It was the Friday before Easter and I had a follow-up visit with my primary care provider. I was called in to see a Nurse Practitioner I’d never seen before. She took vitals without saying a word and then informed me I had a UTI. I told her I didn’t have any symptoms of a UTI but she said well, you don’t want a major UTI flare up over Easter weekend so let’s get you started on an antibiotic, and she prescribed Ceclor. I didn’t think anything of it because I’d taken Ceclor before without any trouble.

I followed the prescribing orders, but I woke up on Easter morning feeling not quite myself. Our family attended a brunch and I ate light, but nothing different than what I usually eat which is fairly simple food. I took a short nap when I got home but still felt uneasy when I woke up. Our kids are grown so I didn’t need to entertain them with Easter egg hunts or bunny stories, so I went to bed early. Sometime in the middle of the night, I awoke in a panic and raced to the bathroom to vomit. Foul smelling projectile diarrhea started shortly thereafter and before I knew it I was spewing from both ends until I thought there was nothing left to spew.

I was wrong. The vomiting was over but the diarrhea would last for days. It lasted so long and was so bad I ended up sleeping on the toilet for 3 days and 4 nights. I thought I felt better by the 5th day so my husband left for a pre-planned conference in San Francisco. I fell twice, the second time late at night while my husband was in San Francisco, and I was so weak and tired I considered dying there except I didn’t want my youngest son to find me. I struggled up and promised myself I’d call the paramedics in the morning if I lived through the night.

Well, they came in the morning and couldn’t find my BP with either their manual or digital BP monitors, and when they finally got me to the hospital my BP was 70/30. The doctors couldn’t believe I was walking and talking. I should’ve been in shock. I was diagnosed with C. diff and remained in the hospital for 5 days. I remained home from work for an additional two weeks before I relapsed and returned to the hospital worse than I’d been before.

I had a near death experience where I begged my dead mother to protect me from the spirits trying to take me away. It took over one hour of delusional texting begging my ID doctor to change my medication from vancomycin to Dificid because the vancomycin was making the diarrhea worse and killing me. I had gone from being able to walk to the bathroom to being restricted to a potty chair.

One year later, I am starting to have relapses. C. diff relapse, back to Dificid, C. diff relapse, back to Dificid. This is my 4th relapse with C. diff. My ID doctor has tried the implant, which failed. He’s going to do another Zinplava infusion, if my insurance will approve it. I wish I’d never said yes to that damn Nurse Practitioner!