I ended up going to the hospital in January 2021 for abdominal pain on the left side of my belly. First, I went to immediate care and was diagnosed through an x-ray showing that the stool was stuck. I went to Target and grabbed some stool softener which didn’t resolve the issue since the pain persisted and became more severe. Two days later, I went to the hospital and took a CT scan that found I had diverticulitis, for which I was put on antibiotics. I continued for the next two weeks on amoxicillin and Augmentin (amoxicillin with clavulanate).

After antibiotics, a week later, I noticed I started to have severe pain in my stomach and felt like inflammation with cramping. I thought it was my diverticulitis acting up, but I had my first meeting with a GI doctor to do a PCR test just in case. I tested positive for C. diff.

I never knew what C. diff was or how it was acquired. I took vancomycin for two weeks and then started taking Florastor to help and have been okay for 4 months. C. diff has become a crisis everywhere, and I hope as a community we can strive to focus on research to eliminate this infection, whether it be probiotics or FMT through pills. Not everyone has experienced C. diff, and I pray no one does. This infection can impact your life and your loved ones and is something that no one should go through.