The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases invited PLF to write a blog post sharing the patient perspective as part of its educational series on Clostridium difficile infections (CDI).

My family was drafted into the fight against CDIs following the April 2010 death of my mother, Peggy, from a virulent, community-acquired CDI. Although my mother was a healthy, 56-year-old kindergarten teacher, the time from onset of symptoms to her death was only 6 days. At that time, CDIs were virtually unknown outside of healthcare facilities despite killing tens of thousands and sickening hundreds of thousands in the US annually. The doctors who treated Mom were shocked that something long considered a nuisance disease could strike down a healthy, middle-aged woman. Determined that our mother’s death would not be in vain, my family founded the Peggy Lillis Foundation (PLF) in June of 2010.

Read the full post on NFID’s blog.