Cym98 wrote:
Standing with in prayer for your brother and God's peace upon all of you during this difficult time. If I may ask, what exactly is , C. Diff?

Thank you for your prayers, Cym. C. Diff attacks the colon. He was in the ICU being monitored for everything except temperature. When he was admitted, it was with a diagnosis of pneumonia, so they started him on a broad spectrum anti-biotic. Even though subsequent tests showed that he did not have pneumonia but was indeed in congestive heart failure, they did not discontinue the antibiotics. I don't know what he received in those first days, but he had been intubated within an hour of admission, only to pull out the tube himself (unsupervised) 2 hours later. The nurse said it was very difficult to reinsert the tube. Duh-DOI? He pulled everything out and his vocal cords were very inflamed after that.

Anyway, last Friday (6/15), he spiked a fever of 107°F.  He is right across the hall from the nurses station, and they didn't know how long he had the fever (???). They did a culture and it was positive for C Diff. The antibiotics killed off everything, including the good bacteria in the colon. Apparently it causes spasms which do not allow fecal matter thru, and he started having fecal matter coming back from his NG tube. He's been on Vancomycin, Flagyl, Zithromycin, plus all of the vasopressors to keep up his blood pressure.

He recognizes when I'm in the room. He wakes up & tracks me. The pulmonologist suggested a tracheostomy as a palliative measure because that vent keeps his mouth open all the time, and it is causing him pain. His kids said no. Even as just comfort care. He is currently a DNR. The doc pulled no punches, and said his lungs were trashed and he would never breathe on his own again. At least with a trach, he would not have a dry, crusty, mouth & chin. His tongue was so bad, I asked if he had thrush. I don't think he's getting the oral care he needs. They've pretty much stopped doing anything to increase his comfort.

Cym, how on earth did you handle your husband's illness with such grace and humility?  Please pray for his peaceful passage.

Oh, and C Diff; Wiki's a good source on this

C. Diff


(Edited by cheezit to fix link.)

KOMEN LIES, WOMEN & BABIES DIE
Edited 1 time by cheezit01 06/24/12 3:42 PM.