When I first read staphylococcus, it sounded like it could be a dinosaur. If you are smarter than I was the first time I heard staphylococcus, you know that this word is in fact not a type of dinosaur, but is rather a bacteria. A bacteria that leads to staph infections.
For a while, and probably it is still a thing, people were OBSESSED with Dr. Pimple Popper and things of that nature. There was something… is something… satisfying about seeing a massive pimple, abscess, boil, infection… you name it- being drained. I can’t explain it if I tried, because I don’t understand it, but it’s a thing.
From March of 2023 to March of 2024, I lived in Southeast Asia. About 3 months into my time overseas, I got my first minor infection. It was no big deal. I cut my finger on something. I took care of it, and it healed. Month 5 I got my first staph infection. It appeared out of nowhere on my neck. It was in such a position that the doctor was worried about draining it because it looked awfully close to my carotid artery.
This is the first most people will hear about this detail. I didn’t want people back home to freak out- I knew that would be the reaction. The doctor did an ultra sound on my neck and decided it was safe to slice and dice that spot. It was near the artery, but not near enough to be an actual problem. I thought my adventure with staphylococcus was done. Been there. Done that. Got the scar. Had a procedure in a 3rd world country. Onto the next thing. That was my logic.
Month 7th my friend staphylococcus came back for another visit. This time far more intense. The doctor told me I probably had acne that got infected. He said I was an American pretending to be a local and my body wasn’t ready for all of these new germs.
It was on my chin and then began spreading downward. At some point, I would say it looked more like an abscess or a carbuncle because of how big it was. I couldn’t chew with my mouth clothes. I looked like a neanderthal. About half of the food I put in my mouth came right back out because of how swollen and infected it was.
I remember one point very vividly praying Lord, if this is your way of saying it’s time to go home, you could have just said time’s up, pack your bag, you’re going home. The illness just felt uncalled for as a way to send me home. My overthinking brain naturally went down the path of my infection was leading to sepsis. I naturally assumed that meant I would die. I would get back to America, somehow, my parents would bring me back to life just to kill me again for being an idiot and dying from staph, but I’m digressing.
I eventually went back to the doctor after 5 days. He agreed it wasn’t getting better. The infection was spreading down my throat towards my trachea. I had “surgery” that day. We crossed the hall to the procedure room. He injected some numbing medication into my chin, but before the medication even could begin to work, the procedure started.
It’s safe to say, that wasn’t the highlight of my time overseas. I had a massive gash on my chin. A massive bandage to cover it that was secured by several strips of some adhesive. I looked like something straight out of a horror movie. For the next several days, I had to go back to the hospital for a daily cleaning and new bandaging. I had to go in the afternoon because that’s when the hospital staff with the best English would be there. By the end of the ordeal though, there wasn’t much exchanging of words. The whole hospital knew who I was and why I was there. I knew what to do, and then I’d go on my way.
As the situation with my chin began to resolve itself and begin healing from all of the trauma it had endured, I began praying saying things like Lord, I can’t do another 5 more months if these next 5 months are going to look anything like the last 2 weeks. I can’t do it. There is no way. Mentally. Emotionally. Physically. If this is going to be my life, let me go back to America.
Unfortunately, or is it unfortunately, the last 5 months continued in a pattern of at least 1 other major infection and several minor ones. It was hard. I was sick of being sick. I was sick of the staph infections. I didn’t understand how I could never had one of these infections in my life and then suddenly every other week something new is popping up.
I was right though. I couldn’t handle the staph situation. Not in my own strength anyways. The Lord got me through it. He gave me the strength. He gave me the endurance. He gave me HIS Joy to run the race that was set before me in SE Asia. Those last 5 months were HARD, but they were also the best months. I saw the Lord work and move in ways I hadn’t in the months prior.
I’ve been back in the US a little over 26 months. This last week I encountered my first staph infection since being back… When the bump appeared, I knew, in the deepest part of me, what it was. I did all that I could to take care of it before it became the unthinkable.
It’s been exactly 8 days since the bump first appeared. I’ve had 2 urgent care visits, which naturally made me miss my doctors in SE Asia (which is wild to say, I know). I had a massive bump growing on my head. Eyes so swollen I had a hard time with my vision. If I was straight out of a horror movie when I had the chin issue, I don’t even what to think about what I looked like a few short days ago. I am currently on two oral antibiotics. I have an antibiotic ointment. And to top it all off, I was also given a round of steroids. I’m on the up and up now, but the last week was absolutely mentally and emotionally defeating. I guess it could also be said to be physically defeating as well.
As I am here doing the whole staph infection thing again, but in America this time, I can’t help but look back over those last 5 months in SE Asia and see just how good the Lord was and is to me. Staph infections suck here in the States where medical care is provided in a language I know. I have AC. I have a hot shower to take at the end of the day. Overseas… I only had the last two when I paid $30 a day to stay at one of the nicer hotels where I lived.
I survived my staphylococcus adventure overseas because of the Lord. It was His doing that I kept going even when I wasn’t sure I could. He provided the strength. He provided the healing. He provided the reminder about why I was there and that my time there was slowly running out. He used those infections to show me how to truly rely on Him for everything.
I was overseas and am returning overseas because the One who sustained me… The One who provided for me… The One who has always faithfully walked with me… There are thousands upon thousands of people who have never even heard His beautiful name. They haven’t heard it because people haven’t gone. If I have to encounter countless more run ins with staphylococcus for people to hear about the Lord, bring it on.
Some final thoughts to conclude this rambled compilation of thoughts… Staphylococcus is not a dinosaur. It’s a bacteria that is serious and can kill people. Praise the Lord I just have minor scars from my run ins with it. Everything we have in this world, it’s from the Lord. Everything we survive and make it through in this life is because of the Lord. There are thousands of people dying every day and entering an eternal destination that doesn’t include the Good Father. They don’t know cause people won’t go. While I’m not thrilled to have the current infection on my head, I am SO grateful for the sweet reminder the Lord has given to me through this less than pleasant experience. The Lord is so good even if staphylococcus is present. Nothing can change the goodness of the Lord.
Grief. Going. Healing. 
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