Allen's Case History

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I called 911 in late January when I couldn't get out of bed due to severe back spasms. When I got to the hospital, they noticed that I had a fever so they cultured my blood. Three days later, after admitting me, they said I had a MSSA -- Methecillin Sensitive Staphlococcus Aureus -- bacteremia, in other words, an infection of my blood. They immediately started me on Vancomycin before they knew that it was a MSSA and not a MRSA infection. After a few days they switched to another intravenous antibiotic and eventually they settled on Encef, an older cephalosporin.

One day the doctor asked me a few questions about my bowel habits. She then immediately started me on Flagyl because she said I probably had C DIff. At that point I did not have D, just frequent and smelly stools. At the hospital they didn't test, they just treated me based on clinical symptoms. This is good practice.

One day the insurance company decided I no longer needed an acute care facility (hospital) so they said I could go to a subacute facility (nursing home/rehab) or home on a home infusion program. I chose home infusion. Big mistake! After six days of my elderly dad trying to take care of me, we called 911 and I was rehospitalized with severe back pain again. This time they were not so anxious to let go of me.

Eventually, they stopped the Flagyl and discharged me to a subacute care facility where I again developed C Diff. Except this time it wasn't treated promptly. The inexperienced doctor waited three days to start me on Flagyl, so I was in agony and I was also a danger to the other residents. Finally, after my D stopped, they put me in isolation! I don't know how many of the residents there had C Diff. The infection control measures at this place were inadequate at best and criminal at worst.

The doctor was not anxious to let me go home until I had completed ten days of Flagyl, so my discharge was delayed considerably because of the recurrence. I finally was discharged 9 days ago. Fed up with my insurance company and wary of bureaucracies, I hired my own home care aid for a few days before I felt strong enough to be on my own.

After a few days of disturbing symptoms -- night sweats, elevated temps, dizziness and fatigue as well as loose frequent stools and mucus -- I started to feel a lot better. My appetite returned and I got around to seeing my doctor. I asked for a stool test even though he told me they were pretty much meaningless. He took the usual blood work and referred me to an ID specialist.

The ID specialist had the results of my earlier blood work, and everything was normal. The stool test was positive for C Diff toxins, but the ID doc explained that this was because there were residual toxins in my colon and this was certainly not an indication for treatment. He said I did not have C Diff based on clinical presentation. My blood tests did not show the presence of an infection.

The ID doc ordered a blood culture to see if my blood was free of the MSSA bacteremia. He also gave me a urinalysis to see if I had a bladder or prostate infection, since my doctor had noted that my prostate was "soft and boggy." He also ordered a few blood tests to check for markers of inflammation. I am waiting for the results of these new tests.

In addition to bacteremia and C Diff, I have asthma, GERD, thyroiditis, a history of severe depression and I'm on the mild end of the autism sepctrum, having been dxed with Asperger's syndrome as an adult. And chronic lower back pain . My back is much better than it was, but I have degenerative disk disease. I need to be referred to a physical therapist. So the next few months will be spent going to doctors and therapists.

It looks like I have beaten this thing, but I am still at risk because I need to take a proton pump inhibitor like Prilosec for my severe GERD. I tried going off, but my reflux returned with a vengeance. I'm now trying it every other day, and adding Tums.

In addition, I have been drinking Kefir and using Florastor and Culturelle. My doctors say that these probiotics are probably helpful.

All in all, I lost ten pounds in the hospital.I went from 158 to 148. I am 5'8", so this is still a healthy weight for me. I am slowly gaining back the weight. I was away from home for about 6 weeks between the two hospitalizations and the subacute care.

I am in a Medicare HMO. The hospital billed my HMO $70,000 for my care. This does not include the doctor's bills or the subacute care or the ambulances. My copay was under $200 so I am not complaining. But I was astonished at how much this is costing Medicare. I can only guess what the rest of my care will cost.

I hope this detailed case history has been helpful to others. I will update it as I get new information.

-Allen