Teachers ?

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hledgess
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Teachers ?

Postby hledgess » Mon Feb 10, 2020 12:15 pm

Where are my fellow teachers at? I start teaching 1st grade tomorrow.. I’m worried about the morning ritual like what if I can’t get it done in time before work.. I think I’ll bring my Clorox wipes to work and flushable wipes but the seat didn’t close and is automatic which freaks me out lol .. also trying to figure our lunch options that would be easy to digest and that are quick too.. I’m in a Facebook site and everyone is freaking out that I will be teaching again.. I already work in food service .. they said I’m active and should not be working .. I have 4,000 in bills .. wash my hands and plan on cleaning the toilet .. I get when u flush spores can become airborne but I can’t do anything about it that .. I will try to go at home when possibly but I’ll have no choice but to go there and plan on taking precautions .. partly why I asked this originally .. I just added to it bc of the response I got from that post on fb..

BetsyS
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Re: Teachers ?

Postby BetsyS » Tue Feb 11, 2020 12:11 am

I'm not a teacher, but I come from a family of them! I am a Bank Branch Manager and went back half time while still on Vanco and symptomatic. Wish I could have stayed home longer, but I was out of sick leave and am trying to save some vacation time so I could use it for something other than C Diff. My ID doctor told me I wasn't contagious, but I took my bleach, wipes, rubber gloves etc. because I was still symptomatic. I also have a co-worker with chronic health issues and wanted to make sure she'd be ok. Not to be too graphic, but try flushing while sitting.

I am now back to fulltime, and sometimes bring lunch. I am having problems with food, and don't want to chance having a problem in the afternoon. I've been taking hard boiled eggs, sliced cheese (no dairy issues) bananas, lunch sized applesauce or packaged Apple slices on a good day. I've been fighting off a UTI, so I have no sugar cranberry juice on hand, and packages of Ritz peanut butter crackers just in case I actually get hungry. I usually have all this on hand at home, but if I don't, I swing by Starbucks and get one of their egg protein box which has just about the same things.

NanciT
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Re: Teachers ?

Postby NanciT » Tue Feb 11, 2020 12:47 pm

CDIFF is different for everyone, not easy for most. Job issues are difficult. If you had active CDIFF with D everyday I would think you should not be in Food Service of any kind.
When I was diagnosed, I saw a few GI's who all said once treatment starts and D improves, I could work. I do teach. I was out for 1 week.

When I relapsed which occurred 5 times over 1 year, I missed days when the D and vomiting came back. Once that was under control I was back to work.
I did not feel well most of the time, I just need the job. One of my GI's told me to stay out of the hospital( I teach in the classroom and hospital). I could not continue the job unless I was at the hospital so I took extra precautions and had no interaction with patients. I never went to work if I had D or vomiting. I was extremely careful. I took snacks to work that I did OK with. I ate snacks instead of lunch because it took a long time for me to do OK with adding foods. I kept my smart water and wore my Sea Bands everyday. It was a very tough time hanging onto the job, especially being in the hospital. Hospitals often code rooms where patients have CDIFF and it caused me anxiety just to walk by the rooms. I know it was an unrealistic fear but I still take all precautions 5 years later.
Looking back, working helped me get through it, I had alot of abdominal pain from Dificid which I was on for months but I pushed through it. It was rough, I understand.
Take it a day at a time as you return, go easy on the eating. I still do this 5 years later!!

Hope all goes well for you

NanciT

roy
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Re: Teachers ?

Postby roy » Tue Feb 11, 2020 1:25 pm

Have your Dr confirm your fit for work but theres no reason not to!
School heads can panic if they think you have a contagious illness.
A year or two back one school sent everyone home and deep cleaned because a staff member had c.diff.
They closed for over a week!
Total overkill because of false information.
Get your Drs advice.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/publicheal ... alth/49617

https://patch.com/new-york/midhudsonval ... e-cleaning

Bobbie
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Re: Teachers ?

Postby Bobbie » Wed Feb 12, 2020 1:57 pm

Agree with Roy and NanciT. Get out there "among 'em. Good for you mentally and physically and OK for others with thorough hand washing procedures. I worked for years with c diff and then IBS.

Best wishes. Keep posting.

hledgess
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Posts: 354
Joined: Mon Jan 04, 2016 5:58 pm

Re: Teachers ?

Postby hledgess » Wed Feb 12, 2020 10:02 pm

Thank you that was very helpful! The food service is easy as I don’t eat while Im there at all until I’m off work.. if I had D I’d get it covered.. I ate more before work and after .. so teaching is a new thing as getting up early I usually have to go in the morning and if I don’t I worry bc I don’t want to go there and I worried about eating .. so the advice on snacks was awesome .. I really appreciate it and glad u all said it was food to go to work..last two days have been normal stool bit pain and bloating as I think my gut is trying to repair itself and not used to hardest stools .. but I’m grateful.. thank you again

beth22
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Re: Teachers ?

Postby beth22 » Thu Feb 13, 2020 2:06 am

I am a teacher and when I got c diff I only missed when I had D, which was not that many days. My worst relapse was in July when I was not working. My department shared one small bathroom - there were 6 of us and no one got c difficile. I did not use the bathrooms that the students used unless absolutely necessary. I'm sure there must be a teacher's bathroom at your school. The toilets for first graders are very low to the ground, so they must have some somewhere for adults. Just make sure to wash your hands really well before going to your classroom.

hledgess
Regular Contributor
Posts: 354
Joined: Mon Jan 04, 2016 5:58 pm

Re: Teachers ?

Postby hledgess » Thu Feb 13, 2020 8:00 pm

Yes there are several bathrooms!!! I’m grateful for that! I haven’t gone at school and currently haven’t had D .. vanco seems to have kicked in again after the amoxicillin flare.. I actually ate all day and didn’t have to go until I got home and ate dinner.. currently in pain still though from going.. maybe it’s harder on the colon once it’s harder like that.. just in case I brought gloves and Clorox wipes that kill c diff and put them in one of the bathrooms if I had to go.. I feel better about this whole ordeal I appreciate it!

beth22
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Re: Teachers ?

Postby beth22 » Fri Feb 14, 2020 9:44 pm

You should be fine. My school knew what I had and they did not ask me not to come in. Good hand hygiene is the most important thing. You should be fine.

Caligirl
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Re: Teachers ?

Postby Caligirl » Tue Feb 25, 2020 9:05 pm

I’m not a teacher but I work at my church (very large church) that has about 1000 kids and students come each week. I was desperate to get back to work because I had been off for 5 months for disability and maternity leave and was going a little crazy. At first, I would take bleach and gloves just in case I had a BM at work. And since there weren’t lids on the toilet, I would cover it with a paper towel before it flushed to keep anything from potentially spraying out. Going back to work was so good for me mentally, financially, and physically. After a little while I stopped the bleaching and just continued with good hand washing hygiene and now am living my normal life. You can do this! C diff can rob us of so many good things, don’t let it take more from you than it already has.


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