Got Cdiff?

All smiles as she gets to be back at school!!


After three long weeks, Liz went back to school today! Yay!! Miss Social got a warm welcome from her friends and was glowing as I drove away. I checked in on her at recess and she said she was feeling well enough to stay. Once school was over and I picked her up, she said she was dizzy and tired, but had a great day. Hooray!

I have been bleaching and cleaning up behind Elizabeth like a madwoman. CDiff is extremely contagious and I have been a crazy person trying to keep it from spreading. Holly once sent me a flair button (I think it was Holly. Or maybe Paul)that said "Got CDiff?" with little germ-like characters floating around. Not funny! Actually, once I get thru this latest bought of it with her, it will be very funny again. Cdiff isn't cleaned by alcohol or sanitizers. It's hot water and bleach to kill those germs!

She has been itchy for the last few days and it's only getting worse, so she'll start on an oral steroid. She is probably having a reaction to the antibiotic she has been taking for the CDiff. Luckily, today is her last dose after 14 days, so she should get some relief from the itching soon. In the meanwhile, she is making the rest of us scratch just watching her.

Liz saw her GI doc this week. He talked with me about having presented a bit of her case to other doctors at a meeting. Radiologists have always noted that Liz has sludge in her gallbladder. Though this does not cause much of her pain, it may be responsible for some of it, so she is going to start on an medication that mimics the bile acid we all have naturally in our bodies. This should help move the sludge out. Sounds yummy, doesn't it?
She'll have stool samples tested again on Monday to make sure her CDiff has cleared and also see if she has nay white cells in the stool. We'll test some more for blood as well.
From a GI standpoint, we'll just continue to monitor her. She should not have antibiotics for a LONG time, as that can cause the CDiff easily for her.

It has been a long month and I am grateful that she seems to be getting back to normal. Grateful...and scratching : )