MRSA/staph infection?

I took Keira to the doctor today for a small bump on her bottom (in what Aunt Jenny calls the Booty-us Crackimus...this is the medical term, of course) that has turned into a very ugly boil of some sort. The doctor took a culture and is having it tested to see if it's a staph infection, and particularly if it's one of the antibiotic-resistant forms of staph. Since Greg gets the same things on his head and neck sometimes, it seems pretty likely that he and Keira, and possibly I, carry the germ...which, apparently, at least a third of people do...and that it infects regular insect bites, scratches, etc. when it gets the chance. For now, she's on an antibiotic that's commonly used for both types of staph infections, and we're using warm compresses to see if we can bring it down within the next couple of days.

The bad news is that if it gets worse, it will have to be lanced and drained. (Just typing that makes me wince.) Staph infections, as the media frenzy about them might have already informed you, can be highly dangerous, so we're hoping it will go away on its own and that we won't even have to think about anything beyond that. Please send "Die staph, die!!" vibes our way, and we'll let everyone know what's going on once the culture comes back and we know for sure whether that's what it is.

Keira's a trooper and if you ask her where her owie is, she points to her skinned knees from falling at Grandma's yesterday...but she is uncomfortable and will occasionally say, "Butt?" in a whiny voice, and is wary of all diaper changes right now. Poor girl!

I think I'm going to hook up a giant bottle of antibacterial soap to a garden hose and spray our entire apartment with it now.