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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Arthritis / January 2005otp: john update
he is finally a little better. his doctor is also pretty certain what he has: clostridium difficile. this is caused when an antibiotic cleans out all the good flora and this bad one gets a toehold. it comes in mild, moderate and severe forms, and john's is the severe, called pseudomembranous colitis. it is unrelated to the ulcerative colitis. i'm glad i didn't know more about this cd stuff until he started getting better, because it can cause death--although i guess i realized that when you're losing tons of blood day and night, death is a real possibility. for the first time in over a week, his evening temperature has dropped below 100 degrees and today he was passing significantly less blood. his doc feels tomorrow he'll turn the corner and be able to be sprung from the hospital on monday. from what i've read, cd can come back over and over again, but i'm hoping that's not the case. it's also very easily transmitted so i'm glad i was neurotic about washing my hands while he was here. thanks for your prayers and concern, diane >he is finally a little better. I am so glad to hear it. I have heard how awful C-difficile can be. Please continue to watch yourself as you would not want to catch that. So sorry that he has had to go through all that. Rose @}>->-- Being educated means that rather than fearing the unknown, one seeks to understand it. RB Please remove "Ima" to reply. Yikes, Diane, what a horrible thing to have. C. Diff can be incredibly difficult to eradicate. Will be keeping John in my prayers for a successful treatment of the C. Diff and that he never has to go through this again. Will also be keeping you in my prayers as well. Take good care of yourself, keep washing those hands, and keep us posted as to how things progress. Hugs to you dear lady! Donna G thanks, donna. the more i read, the more freaked i'm getting. according to my reading, he should be in isolation with people wearing gowns and gloves, but he's not. i've been careful, but not THAT careful. if i don't already have this stuff incubating inside me, how do i keep from getting it once he's home? the bug lives on surfaces for zillions of years. if any of you know how to keep the home environment really sterile, do let me know. if he pets the dogs and then i pet the dogs. . . ? i have a lot of questions. . . diane Diane, I'm so sorry to hear about John. Aren't you glad you were there to help him and insist he go to the emergency room. It may have saved his life. I know this might sound cold, but is there anywhere else John can go until his is better. If it's that contagious you don't need to be around it. If you get sick it will not be good for anyone. debbie m. http://www.angelfire.com/ga2/angels1/ > thanks, donna. the more i read, the more freaked i'm getting. according > to my reading, he should be in isolation with people wearing gowns and [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > diane Diane, I would have a good long talk with John's GI doctor about the best ways to keep from getting this yourself, especially with your immune system immunosuppressed. He should be able to help you with some ideas, as should a good pharmacist. Like Debbie suggested, you may want to have him discharged back to his own home perhaps with some visiting home nursing care to help him out until he is doing better. If that isn't an option for you, then by all means talk very openly and honestly about your concerns with his GI doctor. Prayers for the both of you and really praying hard that John can eradicate this nasty stuff with one treatment regimen!!! Good luck to you! Donna G he is significantly better today. temperature is normal, very little bleeding. well enough to be grumpy. :-) his docs say he is extremely lucky, and they proceeded to tell him about another patient they have who is dying of this stuff. (thanks, doc!) i spoke with his PCP about contagion. he said mega handwashing of all parties is the main thing. use gloves to do laundry etc. (already too late on that front, i'm afraid, although i was careful last week, i had no idea the nature of the beast i was dealing with). i'm going to speak to the pharmacist re the best antibacterial hand and surface cleaners. i will also discuss with his GI doc. john is very cautious about protecting me, too. i'm afraid sending him home instead of back to my house is really not an option. and i really don't want to, either. i feel like i came close to losing him after only having him for a year and i want to take care of him. i won't be foolish, but until he can make his own food and do things for himself, he's staying here. diane > he is significantly better today. temperature is normal, very little > bleeding. well enough to be grumpy. :-) his docs say he is extremely [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > diane Can you get someone to come in to help with cleaning and laundry? Purell hand disinfectant is a wonderful thing. Jo > he is significantly better today. temperature is normal, very little > bleeding. well enough to be grumpy. :-) his docs say he is extremely > lucky, and they proceeded to tell him about another patient they have > who is dying of this stuff. (thanks, doc!) <snip> > diane Reminds me of when I had my twins. One was born with a broken upper arm. The nurse told me about a baby that had been born with a broken collarbone. D'ya suppose that doctor and the nurse know each other???? Nell Diane - Mom had C. Diff last year and I had been taking care of her before I knew it. I had been in the habit of using rubber gloves to handle her diapers anyway because I am just plain parnoid with the drugs we are on. I was told to use ammonia or bleach with her laundry and to run water only bleach load thru after I have finished her clothes. I was also told to severely disinfect the bathroom that she had beem using. I think if you are careful with gloves and disinfectant and following the good advice others have given here that you will be fine. Also, in the future, John's doctor might want to consider giving him flagyl as a precaution when he's on antibiotics. That's what the infectious disease doctor finally did the third time Mom had C. Diff. It is very hard to completely eradicate since it lives in the bowel to begin with (so I've been told.) So anytime Mom gets antibiotics for her multitude of UTI's, she also gets flagyl and since they have started doing that, no more C. Diff. Hope he's feeling better soon! Cyberhugs, DianeW thanks for the advice, peops. >>I was told to use ammonia or bleach with her laundry and to run water only bleach load thru after I have finished her clothes.<< diane w, can you explain the above sentence? i think i'm misreading it. as for flagyl--the first choice in treating c. diff, he can't take it. he's one of the people who gets the neurological symptoms from it, which are a contraindication. his temp rose again last night. sigh. i really hope they wait til it stay snormal for 24 hours before sending him home (to my home). diane Sounds like maybe an infectious disease guy should be called?? Duckie > thanks for the advice, peops. > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > diane  Signature_('> (_<_) _ _('< -quack (_<_) _ __('< *QUACK!* <_{__) _('< "|,,|_" (_<_) _('< "AFLAC!" (_<_) The sentence I wrote was: "I was told to use ammonia or bleach with her laundry and to run water only bleach load thru after I have finished her clothes." In other words, after you have done all her laundry, run the washing maching empty with bleach water to make sure the mcahine is disinfected. Is that better? It took me a while to figure out what I and clothes meant! LOL Tonight I found out that Mom has VRE which is Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci. This is the second time she has had this. It's another UTI for her. She is very swollen and I'm worried about sepsis and or kidney failrue. More on the Mom update. Hope John is better soon. Too bad about the flagyl. Is there something else they can use instead as a preventative? Diane W both of you remain in my thoughts and prayers. (got a fairly long *specail* ASA prayers list right now!) SignatureNann remove the Gator cheer to email me Simply the thing I am shall make me live --- William Shakespeare Thinking of you diane and wishing you and john the best. You have been given good advice by others on this group, so I won't add anything along those lines. I know what you are dealing with as someone in my family had the same thing. He is fine now and he is 83. Get some rest!!!!!!!! Shirlawn Diane - Maybe this will ease your mind some. Before we new Mom had MSRA and C=diff, she was at my house and started up with diarrea. She wears diapers and of course, I had to change her. I did use gloves, but she was in my house eating and drinking, she did mess all over my toilet and bathroom floor. I attended to her and when she left cleaned my bathroom floor and toilet twice with clorox cleanup. Then my hubby went behind me and did it again not knowing I had already done it. I cleaned her clothes with clorox and then cleaned out the washing machine. We did her laundry at the time so my hubby used gloves and a mask once we knew what she had and I no longer handled her laundry.. I was fine...didn't catch it either time she had it. Ever since I've been on immune suppressent drugs, I have been germ phobic. I think we all have to be. I carry a gel with me in my purse and another in my car to use regularly. If I am in a store and somebody appears sick - coughing etc - I have been known to leave my basket mid grocery store and leave. I once told a cashier to get me someone else to wait on me since she was standing there so obviously sick and telling everyone how she had the flu. When the manager came to see what the fuss was all about she sent her home! Anyway. we can't be too careful and as long as we practice good healthy "paranoia" I think we'll do fine. Diane W thanks for the clarification, diane. i brought john home today. he's lots better, but very weak and tired. still taking vancomycin (expensive stuff!) i went to the store and bought every hand and surface cleaner i could find! as well as about $100 worth of low residue food. lol. wish us luck, diane thanks for the clarification, diane. i brought john home today. he's lots better, but very weak and tired. still taking vancomycin (expensive stuff!) i went to the store and bought every hand and surface cleaner i could find! as well as about $100 worth of low residue food. lol. wish us luck, diane thanks for the clarification, diane. i brought john home today. he's lots better, but very weak and tired. still taking vancomycin (expensive stuff!) i went to the store and bought every hand and surface cleaner i could find! as well as about $100 worth of low residue food. lol. wish us luck, diane > Diane - Maybe this will ease your mind some. Before we new Mom had MSRA > and C=diff, she was at my house and started up with diarrea. She wears [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Diane W One thing I like at the grocery stores here is the cashiers have Purell dispensers by the register and use it. It is kind of reassuring to see them being careful. And I know they are at added risk as they must handle goods that have first been handled by the general public as well are storeroom personnel, etc. I'm sure they are no happier to spend a day home sick than anyone else. Jo diane w, how do ya deal with any of this kinda thing? my mil who came home from nursing home /after bein in H. {left WAY TOO SOON} has 0 immunity, and many oth- er probs. i recently have had TIA symptoms cant go dr. she cant b left alone. it seems as tho im the only one here who pretty much constanly washes hands & such. i try to tell evry1 else to do it,tho not sure if they listen/ north, MM north, tell your family they might catch something terrible if they don't wash their hands. maybe if they think it will affect THEM, they'll be more careful. it sounds like you have a very full plate. take care of yourself. diane c Diane, Still sending prayers and healing vibes your way. I know how dangerous this can be. My dad died from it along with being septic. I don't know the whole story about him. But wanted you to know I was still thinking of the both of you. SignatureLove and hugs to all Good thoughts coming your way too. Squirrely Jo > north, tell your family they might catch something terrible if they > don't wash their hands. maybe if they think it will affect THEM, > they'll be more careful. > > it sounds like you have a very full plate. take care of yourself. > diane c I just nag and nag till they wash their hands. I leave anti-biotic soap at every sink in the house (we have 3 bathrooms) and if a kid, mine or others, sticks a finger anywhere near their nose, coughs or sneezes in their hands -- they are sent to wash their hands to the tune of Happy Birthday. I think it embarasses my son more than his friends but now they sing outloud just to tease me! I got a little lax around Christmas and didn't send a boy home who was coughing and he gave it to my husband who in turn gave it to me. Ya just have to be relentless. Mom is another story. She's hard to get her to wash her hands. I bought her some hand sanitizer and leave it on her bed tray in the hospital. Every time I go over there its in the drawer. If she doesn't see it, she doesn't use it. She had one bacteria that you get from birds and they said the only way she could have gotten it was to have touched something with bird poop on it and then eaten something without washing her hands. That made it easier for her to remember for a while but she's so out of it most of the time now it's just remind remind remind. Nag nag nag. Good luck to you. Sounds like you sure have your hands full. We can't care for Mom at home so when she leaves the hospital she will go back to the nursing home. Diane W >I just nag and nag till they wash their hands. I leave anti-biotic soap > at every sink in the house (we have 3 bathrooms) and if a kid, mine or [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Diane W In all fairness, someone else could have touched something with bird poop on it and then given her something to eat without washing their hands. Bet they aren't using gloves to handle food all the time and aren't washing produce properly either. Sounds like the food prep staff in the place she lives could use a little more time out to sing happy birthday. Jo I too am germ phobic and carry a pocket size bottle of the hand disinfectant that hospitals use. And in any public facilities I touch nothing without paper towel. Bruce > Diane - Maybe this will ease your mind some. Before we new Mom had MSRA > and C=diff, she was at my house and started up with diarrea. She wears [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Diane W diane, good luck with everything. i hav been keepin everyone in my prayers here, tryin to. my mil has no immunity, it is hard to try to make everyone round here listen bout washin hands. i hope she dont get anythin like that. i recenly been dealin with what i think to be TIA symptoms, my 3 kids, mil, hubby dishes,laundry, etc. when i dont push myself beyond what i can do, mil, has hissyfits. hope ya dont get it. btw, this is MM or North as i was b4 Sounds like he is improving. Keep washing your hands and never touch your face unless you have. I have finally found something for my dry hands [compulsive washing] which works well. St. Ives Collagen Elastin in the big pump bottle. Also seems to help my dry heels. I assume you are bringing back to your place when he is released?? Duckie > he is finally a little better. > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > thanks for your prayers and concern, > diane Signature_('> (_<_) _ _('< -quack (_<_) _ __('< *QUACK!* <_{__) _('< "|,,|_" (_<_) _('< "AFLAC!" (_<_) Being a teacher, every year we have to go through a program on how to protect ourselves from contaminants. Washing your hands, of course. They also tell us that you should keep your hands away from any openings in the body, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, etc......if you have to touch those areas, wash your hands before you do. Also, when washing your hands, you should rub the soap around for as long as you can sing the Happy Birthday song. And instead of using a cloth towel to wipe them dry, get paper towels...wiping dry with a clean paper towel is better than letting them airdry. The clean paper towel will sometimes get any germs that are left on the hands. And now you've been through the first part of the teachers' workshop on contamination. I won't go into the blood stuff with ya! lol I hope John continues to feel better each day!! So glad he's coming out of this. Take care of yourself Diane!! Carol |
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