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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 4/25/2008 8:09 AM (GMT -7)
  hello everyone...... I have a question about c-diff. My dad has had it in the hospital and now lives with me, I think it is back even though I have been taking extra care with him it seems to have retuned. I am taking him to the doctor tomorrow and while his doctor did not offer me any advice on how I should handle this because of my crohns he just said be careful...What should I be doing? Any ideas.....Thanks..
Posted 4/25/2008 10:23 AM (GMT -7)
 i am not a doctor or nurse, but have worked for years in nursing homes.  your father probably should have another stool test to see if it is still present. you may want to call the doctor before the apt. to see if he wants you to bring in a stool sample.  until you are sure all is clear, do lots and lots of handwashing at your house. wash items he uses like dishes carefully.  c-diff is no fun.  my daughter got it in the hospital right after abdominal surgery.  good luck, lori
Posted 4/25/2008 10:46 AM (GMT -7)
C-dif is contracted by ingesting fecal matter, usually hand to mouth. First thing is the stool test. If it is positive, not only should you be washing your hands before and after handling his things, so should he be encouraged to wash his hands regularly. If I were you, I would clip my fingernails really short and use a nailbrush when washing your hands, especially if you are cleaning the washrooms that he is using or, if he is incontinent, managing his personal care.
Posted 4/25/2008 10:55 AM (GMT -7)
I personally dealth with C. Diff for 8 LONG months. I acquired it either from working in a nursing home (I am a CNA) or during a hospital stay.

C.Diff is a very difficult bug to treat. 80% of folks treated will recover completley with one or two rounds of antibiotics. The other 20% (me) have what is called reoccuring/relapsing c.diff.

There are two main antibiotics that treat c.diff... flagyl and vancomycin. Flagyl is cheap...but if that doesnt work, vanco is definately in order.

C.Diff is so hard to get rid of because it uses a spore form to protect itself. While in this spore form, it is almost impossible to kill.

Washing hands is VITAL...antibacterial hand sanitizers do absolutely nothing for c.diff. Also, dilute some bleach in water and put it in a spray bottle. Spray down the toilet and areas touched by your father after he uses the bathroom.

There is a support fourm called www.cdiffsupport.com that is SO helpful for anyone dealing with this super infection.

having Chron's you need to be extra careful and educate yourself on this monster as much as you can.

Hope that helped.

Darlene

Posted 4/25/2008 11:11 AM (GMT -7)
I second what Darlene said. Be very vigilant of hand washing. Also, I used rolls of paper towels to wash my hands instead of towels and threw them away in a large trash bag. Make sure you use hot water when washing with soap for a few minutes If the vanco doesn't get rid of it this time then you might talk with his docs about pulsing/tapering it and also adding florastor or a probiotic to help assist you with the bacterial balance. I hope he gets better soon and make sure to protect yourself as well.
Hugs
Christine
Posted 4/25/2008 3:04 PM (GMT -7)
If you have 2 bathrooms in the house, I would make him use one, and you use the other. Wear gloves when cleaning his bathroom, or helping him.

Also, when I was tested for it, they did 2 stool tests because of the high rate of false negatives.

Posted 4/25/2008 5:35 PM (GMT -7)
Thanks everyone...yes I do have two bathrooms and his is downstairs but I have cleaned that with bleach washed his clothes seperate twice and made sure his hands everything was clean I wear gloves even the nurse who came to the house to check him laughed and said they could eat in my bathroom, but I think it still came back.Tomorrow he goes to the doctor... its just frustrating.

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