Necrotizing Fasciitis: Langley Mechanic Fighting Flesh Eating Disease



[ad_1]





Rob Erke, his wife Eilish and his son Bronson hope to raise awareness about the disease


Photo submitted – Eilish Erke / PNG

When the shoulder of Rob Erke began to make three weeks ago,

While the pain worsened, a friend advised him to see a doctor, and he returned from the visit with a prescription for painkillers. A few days later, his shoulder began to swell and the skin became purple, so he returned and received another prescription.

Erke's excruciating pain was finally explained when his wife called an ambulance on July 7th. at Langley Memorial Hospital, diagnosed with a flesh-eating disease

A week later, the mechanic stays in the hospital to fight for his life, a gaping wound covering the top of his left shoulder .

"I do not get to understand," said his wife Eilish. "He's never really been sick before."

The Erke family is hoping that "I'm not sure." by telling his story, others will learn to recognize the symptoms of necrotizing fasciitis and seek immediate medical attention. "

Langley, he may not have done so," says Eilish.

Erke was taken to a surgery where the doctors cut off the dead tissue on his shoulder. A second operation followed the next day. But the invasive streptococcus A bacterial infection had already spread in his blood


Rob Erke fights a flesh-eating disease that started in his shoulder.

Submitted photo – Eilish Erke /

PNG

"The next three or four days will tell if he does," said David Chan, a family friend. "They must control this infection."

Chan started a GoFundMe page for the family.

"The last thing Rob told me was to take care of his son," he said. The couple's 16 year old son, Bronson, is suffering from epilepsy and has taken his father's illness to the end.

After defeating sepsis, Erke will have to spend at least four to six weeks with intravenous antibiotics. He will need plastic surgery and skin grafts to close the deep wound on his shoulder. It is unlikely that he can do manual work in the future.

"I panic a bit when I think of everything," says Eilish.

There were 28 cases of necrotizing fasciitis in BC. in 2017, which accounted for about 7% of the 406 invasive streptococcal infections recorded last year, said Monika Naus, medical director of communicable diseases at the BC Center for Disease Control

Strep A, which also causes strep throat, is contagious by person-to-person contact, but it rarely makes its way into the blood, cerebrospinal fluid or tissues. In the last 15 years in British Columbia, there have been fewer than 10 cases where a person has contracted the invasive form of infection through close contact.

Necrotizing fasciitis sometimes occurs when the skin is perforated or bruised. "Sometimes it can be a very slight injury," said Naus.

In the case of Erke, the family does not remember any injuries to the shoulder. But the pain worsened more and more and a little lump began to swell and turn red and purple. He was accompanied by a high fever.

"He complained that it hurt, we had no idea that it could lead to that," said his wife. "I just want to tell people not to ignore the signs."

[email protected]

twitter.com/glendaluymes

[ad_2]
Source link