New here:came over from Anxiety Zone

[StephA]

Hello, I'm new and my anxiety stems from having breast cancer four years ago and a battle with C Diff three times during cancer treatment. I'm hoping to help others as well as looking forward to meeting the people here. I'm glad I found this site. I was a frequent poster on AZ. I'm also on anxiety central, and I think I can learn a lot from both of these and hopefully help some folks as I said!

[venusbluejeans]

Hiya StephA and welcome to NMP :welcome:

Why not take a look at our articles on our home page, they contain a wealth of information and are a great starting place for your time on the forum.

I hope you find the as site helpful and informative as I have and that you get the help and support you need here and hope that you meet a few friends along the way :yesyes:

[AntsyVee]

Hey Steph! :welcome:

[StephA]

Hey there AntsyVee!! Nice to see you're on here too!

[Catherine S]

Sorry to hear about your breast cancer diagnosis, but really good to hear that you beat it :yesyes:

Can I ask, is C Diff inevitable in cancer treatment? My step father also contracted this while having chemotherapy treatment. Is it something to do with the immune system or just bad luck re hospital hygiene? Thanks.

ISB ☺ x

[StephA]

Sorry to hear about your breast cancer diagnosis, but really good to hear that you beat it :yesyes:

Can I ask, is C Diff inevitable in cancer treatment? My step father also contracted this while having chemotherapy treatment. Is it something to do with the immune system or just bad luck re hospital hygiene? Thanks.

ISB ☺ x

Thanks for the welcome! I can't really say that I beat BC just yet. I still see my Oncologist every six months, however, if I make it to the five year mark with no evidence of disease then I'll be more in the clear at least!
Anyway, on to your question. I wouldn't say that it's inevitable in cancer treatment because there are many who receive chemo that never get C Diff. It is more common in folks who are elderly or ones who have a compromised immune system like your stepdad. With that said, C Diff is such a mysterious and frustrating illness! It scared me worse than the chemo to be honest! The first time I got it was about 14 days after my mastectomy. I only stayed one night in the hospital, but the antibiotic they gave me in my IV was Clindamycin which is notorious for 'causing' C Diff. They also sent me home with Cipro, another high offender. It's a common myth that C Diff is only contracted via hospital stays. While being in the hospital is a risk, it's not the only risk. C Diff produces spores which are only killed by bleach. They are finding out that C Diff spores are basically everywhere these days. Some people are even carriers but it's not a disease that requires treatment unless they have symptoms. The best way to prevent the spread of C Diff is proper hand washing and of course avoiding antibiotics IF possible. It's spread via fecal oral route, so if someone has it and they don't wash their hands properly or skip washing their hands after using the bathroom and they touch something like a tv remote and someone else comes along and touches the same remote then puts their finger in their mouth, they can ingest the spore. That doesn't necessarily mean that person would get sick, but if they ingested the spore and took antibiotics for something else, which would wipe out the good gut bacteria, then the C Diff could take over causing symptoms, and it would need to be treated. Since I've had it three times I was told to NOT take antibiotics unless it's an absolute must. I still constantly wash my hands because I have PTSD from C Diff. However, the most important thing is to wash them after using the bathroom, before and after cooking and before eating. Just FYI, there is a C Diff forum that has a ton of info., if you or your stepdad is interested. If you need anything else, feel free to PM me. Also, I hope your stepdad is on the mend and I pray he is cancer free soon!!