# A friend's little girl died **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 12, 2007, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friends-little-girl-died/422504 "2007-10-12T19:57:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friends-little-girl-died/422504/41 "2007-10-17T16:28:41Z")
[QUOTE=MsWhatsit] MRSA bacterial pneumonia nearly killed my oldest son when he was 1 month old. We were at Children’s Hospital in Seattle for three weeks while he recovered. (It was during the SDMB’s Winter of Missed Content, and boy, did I feel the loss of the boards then.) [/QUOTE] Oh gosh. I hope he is thriving these days?? Apparently MRSA killed 35,000 in 2006, according to one of our members who was reading up on it. C said ~1/3 of people carry it but it has to hit you when you’re susceptible to really do damage. They still don’t know why Katie was so susceptible. ETA: Oh, and she talked more about how great everyone was at the hospital, doctors, staff, non-medical staff. Word spread about “The Fighter” and everyone was pulling for them, even the cafeteria lady in another building!! Some of the docs and nurses will be travelling up for the service on Saturday. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friends-little-girl-died/422504/42 "2007-10-17T17:08:01Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] Oh gosh. I hope he is thriving these days?? Apparently MRSA killed 35,000 in 2006, according to one of our members who was reading up on it. C said ~1/3 of people carry it but it has to hit you when you’re susceptible to really do damage. They still don’t know why Katie was so susceptible. [/QUOTE] Yeah, he was hit by RSV first, and then the MRSA opportunistically jumped in and caused even more damage. I am happy to report that Whatsit Jr. is a very healthy and happy 5-year-old today. He has very mild asthma (so mild we usually don’t even have to medicate for it) that may or may not be related to his illness, but it doesn’t cause him any major problems. [Here he is with his new baby brother.](http://www.12pointfont.com/gallery/2007july-dec/119_1994_IMG) ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friends-little-girl-died/422504/43 "2007-10-17T18:18:40Z")
They’re both so cute! That baby looks like he should be called Chuckles 🙂 like he might be plotting something ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friends-little-girl-died/422504/44 "2007-10-17T18:38:15Z")
The morning new shows were positively abuzz regarding the super-resistant bug. It’s a huge problem. Some kid died from it and they’re closing the school for a while to disinfect. While you can catch it pretty much anywhere, I’d certainly think twice before going into a hospital if it wasn’t necessary. Question for a Doctor: I took my share of antibiotics when I was young (chronic tonsillitis), but have taken them rather sparingly as an adult (maybe once every 5 years). Are my chances better than someone who takes antibiotics for every little illness? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friends-little-girl-died/422504/45 "2007-10-17T19:02:57Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] The morning new shows were positively abuzz regarding the super-resistant bug. It’s a huge problem. Some kid died from it and they’re closing the school for a while to disinfect. [/QUOTE] [This 17-year-old?](http://www.roanoke.com/news/breaking/wb/136067) This is the story I heard about when we discussing the issue. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friends-little-girl-died/422504/46 "2007-10-17T21:08:54Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] She seemed like herself but of course with a numbness and quietness to her. I figure she is holding it together since her family is coming to town and they are burying Katie on Saturday. [/QUOTE] She probably is trying to be strong in front of people, but may be a wreck in private. I saw a woman like this recently. She seemed calm and collected as she faced the funeral of an adult son, but she had also had two other adult children die within the last thirteen months. I heard she practically collapsed at the funeral, which was an affair covered by television, because the deceased was a firefighter died in the line of duty. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friends-little-girl-died/422504/47 "2007-10-17T21:31:47Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] [This 17-year-old?](http://www.roanoke.com/news/breaking/wb/136067) This is the story I heard about when we discussing the issue. [/QUOTE] That’s him I think. Sorry…I haven’t been following too closely. But the show I was watching earlier said that the lung issue is becoming a huge part of this illness. It’s really frightening to think that it’s this prevalent. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friends-little-girl-died/422504/48 "2007-10-18T13:15:49Z")
This is still horrifying, big news. CNN this morning told of other children dying all over the country, and mentioned a 4-year-old in New Hampshire; I knew it must be your friend’s daughter, **gigi**. ☹ It’s so frightening and sad. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friends-little-girl-died/422504/49 "2007-10-18T14:25:14Z")
My satellite was coming in and out last night, just as I heard a little snippet of a story about staph on the evening news. Unfortunately I missed most of it. :smack: C said that they weren’t too worried about coming back home or disinfecting since apparently the bacteria doesn’t live long outside a body and they’d been away for a few weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friends-little-girl-died/422504/50 "2007-10-18T14:33:04Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] The morning new shows were positively abuzz regarding the super-resistant bug. It’s a huge problem. Some kid died from it and they’re closing the school for a while to disinfect. While you can catch it pretty much anywhere, I’d certainly think twice before going into a hospital if it wasn’t necessary. Question for a Doctor: I took my share of antibiotics when I was young (chronic tonsillitis), but have taken them rather sparingly as an adult (maybe once every 5 years). Are my chances better than someone who takes antibiotics for every little illness? [/QUOTE] Non-doctor answering: It’s not so much you (I suppose if you let your immune system have a little workout once in a while rather than dive for the penicillin, so much the better for you), it’s everyone in general. The more bacteria encounter antibiotics, the more their gene pool consists only of antibiotic survivors. This has effects on the future efficacy of antibiotics which I’m sure are quite clear. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friends-little-girl-died/422504/51 "2007-10-23T16:21:50Z")
Well, the service was Saturday. The family buried Katie earlier in the morning and then had the funeral Mass. The priest was good; he started out talking about the platitiudes we say and how “corny” they are: “‘At least now she’s happy’? We thought she was pretty happy before! ‘God needed another angel’? God could make a slew of angels if He wanted! [ed note – not to mention dead people don’t become angels, they become saints – he missed a teachable moment there 🙂]” and said how God doesn’t decide to pluck one person out for suffering or death. The downside was he decided to put in a plug for believing in God in general–this wasn’t really the occasion to convert people. We held it together OK until after Communion when her preschool teacher got up and spoke like she was talking to Katie. Some funny parts about her rambunctious character, and what a special kid she was. Someone who held a classmate’s hand when they had to go to the nurse. She read from [Keep Love In Your Heart, Little One](http://www.amazon.com/Keep-Love-Your-Heart-Little/dp/1589250664/ref=sr_1_10/104-7128761-2492723?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193154105&sr=1-10) which sounds really sweet. I may get a copy for myself and another friend in the guild who is feeling guilty that her daughter is OK. ☹ When we left all I could do was give C a hug; what could we say. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friends-little-girl-died/422504/52 "2007-10-23T16:44:57Z")
There is nothing to say. It sounds like a nice service, but hard. I wish I had something to say. I am so sorry. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friends-little-girl-died/422504.md?page=2)