Been off the grid for a while. C Diff warning. Please read.
Father-in-law was in the hospital since the middle of Aug, went into rehab in Sept and passed the beginning of October. It's so strange how these things happen. Man was raking in 90 degree heat and got dehydrated, put him in the hospital for dehydration and a UTI and while there contracted C Diff. All I can say is it is like MRSA in being highly antibiotic resistant and it runs rampant through hospitals. It took two rounds of antibiotics to stop it, but left him so weak he couldn't lift the cup of water or feed himself. We thought we were good when he finally went to rehab but the bacteria took it's toll and he went into stage 5 kidney failure in a matter of days nearing the end of his rehab. My warning to you is sometimes you don't know who has it until the symptoms are very pronounced, the Infectious Disease (ID) Dr said it was highly contagious to be careful what you touch in a hospital, such as hand rails, elevator buttons and door knobs, that Purell does not kill it you need to wash with good ol soap and hot water and for gods sake don't put your hands near your face, remove and wash your clothes as soon as you get home. This bacteria is very hard to kill, if the antibiotics don't work the last option is a stool pill, yes a pill with poop in it. The shocking thing is how some of the staff cleaned him up and put the dirty linen on the chairs and sofa, yes they are plastic but it just spreads the germs around, some staff were more careful than others. Then I found out the rehab center also has it's fair share of C Diff patients and the CNA's are far less careful then the ones in the hospital. It seemed as if the newer ones fresh out of school would be the ones to gown up and being careful with the soiled laundry but I came in one day and it was sitting on his electric wheel chair!!! The CNA was called away, so when he went to rehab the PT's were exposed and the patients after were also exposed and all the equipment he used probably had the bacteria on it. One of the things they did was feed him live culture yogurt with every meal and the Dr suggested that anytime you take an antibiotic you eat live culture yogurt with every meal and a probiotic pill. It can be compared to parvo in a dog and dysentery from the civil war, yes you can die from diarrhea and they don't give you anything to stop it to flush out the bacteria, so imagine 20+ days of diarrhea the consistency of water and being unable to stop it from coming out. The infectious disease Dr said it will overcome MRSA and Staf as the most highly contagious bacteria's in a hospital, it will kill the young and old and those in-between will wish they had died. I saw his misery first hand and witnessed people with small children just strolling into rooms with out gowns and gloves with the warning and gowns/gloves right on the door. As winter comes people will be entering the hospital with pneumonia and if you go visit, wash, wash, wash is what the ID Dr. told me.