Emily Morris
By Tiffany O’Callaghan
When did you first learn you had an antibiotic-resistant infection?
I have had kidney reflux, which makes me susceptible to urinary tract infections (UTIs) and kidney infections, since I was a little girl. I only found out that I had an antibiotic-resistant infection when the drug they normally gave me stopped working. I was a teenager when my urine was first sent off to be tested – something I learned should have happened much sooner. The results came back saying there was resistance.
I eventually learned I have painful bladder syndrome, which means that many times I thought my pain was caused by a UTI – and I was given antibiotics to treat it – I actually didn’t have an infection. It is possible I was exposed in hospital during investigations, but it was probably the misuse of antibiotics that caused the resistance.
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What was it like the first time you were sent to the hospital with a resistant infection?
When the urine culture came back and it said I had a superbug, I didn’t really know what that meant. I thought I had a kidney infection, which was common throughout my childhood. But when I got there, I was put into a side room and several doctors came in, all wearing masks and gloves. That was when it really hit me. My mum and I looked at each other – clearly this wasn’t just a kidney infection.
They had to give me a carbapenem – a last resort antibiotic. It managed to clear that infection. But since then I’ve had more, and I now know that I carry a resistant strain of E. coli known as ESBL E. coli. The doctors have compared it to having MRSA, in terms of how resistant it is to antibiotics. I’ve had to use a carbapenem several times.
How often do you get infections now – and how are they treated each time?
It used to be more often, but now it’s every three to four months. I try to avoid taking antibiotics as much as I can. Every time I do have an infection, they culture it to determine what bacteria is causing it – and which antibiotics need to be used. It’s hard, because you have to wait three days for the results to come back, and in that time I can get quite ill, so a lot of time while I’m waiting for the results, I have to be treated like it’s a superbug.
What has been the hardest aspect of having a superbug?
When I was pregnant with my now 3-year-old son Emerson, I’d only just come out of my first trimester and I got an attack of ESBL again. I was scared. I was in hospital and they said that the antibiotic they wanted to use had never been trialled on a pregnant woman before. I remember how difficult it was, but if I didn’t take it, then I wouldn’t have got get rid of the infection. It would have killed me. So I decided to take it.
And then I also had a strep B infection. When you are giving birth, the baby can contract the infection and that can cause disabilities. Up to 25 per cent of women have this and they are usually given antibiotics to prevent the baby being exposed. But the strain of strep B I had was resistant.
Ultimately I had to have a planned C-section, and was given a really strong antibiotic while I was giving birth. And then just to be sure, they also put my son straight on antibiotics as soon as he was born. My pregnancy was very scary.
How has it affected your __life since then?
Because the bacteria are in my bladder, my doctor reassured me that I am not likely to pass them on to my son or my fiancé, Ben. So it’s not that if I kiss Ben, he’d get it. But initially I did worry about exposing family and friends.
Really the main way it affects my family __life is that when I have an attack, it completely wipes me out. When Emerson was a baby, or even now, if he wants to play and I’m unwell, it’s just heart-breaking. It feels like a disability.
Do you worry about the possibility that antibiotics eventually won’t work for you?
I try not to think like that, but I’m only 24, and if you look at how many antibiotics I’ve gone through, I’m already coming close to the end ones. By the time I’m 40, I still want to have antibiotics left. But if they don’t find new solutions, it is inevitable that one day I will run out.
How has your experience shaped your attitude to antibiotics as a mum?
It’s horrible, because when you go to the doctor, you see all these mums complaining, saying, “You need to give them something, they’re really poorly”, even though the doctors explain that it’s viral, and you can’t treat a viral infection with antibiotics. It’s hard to watch other mums that don’t understand what the misuse of antibiotics can do. When they tell me my son’s illness is viral, I think, okay good.
What prompted you to share your story?
I’ve made it a really big goal to make people aware of this. I used to have so little awareness myself. People may have heard of antibiotic resistance, but you just shrug it off. But it is expected to kill more people than cancer by 2050. I want people to know the severity of it.
I also want to share my story because I know that I am one of the lucky ones. If other people are going through it, I want them to know that not everyone dies. I want to give them hope.
Read more: Internal conflict: How we can make friends with harmful bacteria
To learn more about antibiotic resistance and efforts being taken to address it, visit Antibiotic Research UK.
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