- He does NOT have a parasite, although
- He does have a staph infection (there was a miscommunication with the parasite and it ended up being staph) or sometimes they are calling it a blood infection.
- He has a urinary infection
- He has a resistant form of C-DIFF. The doctor said they just came out with a new medication to treat the resistant form that has gotten good results. Doctor said that it will still take about 3-4 days before we notice a difference.
Needless to say he is very very sick right now and at times this afternoon was just in bed moaning. He still only has mobility with his arms and now that he is so sick it's delaying good rehab of his legs. He is not up to visitors right now and now won't talk on the phone either. Although, if you want to call and talk to mom you can try.
Mom is going to ask the doctor in the morning where we stand with things being contagious. From what we know so far the C-Diff is not air born and of course the UTI isn't, but we aren't sure about the staph. My understanding is that most staph are contagious. Mom is going to ask when we are in the clear for visitors because I know that mom could use the support, but we don't want anyone getting sick either. Thankfully a very good family friend that use to live across the street from us when I was growing up (she now lives in Louisiana) is in town until Sunday. Praise God for this timing because mom really really needs it!!!
Please pray for full recovery, dad's strength mentally, physically and spiritually to fight through all this, and the strength and well being of mom.
If you haven't read the comment by Cherie on the previous post, feel free, it has some info also.
God Bless!!!!
3 comments:
I wonder if the Parasite confusion was because he is getting Flagyl...standard treatment for parasites but also standard for C-Diff.
The staph infection in his blood is most likely MRSA (Methcillin resistant Staph aureus). It, and C-Diff and VRE (Vancomycin resistant enterococcus) are all common hospital/rehab facility infections that come from improper hand washing between patients or even the caring act of touching and assisting someone while not having yet washed from the last patient contact. These three infections are in a majority of persons over 65 who have been in a health care institution for longer than a week if any procedures have been done (surgery, central lines, trach, biopsy, insertion of ports, etc).
So...Tim was bound to end up with at least one of these and it's to the credit of those caring for him that it took this long (good technique!) to show up.
These next few days will be miserable for him but with proper meds and hydration and encouragement, he will come out of this.
Just so you know...
C. difficile can occur following ANY course of antibiotics (even in people who are completely healthy and haven't had their resistance weakened by being sick for a long time).
Also, normal healthy people can be colonized with MRSA (methicillin-resistent staph aureus). It can live on our skin and in our noses, and if our immune system is doing okay, it doesn't bother us. But if we're weakened from being sick, or have a break in the skin, it can cause problems.
I just don't want you to assume that it is 100% clear that Tim got these infections because a health care worker didn't wash his or her hands. That being said, it is true these infections ARE very common in hospitals and rehab facilities, and if the health care workers practice good handwashing and good isolation techniques, it can greatly reduce how often these infections are passed between patients.
I'll keep praying for a full, and speedy, recovery!
I had never heard of C-Diff. I did a search on it which lead me to the Mayo Clinic's website. Very informative for those of you like me who aren't familiar with it.
Kackie
Post a Comment