C-Diff after surgery, anyone else?

I'm really feeling depressed...I started having diarrhea 4 days post op (May 8th) and after speaking with my surgeon he thought perhaps it was dietary, maybe a lactose intolerence or from the whey protein. So I started trying different things but to no avail. Then at my 10 day post op doctor visit he thought I might have contracted c- diff (Clostridium Difficile colitis) from the IV antibiotics in the hospital. He started me on a course of antibiotics until a stool sample would either come back negative or positive, no harm I was told to start taking the medicine. It came back negative so I stopped the antibiotics but continued to have diarrhea and nausea, oh yeah I deveolped Thrush in my mouth from the antibiotic to cure the c-diff! So another antibiotic ( I still can't eat or drink for fear of needing to run to the bathroom) and nothing has changed. I ended up in the hospital for dehydration and went to see a Gasterinterologist for more help. I had a colonoscopy (I had to prepare for it like we did before the Bypass surgery and no way could I do it...) which confirmed I HAVE C-Diff after all. Please I've read some really scary things about C-Diff and was hoping someone on OH might have gone through a similar experience and can let me know how they got through it? I ask myself everyday if this was all worth it... : (

You can go through it and you Will Make it!! My mother was recently diagnosed with CDIff after having Open heart surgery ( 2 valves replaced 1 repaired), then began the CDIFF symptoms almost a month out ( she got hers from the rehab center) After three months of mis diagnosing they finally found out it was CDIF. THere are really great sites out there that offer help and in our experience once she began the proper antibiotc it began to clear and the symptoms subsided. http://www.cdiffsupport.com/aboutcdiff.html the antibiotics they prescribed were Flagil- very strong , commonly prescribed in our case it made the vomiting and diahrreah worse and destroyed more of the good bacteria. Vancocin - not as commonly prescribed because of the expense check with your insurance company first if it is prescribed ours would have been $3,000 for a month supply without proper insurance. Thank God my mother was covered hers was only $11 (Insurance what a racket! ) It's also hard to find at the average pharmacy we got ours from a 24hour CVS near the local hospital.

Thanks for your words of encouragement. Sorry to hear about your Mom I hope she is recovering quickly. I am about to take my last dose of Flagyll, thank goodness! The side effects of the meds are horrible and I'm hoping i can start eating and drinking without the constant nausea and metallic taste in my mouth...I was told if I didn't respond to the meds I might be looking at my colon being removed! All from the damn hospital! This is a horrible disease and people getting any kind of surgery should be aware that this could be a result of their hospital stay. The CDC website says there is a resurgence of this bacteria and that the new strain might be even more resistant to the antibiotics to cure it....go figure! I was hoping that I could reach others that might have gone through this and educate the folks that are thinking about surgery, ask your Doctor!