Christina, VRE question

[Nan]

Christina
You mentioned in another post that you were told, because you were on Vanco a over year, not to even visit a hospital due to the risk of VRE. That is food for thought for me as I have been on Vanco (mostly pulse dosing) for over two years which certainly puts me, like all of us here, in a higher risk category for VRE. Two of my grandchildren were born since I was first diagnosed with Cdiff. I was told it was OK to visit in the hospital as long as I practiced excellent hygiene, which, of course, I did and I have been doing all along. Your statement got me wondering about visiting the hospital. Another grandbaby is due this fall. My only concern had been making others ill, but now I thinking about the possibility of getting VRE when visiting the hospital.

Did your doctor say what the odds for risk were for hospital visiting and VRE? By that I mean, highly likely, could happen, unlikely, very remote, etc? I certainly don’t want to VRE but don’t want to stop living my life, so dilemma time for me.

Thoughts?
Anyone?

[MaryT]

I was never aware that I shouldn't have gone to a hospital during my very long course of vancomycin and during that time my brother was constantly in and out of hte hospital and I went to see him all the time.

Maybe I shouldn't have...but I'm glad I did, because I lost him in November and I'm glad I was always there for him.

[Christina]

I think if you use proper hygiene you shouldn't worry. All he said was that my risk would be higher than that of your average person. I have no idea how long that risk is a factor. If it continues or ends at some point.
I was admitted into the hospital for a week while on Vanco and went to the ER a bunch of times as well. I'm OK.
You can't stop living. I'd go enjoy your new Granchild. Just wash your hands maybe twice instead of once!

[Christina]

Here's a link on VRE and handwashing. It just states if you've been on Vanco you are at higher risk. Hope it helps.

http://www.cinetwork.com/otero/vre.html

[Nan]

Mary,
I am so sorry to hear about your brother. No question, you had to go and be there for him. You needed to be there for him and also for you.

Christina, thank you for your thoughts and for the link. No, I can’t stop living and don’t want to miss this birth as I was there for the other four grandchildren. I am super careful now with hand washing [almost to the point of obsession :) ] as I really don’t want to catch another bacterial infection, so I’ll just have to be even more so during hospital visits.