Clostridium difficile (c diff) infection

Updated Thursday, May 10, 2:40 pm

As you may know by now, my dad has been diagnosed with Clostridium Difficile infection, which is a bacterial infection of the colon. I wanted to get an update out on the blog for family and friends to be able to understand better what's going on.

For over a month, he had a longstanding appointment at the Boise VA Hospital for Friday, April 27. In preparation for the appointment, he had some bloodwork done. The results of the bloodwork as well as his weak condition at the visit encouraged them to keep him overnight for some more testing.

He had a very low blood count and blood volume, and by Sunday, April 29, they decided to give him a transfusion. They changed his colitis medication as well and seemed to be doing excellent. His spirits were really high, and he was even raving about the treatment and the friendly staff at the hospital.

They kept extending his stay for various reasons. First it was because of the transfusion. Next it was to put him on a steroid that was supposed to help the colon heal. They even mentioned that he was a model colonitis patient and wanted to keep him a few more days so they could learn more about the disease.

We visited several times in the last week, and each time he was chipper and energetic--a big change from when he first was admitted. Diane and I saw him Wednesday, May 2, and Thursday, May 3, and he was just as cheerful. Mom said that Friday he was fine as well.

He started feeling sick to his stomach early Saturday morning, May 5, and this kept up all day. He had a CT scan of his stomach area and a series of tests. These tests came back positive for a bacteria in the colon called C-diff. It's frequently contracted in hospitals, but not always--elderly patients with pre-existing colon problems are fairly susceptible to it.

It is almost always brought on by a wide-spectrum antibiotic that kills the body's good bacteria enough for the C diff bacteria (present in most everyone's colon) to take over and colonize the intestines. The odd thing about this situation is that we don't think he has had any antibiotics anytime recently. So it's quite possible he has had this C diff bacteria causing his colitis flare-ups for quite some time.

He requested not to have any visitors today (Saturday, May 5) except Mom, but Mom and I decided to go see him anyway tonight. We were there about 10:30 pm and we encouraged him to take some acidophilus culture (a "good bacteria" supplement that is highly recommended by doctors and C diff patients online). He had pretty much had his fill of pills for the day, but he grudgingly took one.

• Update - Sunday, May 6, 7:00 pm
• I just talked to Mom who just talked to the nurses then to Dad. The nurses think he is doing a little better today after starting the Flagyl antibiotic last night. The doctor requested that he not take acidophilus or kiefer (drinkable yogurt that is supposed to be good for the colon flora) until they know whether the Flagyl regimen is going to work or not. Mom said he sounded a little better today than yesterday, but preferred rest to more visitors. So I guess I'll try to get down there tomorrow, depending on how he's doing.
• Also, the doctor this morning told Mom that she suspected a C diff bacterial infection from the very beginning, but his tests kept coming back negative for it until Saturday. From our reading online, this is pretty common. It's notoriously hard to detect.
• Update - Monday, May 7, 7:00 pm
• I saw Dad this afternoon and he looked AMAZINGLY better than the last time I saw him, which was Saturday night. (He didn't want visitors on Sunday.) Today, he was sitting up in bed and happy to have someone to talk to. His spirits are definitely up, although he's bored stiff. But you can't be bored when you're in the kind of pain he was in on Saturday. So that's a good sign!
• I left him a deck of cards so he can at least play some solitaire. He also was interested in trying out my iPod, which has an audio Bible on it as well as some church music that he likes.
  
• From my mom: Dad called and they are putting him on solid foods, so he’s happy about that.  He will be coming home soon, but they haven’t said when yet.  He will be coming home with the steroids and insulin shots at least till they have him tapered off the steroids.  He will be doing the colonoscopy on an outpatient basis, so we don’t know when that will be yet.
• Things are looking up! Thanks for your prayers...
  
• Update - Wednesday, May 9, 7:50 pm
• Dad had a long night last night. He still has to use the restroom frequently, and he fell getting up in the middle of the night. His blood sugar was very low--in the thirties--which is probably why he fell. Then later today his blood sugar spiked over 500 and they couldn't figure out why--until they remembered that he'd been drinking Kiefer, which is a sweet drinkable yogurt that has a live culture to help the colon recover from the C diff. So what was good for the colon wasn't great for the diabetes.
• Other than that, he seems to be doing well. He's in really good spirits again, seems to be energetic, and even shows an interest in eating healthier. He has told Mom a list of foods the doctors recommended and seems to want to get organized with it. He even told me all about another live culture product a nurse mentioned that he's having Mom look into called Culturelle GG (I think).
• There is still no word on when he'll get out, but he seems to think he'll have to stay over the weekend again.
• Update - Wednesday, May 9, 7:50 pm
•  Dad made it out of the hospital today! I was talking to him on the phone when he had to go because his doctors came in to talk to him. When he called back, he told me the news!

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