My father had Parkinson’s Disease. He and his wife (who was fighting a losing battle against cancer) were having a difficult time managing my dad’s medications. He was very unstable and at times experienced auditory and visual hallucinations due to dementia. My father had recently fallen and developed a cellulitis infection in his knee. He took a couple of rounds of antibiotics to clear it up. About a month later, Dad was at home with my stepbrother since my sister-in-law was inpatient at the local hospital. My dad shot my brother accidentally imagining him as intruder. (My stepbrother has since recovered completely.)

The local police took him to a ‘Senior Care’ facility for evaluation, where he contracted C. diff. He was transferred to a nursing home within a month where he developed sepsis. Eventually, his organs shut down and he died. Afterward, we learned that the doctors at the Senior Care facility AND Dad’s treating physicians had not communicated his increased risk for C. diff.

Families need to make sure treating doctors go over all medical records and are immediately notified of a patient’s transfer to facilities that increase their risk for C. diff. Also there needs to be more public awareness of C. diff.