess fat and skin from the abdomen to ‘shape’ the area.
Both carry risks including skin infections, scarring, fluid accumulating under areas of the skin, and loss of feeling in certain areas.
In rare cases, MRSA infection can occur after procedures.
About 120,000 cases of the disease are diagnosed in the United States each year, with 20,000 or more deaths, estimates suggest – with numbers rising.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that anyone who becomes infected has their skin red, swollen and sore and also hot to the touch.
They recommend that anyone with these symptoms contact their doctor quickly to receive medical treatment.
Bacterial infections can be prevented by cleaning wounds, not cutting wounds, and regularly cleaning hands – including after touching a bandage or wound.
(This story has not been edited by seemayo staff and is published from a rss feed)