Tag Archives: C. difficile survivor

C. difficile Infection (CDI) Journey Shared By A Husband And the Toll It Took On His Wife

Posted in Survivor Experience by

C. diff Infection

What is that?

That was my first question to doctors upon hearing my wife’s diagnosis.

I had never heard of C.diff. before.

I did not know what it was or what it was capable of. Over the past several months I have been educated as to how horrific and deadly this infection is. It is literally a game changer…. a life changer. This is something that can quite possible destroy humanity. I am not sure why it is not being discussed more in the main stream media.

This infection kills more people every year than HIV/AIDS and drunk driving combined. It is my goal that every single person is made aware of the dangers of it and is educated about it as I have been. One day while looking at these pictures I realized the powerful statement that could be made with them. I have watched this video several times since I put it together and I still get very emotional about it.

It is amazingly sad what many people go though that is unknown to so much of the population.

Please help – Raise C. diff. Awareness – spread the word and one day additional medical/healthcare methods of prevention, and treatments will be made available that are focused on this dreadful life-threatening infection

Even if only one  person is helped —  we’ve done a good thing. Thank you.

Brian and Tonia

To watch this C. diffiicle Survivor’s  Journey – Please Click On The Following Link:

A C. diff. Survivor’s Journey Shared with the C. diff. Survivors Alliance Network

Posted in Survivor Experience by

CdiffSurcicorsLOGO2015A C. diff. Survivor’s story…………

 

My story goes back to 2012-2013, where I was battling chronic urinary tract infections, the reason is still unknown. In late 2013 I had at least one every month, and every infection I had, antibiotics were prescribed. In November/December of 2013, I just felt on the verge of being sick quite often. I never knew what it was. In late December I consulted with a urologist for the first time. She suspected that the lining of my bladder never had a real chance to heal, thus causing recurrent infections. She prescribed a broad-spectrum antibiotic, and she wanted me to take it daily for three months to give my bladder a chance to heal. I had been on it for about a week when I started to feel like I was getting the flu. I kept feeling worse and worse, but I thought that the best remedy for “the flu” was rest and time. I was having a lot of diarrhea and nausea. The nausea was the worst part of it. After almost four days of this, I called my doctor and his nurse assessed me for dehydration. I hadn’t urinated in about 15 hours but all the while I’m having horrible diarrhea and I wasn’t drinking anything because I was too nauseous. She told me to go to the ER immediately and if I couldn’t get a ride, call 911. I was also getting kind of delirious and confused at this point, presumably from severe dehydration. I get to the ER, after about 12 hours of seeing how IV rehydration was going to go, they decided to admit me. I was in renal failure, but I didn’t know that until I was discharged. They suspected C.Diff, but weren’t sure yet. I had never even heard of it. I still wish I never had occasion to hear about it. They took stool samples and sure enough, I tested positive. They started me on a course of Flagyl. I was released five days later. But since I didn’t have a steady course of Zofran flowing through my veins at home, the nausea became unbearable. I probably would have killed myself if I would have had the energy. I didn’t eat for eight days and lost 30 pounds in fifteen days. I have never been that sick in my life. The Flagyl seemed to have cleared the infection, but I still felt like crap for a month.

Two months later, I begin to feel horribly sick again, and I knew I had it again. The telltale diarrhea and nausea was back. Sure enough, I tested positive again. I was started on an even more aggressive course of Flagyl. During these months, giving stool samples and talking about my bodily functions to just about anyone who would listen became the norm. I lost all my dignity for sure. I then started to lose a lot of hair. My doctor said that can happen when the immune system is under an enormous amount of stress. It was five months before I felt normal again. All of this really hurt my mental health as well. I actually have PTSD from these two experiences. I have panic attacks when I need to go on antibiotics for any reason. I take a probiotic daily. I also question doctors everytime antibiotics are suggested. I truly believe they are overprescribed in our society. I still can’t wear the clothes I wore when I was sick.

This illness, if you’ve never had it…think of the worst diarrhea you’ve ever had, and there is still no comparison. You might as well just stay on the toilet holding a trash can. But the weird thing is is that the nausea was the most distressing part of it. I feel anxious right now just talking about this experience.

 

Mary M.

C. diff. Survivors Possess the Warmth and Light For Others

Posted in Inspiration, support by

candlelantern

Winter is in full force now, the colder, shorter days of January remind us of the warmth and light that so many individuals yearn for, but sadly cannot find.

Do you know of someone in need?  A spouse, child, parent, neighbor, or co-worker, who may be struggling right now with loneliness, doubt, fear, or fighting a C. diff. infection? Maybe they have lost their job, their home, their health, their family, a loved one………….

As a C. diff. survivor you possess the warmth and light that another so desperately needs.  You can turn winter’s drab branches into the bright blooms of spring.  How?

You can share your story and suggestions with them!  You can bring them light far brighter than any they can imagine – you are the light of hope for others.

By your participation in the C. diff. Survivors Alliance Network – you are a survivor’s light.  It is a gift that is given and received each and every day here at the C. diff. Survivors Alliance Network and C Diff Foundation.  It is countless inquiries, emails, phone calls, personal correspondence, visits from a CDF Volunteer and the support you share through your stories that give others the hope they so desperately need.

Here is an emotional note received from a fellow C. diff. Survivor:

Dear C Diff Foundation, Your letter and information you shared has re-ignited the sparks of hope within me which had long been dormant and cold, overwhelmed by grief, trauma, and losses. Too much sickness, too little happiness.  I had to take a deep breath to hold back the tears upon receiving the support you have all given me.  It was more than I had hoped for.

This is the kind of life saving impact that you have here at the C. diff. Survivors Alliance Network.

Please continue your participation on our site this year as a guiding light for others to see. We invite you to send your stories, suggestions, and healing words ………  a glimmer of light and hope from and for a fellow C. diff. survivor.

www.cdiffsurvivors.org

C. diff. Survivor; Kristin Evans

Posted in Survivor Experience by
Kristin’s C. diff. Survivor Story:
I contracted c.diff. when I had my gallbladder taken out in July of 2012. I was experiencing a lot of abdominal pain and diarrhea but attributed it to my body adjusting without the organ I went to the ER around 21 times over a year and a half before I was finally diagnosed with C.diff.
After that began the real journey, after loosing over 100 pounds in a year which took me from a size 10 to a size double 0 my doctor decided the repeated rounds of Vancomycin were not fighting the infection he suggested a fecal transplant. I was very confident in this procedure as I had only heard amazing and positive things about it.
I had the transplant done and waited a month to be checked again as I was told to by my doctor. I went in and of course the transplant failed. I was then put on more vanco and told to stay on it for another month then they would check me again.
Another 2 weeks went by and I was emergency admitted to the local hospital because my body had begun to shut down and my organs were beginning to fail. I was on full isolation for 2 weeks until the declared me c.diff. free. I was told sent home with a new problem caused by the c.diff. though.
I now had enlarged lymph nodes and they would not go down so I had an oncologist look at them and told me I had a possibility of Hodgkins Lymphoma and was scheduled for a lymphectomy a month later. After surgery I was cleared from cancer but I had contracted c.diff. back because of the surgery.
I was then diagnosed with chronic c.diff. and told we would try another transplant to try and kill the infection that was slowly killing me again.
The second *fecal transplant was again a failure and I was put on vanco for another year before I told my doctor I was going to die if he didn’t help me.
I had survived almost 3 years fighting this battle and my body was physically and mentally drained. I was tired of fighting, so he made the decision to hospitalize me again to try and cure this once and for all. I was in for almost a week before I was declared once again C.diff. free.
It has now been less than a month since my release and I am learning to deal with my new medical problems caused by c.diff. including gastroenteritis, ulcerative colitis, severe chronic IBS and permanent bowel damage.
I have been to the ER a total of 46 times throughout my journey with c.diff. and am still continuing to get my body back to way it needs to be with my weight and my eating which has become difficult due to the bowel damage.
But i will not give up and i will survive and fight this if it ever returns i will not let c.diff. take my life. Thanks for reading my story guys.

C. difficile Survivor and Breast Cancer Survivor Journey

Posted in Survivor Experience by

CDiffBreastCancer

Life is truly unpredictable! No one could have known and I certainly had no clue that this chapter in my life’s story would include you (C. diff).   As I celebrate six years of a miraculous healing of Stage III breast cancer, I also remember when.  I remember when, after my second round of chemo, my immune system was compromised and, within hours, crashed.  I remember being diagnosed with a life-threatening infection called C. diff. 

I remember being quarantined for almost 20 days and taking an arsenal of antibiotics, but to no avail.  I remember when hope was fading and an angel appeared at 2:30 a.m. in the doorway of my hospital room with a life-saving antidote.

I’ll call him Dr. M.  Within hours of drinking his miracle cocktail, my condition began to improve and soon thereafter, I was released to go home.  This experience was nothing short of a miracle!

 

I share more of my amazing journey in my new book, My Glorious Opposite: The Other Side of Breast Cancer @ http://www.gloriousopposite.com.

Celebrate Life!
Veronica Edmond