Keep Your Fingers Crossed For Me

[Bobbie]

My husband has a terrible cold. He knows what I've gone through (pneumonia 4X, C. diff. twice, probably Vanco. resistant, asthma, poor immune system, yada yada). He didn't tell me he was feeling sick until yesterday when he started to cough and then said, " feeel awful. I've had a sore throat for a couple of days.

I had a fit! He is now barricaded in the bedroom with a box of Kleenix. He usually beats a cold in three to four days without complications. No such luck for me.

This is typical of most of us who have/had C. diff. Our friends, relatives, and co-workers"don't "get it." They can take antibiotics while most of us can't without risking C. diff. again. I don't know how to get the message across to the lucky un-C. differs! Like anything else, you have to experience it to understand it.

[Lauren]

Geez - I sure hope you're sleeping in the guest room!

[Rose2]

Bobbie,

I'm sure none of us need to give you advice on what to do...Everyone in the household should wash your hands often and maybe even wear surgical masks.

Meanwhile, I hope your husband gets over his cold quickly and you remain unaffected by it, physically.

Thinking of you...

Rose

[Marcia]

Bobbie
I am very and always been suceptable to colds. Everytime my kid gets one i'm next. I've gotten the flu this year already. Husband looks like he is not going to get sick this year (lucky him) and lucky me for that matter.
Daughter is just getting rid of the cold or maybe it was the flu, i felt bad because i kept reminder her not to breath on me or to cough the other way.
I know you don't like the airborne because of too much vitamin A but if you feel anything coming a couple of days of that wouldn't do much damage i don't think. Also i use zicam when i feel something. I think they work because so far by now i would of gotten 2 colds plus the flu.
Good luck! Remember that a cold is contagious the first 3 days after that you probably won't be at risk.

[Bobbie]

Thx. for tips. Actually, I could run for MS Hygiene. Can't convince others however.

I'll tell Sneezey he should wear a mask. (I do have them.) Keep in mind he is a 66 year old man, and he's from MO. (Motto: Show me, I'm from MO.) Have you ever heard the expression, "Stubborn as a MO mule."

He is feeling better, but the poor thing has sufferered so. He has been careful about washing his hands lately, but when he was the most contagious, he didn't take precautions.

[Nancy1]

Bobbie,

I am really sorry to hear about your husband's cold and his casual attitude. I surely hope you escape it! My husband is one of those guys who "forgets" half the time to cover his nose and mouth when he sneezes. I have told him many times about this, especially now, but I guess he wasn't raised that way. So when we were coming home from West Virginia, he thought he was getting a cold. Already I was nervous, of course. And he sneezed and natch, didn't cover anything. When I called him on it, he said, well, I turned away from you when I sneezed. Arrrgh!! Anyhow, today he seems better and so far I don't have it.

Hang in there and stay well.

[Bobbie]

Nancy,
Thanks for your good wishes, but I "caught" his cold and feel awful. He is almost over it already. Not fair.

Since I get pneumonia easily (4 x) and also asthma, I am concerned -- well terrified is a better word -- at the thought of an antibiotic. (I am also probably Vanco. resistant.)

I am so careful about hygiene, but not eveyone else is. Too bad they can't experience C. diff. for a day or two!

[Nancy1]

Bobbie,

I am soooo sorry that you caught your husband's nasty cold. That is totally lousy. I am sending all kinds of good vibes towards Kansas City and hoping for rapid healing for you. No complications allowed!!!

Big (virtual) hugs too.

[Bobbie]

Thanks, Nancy, for your kind thoughts. I hope to recover w/o complications. Again, W&W -- the hardest thing to do.

[Christina]

I wish you well and will keep you in my thoughts.I hope you breeze through it without any trouble.Good luck.

[millie]

My husband is very good about this--people who don't cover their hacking really bug him. And I think he fears antibiotics as much as I do--even before we knew about CDiff, he's always been concerned because I have so many antibiotic allergies (from overuse when I was a child). And he's also carried enough of my "samples" to labs!

Bobbie, you're right, sometimes I think we're all just the walking wounded! Hope you can get past this one without antibiotics--we're all thinking positive thoughts for each other--can't have too many of those!

[cindym]

Millie- However this walking wounded IS NOT WALKING currently. Ha! The redness has never developed as I was told it would with cellulitis and now I truly question the diagnosis. They xrayed foot and leg and found nothing wrong. The swelling and pain are still very intense and Monday I am sure they will do something else.........God only knows what. But, I am ready cause I am tired of not being able to wear a shoe and hurting with each step! Geez--------always something!

[jennie]

Bobbie and CindyM, know you have both had a tough week, and hoping that this Sunday a.m. you are both feeling MUCH better. Bobbie, thinking of you, saw your post yesterday, and hoping it is resolving. Isn't is peculiar how difficult it is to train men to keep their cold cooties to themselves!

[Bobbie]

Thanks for all your good wishes. Yes, I did get my husband's "cold." While he emerged complication-free, it went into my sinuses and chest so I am on breathing treatments, various inhalers, and saline irrigation. (Snuff and puff.)

I've had pneumonia 4X (have had the pneumovax shot several X). Since I've had C. diff. twice (once for 4 yrs) and am probably now Vanco. resistant, I am terrified of taking another antibiotic. Of course, none of this compares to my husband's broken wrist which he told me about again last night in great detail. Men are not my favorite animals right now.

People who don't develop complications from "colds" don't have a clue. People who have never had C. diff. don't have a clue. I think my husband will be more careful in the future, however. I now have little alcohol pads near the phone and computer keyboard. I have ranted and raved a lot. Perhaps he will remember. Perhaps not.