I just want to tell my story so that what happened to me does not happen to anyone else.  I got so sick and dehydrated it was unreal.  This is a very long story, but i feel the need to vent and share it.

Anyway, surgery went great, I was on the right path with protein and vitamins, and then my 6th week post-op hit and I got unreal, horrendous diarrhea.  I thought well, must be a bug, but I called my surgeon that weekend anyway just to be sure.  She told me to eat activia and to take pepto and immodium like candy to get it under control.

Well...the weekend came and went along with 2 packs of immodium and pepto.  I was still going to the bathroom up to 10 times per day.  I saw my surgeon the Tuesday after and she still told me it was probably a bug, but sent me to the hospital to get fluids put in.  She told me to stay on the immodium.

Later that week, the cramping and the BMs were so bad, I couldn't get up off the toilet.  I went to the hospital from work and they gave me fluids AGAIN and some Lomotil, which is super anti-diarrheal.  It did NOTHING to help it.  Finally I went to my PCP when I wound up using the restroom in my sleep.  That was the scariest thing EVER.  She ran stool cultures and all of them came back negative.  She referred me back to my surgeon.

My surgeon sent me back to day beds to do a specific c-diff test and to rehydrate me.  Well, little did I know, the hospital ran the wrong test and it came back negative.  Everyone was perplexed, so they referred me to a gastroenterologist.  The problem was that I was still having tons of diarrhea and couldn't stay hydrated and the appointment with the gastro was a month away.

So my doctor decided to put in a PICC so I could give myself fluids at night to stay hydrated til I got to the specialist.  Sounds good, right?  Well..the PICC clotted and formed a blood clot in a superficial vein in my arm.  Bummer.  They pulled it and put another one in the next day.  Well, then I got an infection from the PICC that made my hands and fingers swell and hurt like I had severe arthritis.  I went back to the PCP to get some antibiotics and finally told my surgeon to get rid of the PICC cause it was causing too many problems and by this time, I was about to see the gastro in a couple days.

So they pulled it and finally the gastro appointment came.  Guess what he said?  It looked like c-diff, acted like c-diff, walked like c-diff, talked like c-diff, it was c-diff!  He put me on Vancomycin and what do you know...couple days later I was feeling soooooo much better!  It had cleared up in a matter of days!

The moral of the story is that if you happen to get the symptoms of c-diff and can't test positive for it, tell them to give you the meds anyway!!!  The gastro said a lot of times people test negative for it and still have it.  Let the medicine be the real test!  I don't want what happened to me to happen to anyone else!

May I ask what is a c-diff.

It is a unwanted bacteria that grows in your gut. Short for Clostridium difficile

Audra

Oops, my bad.  C-diff is an infection in your colon caused by antibiotics.  What happens is that antibiotics flush the good and the bad bacteria out of your system and if you come in contact with C-diff spores during that time, they multiply and cause horrible diarrhea because there is no good bacteria to keep it at bay.  Most people get antibiotics when they get their surgery, I know I did. 

My Mom had c-diff and it was awful......HIGHLY contagious......we had to "suit up" every time we saw her.  It can live on hard surfaces for months......had to wash with soap and water every time we left her room. 

Someone in my post-op support group also had C-diff and her experience sounded as horrendous as yours. 

Oh My!!! I know EXACTLY what you went through. I will never forget Janurary 10th 2010! I was hospitalized 9 days because I had C-Diff. It is the most horrible thing I ever had to go through in my entire life. I had just finished up antibiotics for a staph infection that turned MRSA from a spider bite. My room was quarintined and anyone that visited had to check in with the nurses station first to get gloves, a suit and mask. My heart goes out to anyone that has or will go through it! I am glad you are feeling much better.

Best Wishes!

i wonder if this is what i had when i had my baby. i had started hemorraging about 3 weeks after i had her. I had to have a d & c done. Sometime after that i got really bad. I started having diarhhea and the camping was horrible. i would end up on my knees in the bathroom on the floor. I would lay in bed in the fetus position and felt like i was dying. I called my doc and they told me i had something like a colitis like thing because of not administering the metronidazol right in the hospital. He put me on something and it too****il the 10th and last day of medicine for me to feel human again. It was horrible.

I think it was very nice to share your story with us.  It's amazing what doctors will put us through simply because they are not paying attention to what is happening to us.  I am glad you are okay and I hope you stay okay.  I had surgery in 2000. I have lost 150 lbs.  I'm half the woman I use to be.   God bless you and your journey.  MIne has been good. I feel way better.   Its' my first bout with c-diff and I hope my last.  No diarrhea just going a lot and some burning. I knew something wasn't right.  I asked my doctor since April to do something and find out what was wrong. She told me to take probiotics and then on the third visit I insisted on a stool sample which tested positive for c-diff.  Did vancomycin and I take my last pill at noon today after 10 days. I feel like the problem is still there. Something still is not right.  It will be interesting to see what they come up with.  My belly is very tight and I have gained 5 lbs. It feels like I have a big belt around my waist.  Horrible right feeling.   Will keep in touch.