heard back from Carmen about C. diff.

[redbird]

I just talked to Carmen, and apparently I missed a voice mail last night, after the infectious disease specialist returned her call almost immediately.

The infectious disease specialist advised her to get another stool sample to culture for C. diff, and if the bad bacteria are still there, a course of vancomycin. The specialist also said that sometimes the symptoms continue for a while after the infection is gone, and that's more common in immune-suppressed patients. So, if I test negative, I will ask if they can estimate how long "a while" is likely to be. Either way, for now, I should keep taking the probiotics, because "it can't hurt."

So, I, or Cattitude or Adrian, will be going to the doctor's office tomorrow to get another sampling kit. I asked Carmen how long it was likely to take for them to get results, and she said 48 hours, which means the results will probably come back this weekend or early next week.

Comments

[otter]

"a while" isn't a very helpful measure.

[redbird]

No, it's not, and I don't know if that vagueness is because got the number second--hand (infectious disease specialist, to Carmen, to me).

If it turns out to be relevant I will try for something a little more specific. It will not be relevant if I'm really over the symptoms before I get the test results, or if the test shows that I need another antibiotic. (Adrian just picked up the test kit, which means I'm more likely to have a sample to drop off tomorrow than today.)