[CoolBreeze]

Funny joke!

The connection to antibiotics has to do with your gastrointestinal tract. When you take antibiotics, it wipes out the natural "flora" in your intestines. Most people recover from this just fine, don't even notice it. But, for those of us who are immuno-compromosed, and have been exposed to a c-diff spore (typically after a hospitalization), it causes a huge problem. The c-diff infection multiplies in your intestines and puts out two kinds of toxins which can actually destroy your colon. Which, is what almost happened to me. Vancomycin can get the c-diff infection under control, but the spores can live on hard surfaces for months, which is why people relapse. (It is also pretty hard to kill inside the intestines).

Alcohol wipes don't kill it, you have to use bleach and wash your hands. I had my husband wipe my bathrooms down with bleach from head to toe when I got home and I need to do it again but still am not feeling well. He cut his finger so don't want him to.

The way you can repopulate the intestinal flora is to take probiotics. My doctor suggested it - said the science was soft but there was some. I take Florastor and Culturelle. I also eat yogurt daily (love Fage) and I try to drink kefir but don't care for it much.

Another way for curing relapsing c-diff is a fecal transplant. I would have thought that the grossest thing in the world (feces from one person goes into you) until I got this. Now I know c-diff is the worst thing and you'll do ANYTHING to get rid of it.

Because it's an epidemic it's important that people wash their hands when they come see you in the hopital, since most of us probably have underlying problems. Don't worry about upsetting them - I was in isolation and one person came in ungowned and ungloved - rather than getting upset when I reminded him, he was thankful. I told him I didn't want anybody else to get it and he agreed! Hospital personal get so busy they sometimes forget - we can do our part in helping prevent it by reminding them to wash their hands and not just use the alcohol gel. Anybody with cancer needs to get into that habit.

As for France, I think they are ahead of the game. The reason this is a problem is it has become resistant to other antibiotics, and there are strains that are becoming resistant to the only two that will treat them - flagyl and vancomycin. It's called a "superbug" for that reason. So, it's scary. People have overused antibiotics for years and it's good when they don't anymore.

Every surgery I've had, even a small one like putting in a port, or a biopsy on the liver, they gave me antibiotics as a preventative. I think they need to rethink that and give it as necessary, just "just cuz."

Anyway, now I will be unable to take antibiotics ever again, so I hope I don't have a bladder infection, as I suspect. (Although my cdiff started out feeling like a bladder infection so I kind of hope I do!)

Another thing: don't get a serious illness around the holidays. It's like Canada or the UK here now - everybody is on vacation and they all take them at the same time! I remember when doctors only took Christmas Day off and shared practices, now it's a week before and a week after and nobody else seems to want to take on another doctors patient. It's either ER or wait nowadays. I'd still be waiting for an appointment if I didn't have a friend who was a doctor who got me in.

Anyway, c-diff is nothing to take lightly and everybody should know about it. Some people have mild cases; most don't have it like me. But, if you take antibiotics and then get diarrhea, you should suspect it and ask for a test. It can kill you if you wait.

*hugs*