Maryann Dillon
My name is MaryAnn Dillon. I am a Registered Nurse in the Emergency Room at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, where I have worked for about 25 years. I have worked with Helen Biegel, Peggy Lillis’ sister for four years and we have talked about what happened to Peggy. We were all shocked and upset hearing the story of a healthy, 56-year-old dying from a Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infection.
About nine months ago, while I was working in the ER, I started to not feel well and lost consciousness at work. After an evaluation by North Shore-LIJ doctors, it was discovered that I had high white blood cell count and a low red blood cell count. The low RBC indicated a gastrointestinal bleed, for which I was treated, including a colonoscopy. The high WBC indicated an infection, so I was started on an antibiotic.
After about two weeks, I was still not feeling well, having some abdominal discomfort and while I did not have diarrhea my stool was just not normal. Thinking of Peggy’s story I insisted on my doctor taking a stool sample for analysis. Much to my shock it came back positive for C. diff. If I did not know Peggy’s story I probably would never have thought that this would be possible.
I was treated for C. diff and wound up being out of work for three months. Being an experienced nurse, I know the devastation of this diagnosis. Prior to Peggy’s death I would never had thought this could happen.
To this day, I still don’t know how I contracted C. diff. While the physical part of the disease is over, psychologically every time I not feeling well, every time I have some abdominal discomfort I think, “What if its back?”
Other Stories
-
Mira
In December of 2019, my husband got sick with C. diff. It was after he was prescribed antibiotics for what they thought was a case of diverticulitis. In hindsight, it’s clear he may have simply had C. diff all along. He was treated with vancomycin… -
Beth W.
My story began in 2018 when I went to see a colorectal surgeon for the incision of a thrombosed hemorrhoid. In order to ‘prevent’ an infection, the surgeon prescribed me both Amoxicillin 800mg 2x daily and Vancomycin 500mg 3x daily. Upon completio… -
Mollie Lauck
My Husband and I were expecting our first child. We were so very excited. My Pregnancy was complicated to begin with- I was considered “Advanced Maternal Age” and had Hypertension and Gestational Diabetes. Though it was a labor of love, Pregnancy … -
Ken Fredrickson
I’m 62 and generally healthy, I’ve never had an intestinal issue. I went to the ER on Jan 2, 2023 and a CT scan revealed Diverticulitis. They sent me home with a 2 week course of antibiotics. Four days after completing the antibiotics, I developed… -
Jan
I am a healthy active older woman. On March 1, 2019 I had an explosive episode of diarrhea, out of the blue, no idea what caused it. The smell was indescribable, like nothing I had ever experienced in my long life. That was the beginning of a long… -
Dr. Melissa Geraghty, Psy.D.
At the start of 2018 I was diagnosed with C. diff. I never really heard much about C. diff outside of people acquiring it in a hospital setting or people of advanced age contracting it. Oh, was I wrong. After being sick for about 8 weeks with w… -
Cassie Padilla
As a nurse for 35 years I thought I knew a lot about C. diff but as a patient I’ve discovered I knew NOTHING about C. diff. I have had 2 episodes of C. diff in my life. The first was in 2017 following (prophylactic) antibiotics after surgery. That… -
Julia
I’ve been suffering from this infection for the past few years. When I was first diagnosed, I was shocked and thought this was something that only the elderly suffered from. It’s been 3 years since my first infection, and I still suffer daily. I’v… -
Sue
I had emergency surgery for a ruptured appendix and was given SO MANY antibiotics in the hospital. I was also given Protonix for the acid reflux that resulted from all the antibiotics. Looking at the list of risk factors for C. diff, I fit every o… -
Howard
While many of us who battle C diff have quick success with the usual antibiotics, the purpose of my entry here is to emphasize the high rate of success of the Fecal Microbiota Transplant. My C diff experience was such that A) a lengthy course of V…
