Vol. 30, No. 42
MEDICAL UNIVERSITY of SOUTH CAROLINA
June 15, 2012
Man survives ‘flesh-eating disease’ By Dawn Brazell Public Relations
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Barry W. Ginn enjoys being back out on the golf course after a harrowing bout with necrotizing fasciitis that required six operations. To watch a video, visit http://tinyurl. com/brzuo6q.
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I was skating death and should have been dead by the time I got there.
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Barry W. Ginn
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MUSC Hero
The Referral Call Center gathers to honor a health resource nurse June 6.
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ack out on the links, Hilton Head resident Barry W. Ginn ignores the pain in his left arm bearing his badge of honor, what he now calls his ‘work of art.’ Some may think it a strange name for the scars left behind from him having lost an estimated nine pounds of flesh and muscle from his arm in his brush with death. Ginn’s nightmare started in February when he contracted the ‘flesh-eating’ bacteria known in medical circles as necrotizing fasciitis. Gingerly holding up his arm that still gives him pain, Ginn doesn’t think calling his scarred arm a work of art is strange at all. He’s just grateful to be here – to still have an arm. Instead he focuses on the salty tang of the air, the sun warming the grass, the fact that he is able to swing a club when his story could have gone so differently. Ginn is one of several patients in South Carolina and Georgia who recently made headlines for having survived necrotizing fasciitis. Ginn’s case began with a sore shoulder where he thought he had reinjured a torn rotator cuff. He visited his doctor, but the site continued to get worse. Trying to ignore the pain and
tenderness, Ginn thought he just needed to tough it out. One reason he’s eager to tell his story is he wants others to avoid his mistakes. “I didn’t continue to ask questions, and I wasn’t honest with myself or my doctors. You’re so sick you can’t have a train of thought. Instead of telling him what I thought was wrong, I should have just told him I was sick.” The area became hot and very painful. Ginn, who lives alone, became disoriented and began falling down. He had bruises down his back. By the time he knew he was in serious trouble, he was too confused to call for help. “My mind was mush. I don’t think anyone has any concept of what this disease does to you. All this time I was getting progressively sicker, and I was sweating profusely.” Fortunately a friend stopped by to see him, took one look at him and picked up the phone to call 911. “He didn’t even ask me. That’s a good friend.” Ginn said he will forever be grateful for that visit. “I was skating death and should have been dead by the time I got there.” Ginn went to a local hospital and on Feb. 24 was transferred to MUSC, where trauma surgeon
See SurviveS on page 8
Patient SatiSfaCtion
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Applause
The pediatric surgery team on 7East achieves high marks on the survey.
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Meet Scot
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PCTs, TAs celebrated
READ THE CATALYST ONLINE - http://www.musc.edu/catalyst