postop complication

Well i finally got out of the hospital for the second time. I washaving a real problem getting my fluids down let alone any food. After a couple of days my friend insisted on taking me in to see my surgeon. They said I was dehydrated...duh, and sent me to get IV fluids. They drew some labs just to be safe and ended up admitting me because my potassium was so low. It was low enough they were scared, which scared me of course. Once in the hospital i kept having problems with diarrhea ( sorry if TMI). Finally my surgeon ordered some tests on me and found out I had a post op infection called c-diff. Its a pretty nasty one and something you usually only get in the hospital. If not trated it can be deadly...so Im thankful i had a friend who forced me to go in! Once they started the antibiotics i felt tons better. They finally sent me home yesterday and when i woke up this morning for the first time since surgery i didnt feel nauseated! I guess my whole story is about trusting your gut if you feel like something is wrong....it is! Dont dismiss any strange symptoms without talking to your doctor.

Glad you're feeling better and on your way to recovery!

Good friend!  Glad you're feeling better!

I'm glad you're feeling better, and that someone made you go see your surgoen. C-diff can cause lots of problems, and is contagious. Here's to a new start!

Thank you for the heads up! I have never heard of that! I will keep that in mind post-op!!

So glad you are doing better!!

Pam :)

I got c.diff when I had the lap band done.  It is a common hospital-acquired infection.  However, once you have had c.diff, it never really goes away.  Any antibiotic might bring it back again.  A couple of years ago I got an infection in my foot and after trying several different antibiotics, I also got c.diff again.  I had to have two very serious foot surgeries and before going in I had to sign permission to amputate because the foot surgeon told me that he was not sure that it was going to able to be saved.  I was happy to come out with my foot, which was laced together in two places like a shoelace and had to be untied, cleaned and retied every day, then when it was clear of infection, back into surgery to close everything up.  I then needed 10 days of IV vancomycin and another antibiotic that I cannot remember in a picc line.

 

FYI - Remember when you got the diarrhea that sent you in?  I am sure you noticed that it had a distinct smell.  If you ever have that again after having antibiotics, you need to go back ASAP. This can be a fatal infection.

Glad your feeling better Hun,

I've  had a few postoperative issues and my general rule of thumb is if I don't feel "right" I head to the ER- one time that I was admitted the only outward sign there was something wrong with me was my confusion and vagueness, I had a pretty full on infection and was admitted for 5 days that time- I was already admitted by the time the pain hit.

don't be worried about "bothering" drs ,ER's, surgeons( I was) your health is more important!

My husband just recovered from C-diff. No fun. Glad you went in!! Did they tell you to take probiotics?  They recommended them for my husband and it helped the recovery.

 

They didn't suggest probiotics but my husband looked it up and asked about it. They said it couldn't hurt. Right now im eating yogurt with live cultures.