{"id":8368,"date":"2024-11-04T11:01:47","date_gmt":"2024-11-04T15:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/safehealthcare\/?p=8368"},"modified":"2024-11-04T11:01:47","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T15:01:47","slug":"i-am-a-cdiff-survivor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/safehealthcare\/i-am-a-cdiff-survivor\/","title":{"rendered":"I am a C. diff<\/em> survivor. What I know now and what I want others to know."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Maryann
Maryann Webb, C. diff<\/em> Survivor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis must be cancer.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s what I thought when I was hospitalized for a second time in two months.<\/p>\n

One month prior, I was hospitalized with diverticulitis, which was treated with strong intravenous antibiotics. Then I found myself back in the hospital. This time, it was worse than diverticulitis. I had never been so sick in my life. The abdominal pain was unbearable, and the diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting were continuous.<\/p>\n

It took three months, and multiple hospital stays before a test for a Clostridioides difficile<\/em> (or C. diff<\/em>) infection eventually came back positive. I had never heard of it, but I thought it could be treated, and I would get better. Unfortunately, I was only half right.<\/p>\n

The C. diff<\/em> infection had taken a stronghold in my body and wouldn\u2019t let go. During each hospitalization, I was treated with a handful of standard antibiotic protocols and occasionally a course of monoclonal antibodies. These would briefly lessen the worst of the C. diff <\/em>symptoms, and I would be released back home to continue to heal.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, I wasn\u2019t informed there was a good chance that the infection would come roaring back, so, it was baffling to me that my body and my life were ruined over the subsequent three years by multiple C. diff<\/em> infections. Finally, I became a C. diff<\/em> survivor following a Fecal Microbiota Transplant<\/a>. Within eight hours of the procedure, I began to feel better.<\/p>\n

The horrors of my C. diff<\/em> journey left me with so many questions, which, in turn, led me to the Peggy Lillis Foundation<\/a>. It was there that I found my experience was not unique. I met others who had similar stories of misdiagnoses and treatment-resistant infections. Still, others had a close family member who had died from this urgent threat<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I know now that C. diff<\/em> can affect anyone and that there are things patients and families can do. First, talk to a healthcare professional about your risk of developing C. diff<\/em> infection when starting an antibiotic. People are more likely to get a C. diff<\/em> infection while or soon after taking antibiotics. If you develop symptoms of C. diff <\/em>infection while or soon after taking antibiotics, contact a healthcare professional to discuss and be evaluated. Now, as a C. diff<\/em> survivor, I support others in their journey to recovery and advocate for better awareness, policies, and treatment options.<\/p>\n

For more information about C. diff<\/em>, visit www.cdc.gov\/cdiff<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Learn what CDC is doing to prevent C. diff <\/em>infections: C. diff Initiatives | C. diff | CDC<\/a><\/p>\n

For more information about appropriate antibiotic use, visit www.cdc.gov\/antibiotic-use<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThis must be cancer.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s what I thought when I was hospitalized for a second time in two months. One month prior, I was hospitalized with diverticulitis, which was treated with strong intravenous antibiotics. Then I found myself back in the hospital. This time, it was worse than diverticulitis. I had never been so sick<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":275,"featured_media":8375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4381],"tags":[37116,76],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/safehealthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8368"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/safehealthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/safehealthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/safehealthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/275"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/safehealthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8368"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/safehealthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8381,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/safehealthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8368\/revisions\/8381"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/safehealthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/safehealthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/safehealthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/safehealthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}