When I got a C. diff infection in 2012, I was pregnant with my third child.

Nothing in my experience—growing up on a farm with 3 brothers, being a single-mother to 3 kids, fighting hunger in rural Pennsylvania at the human services center where I work—prepared me to wrestle with the disease. It had me at death’s door as I was trying to give life to a newborn.

I did not know about C. diff., when I tested positive for it. Drug after drug proved futile against it. Even skilled physicians were mystified by this disease and throwing up their hands.

Then I heard about a procedure called a fecal transplant. And through the Peggy Lillis Foundation I learned that this procedure was actually working on chronic cases like mine.

Information I gained through PLF renewed my will to seek a second opinion at the very worst time of my life. The treatment that followed and further knowledge about how antibiotics had rendered my digestive system susceptible to C. diff. helped restore my health.

So I hope you’ll join me as a supporter and donor to the Peggy Lillis Foundation. PLF is a lifeline that provides accurate and accessible information to tens of thousands of Americans each year, most of whom don’t know what’s infecting them or their loved one.

PLF doesn’t stop with education. It leads by example in training those – like me – who are touched by the epidemic to become skilled advocates to advance policies that improve health systems.

And it is part of the solution. PLF works with innovators in scientific research, frontline caregivers, and policy makers from the state level up through Congress, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and federal agencies to combat the C. diff. epidemic.

Please join me in making a contribution to this life-saving education and advocacy organization that has made a lasting difference for thousands of people like me.

Sincerely,

Megan Fernsler