Tag Archives: Clostridium difficile patient

Happy Mother’s Day and Good-Health Wishes To Women Around the Globe

Posted in Holiday Notes by

Happy Mother’s Day to Women Everywhere!

This year In the United States, Mother’s Day is celebrated on May 14th.

In more than 90 countries Mother’s Day will be celebrated, including many countries where the U.S. based C Diff Foundation is located.

We take this opportunity to celebrate and remember mothers everywhere and the invaluable role that mothers play in families, communities, and business.

The C Diff Foundation is dedicated to educating and advocating for C. difficile infection (CDI) prevention, treatments, environmental safety with support around the globe. There are many avenues connected to C. difficile infections which lead the C Diff Foundation Members and Volunteer Patient Advocates down adjacent roads raising awareness of antibiotic-resistance, antibiotic stewardship programs, Sepsis, and a multitude of general wellness topics around the world.

The C Diff Foundation offers programs enabling healthcare professionals, patients and their families the ability to receive assistance needed during and post-CDI, the ability to receive support care without having to travel during and after experiencing a C. difficile infection, and through the continued support of members and volunteer patient advocates the C Diff Foundation’s mission progresses and grows.  Life-saving information reaches villages to cities raising CDI Awareness driving down newly diagnosed CDI’s worldwide.

This week, we will celebrate the success stories of mothers, their mothers, and generations of women, now C.diff. Survivors,  living in communities around the world where the C Diff Foundation can be found.

We will also be remembering the thousands of families who have lost their mother to a C. diff. infection and C. diff. infection involvement.

Happy Mother’s Day and good-health wishes are sent to women everywhere!

C. diff. Patient Experience — Never Giving Up Hope While Advocating For A Family Member

Posted in Survivor Experience by

Hi,

My name is Kelly.

My Father contracted C.diff .when he was taken to the hospital for a stroke.

He was placed in a stroke ward.  I knew he had loss stool before he was discharged. I even cleaned up his bathroom there because he had an accident. I really didn’t know about C.diff. Now thinking back the hospital staff should have! They discharged him anyway never testing for C.diff..

The next morning at home he was so weak he couldn’t even sit up in bed.we call for ambulance. So it begins! He was in and out of hospital and rehabs for about a year. Only being home maybe a week tops in between. None of medications could keep it a way.

We found out about fecal transplants from our own research and through me talking with a customer where I work who had C.diff.  an had also done the fecal transplant.

My dad didn’t seem to have the serious pain in belly but he had deteriorated in many other ways. Every time he would get well enough for rehab it either came back or his insurance said it was time to go. This was his new base line,     NOT EXCEPABLE……BUT thank God the fecal transplant worked and we were looking forward to recovery.

It’s been over six months and so far so good…. During all this and with a lot of pushing they discovered a gall stone very large blocking his bile duct so they removed that. I always wonder if that had any thing to do with the recurrence.but never could get anything out of Dr about it. We brought him home from rehab in December,  but again do to all the muscle break down he had a fall in the bathroom and fractured his hip.back in hospital and 3 pins later then back to rehab.In January we brought him home for the first time in like a year it year and a half we finished all his therapy at home.

By the way — home for him is still my house not his because I can keep him on one floor. This was an exhausting experience on him, mom and me plus my husband and kids…..but what irks me the most was felt so alone.. Drs acted like no big deal or they just didn’t have much to say and God forbid you ask questions or doubt them…..sometimes I think we knew more then them.they don’t treat the patient just the c-diff or symptoms…we got more answers from research, other people and the C Diff Foundation then ever at the hospital.   Gosh and trying to explain every time it was not from antibiotic use but hospital acquired……we have also finally found a 2 great GI Doctors .

He just recently had a breathe test because of loose stool,which has not been C. diff.. He has a abundance of bad bacteria in his intestines…so being treated for that and never giving up his Probiotic ……thanks so much for listening.

PS. One day while outside the ER I CALLED the C Diff Foundation Hot-Line (1-844-FOR-CDIF) — I was so upset we were here again and didn’t know what to do. A woman (Triage Nurse) talked to me and led me though it with info on what to do and ask for and support…..I don’t remember her name but she did more for me in that one call then anyone else including hospital staff….she will never know how grateful I am

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.