We're still at HSC but things are going well. Madeleine continues to amaze everyone with her smile and good cheer and we're slowly figuring out the intestinal issues. The doctors believe that they identified the cause of the loose stool earlier in the week as they explained that Madeleine's stool was positive for C. difficile (C-Dif) bacteria. This sounds bad but was actually a relief as it is a common problem afflicting babies coming off of anti-biotics. In a healthy body, c-dif and other bacteria serve a positive role in aiding the body in the digestion process. When a baby is placed on antibiotics for an infection, the majority of these bacteria can be killed and for some reason, c-dif can come back stronger than any other bacteria once the anti-biotics are stopped. When this happens, the equilibrium of various bacteria in the intestines is lost and a high c-dif concentration can lead to diahrea. I'm somewhat making this explantion up so I'll defer to my good friend Will, a GI specialist, as he eads the blog so he may offer a much more accurate explanation of how all this works in the comment section.
The solution is a lot simpler than explaining the condition. The doctors simply started Madeleine on an anti-biotic that targets c-dif thereby enabling the other bacteria to re-establish themselves in the intestines and re-establishing the equilibrium for healthy stool. We're already seeing progress in the consistency of the stool and, if all goes according to plan, there's a chance we'll be discharged next week. We're not getting our hopes up as we know that this timeline could be pushed back. Its much easier to accept the delay right now as we're seeing Madeleine make tremendous progress at HSC and we only want to bring her home once all of her health issues are resolved.
In any case, that's all for right now. We'll try posting some videos this weekend that Kirsten took last night at HSC. I think you'll be amazed at the progress that Madeleine has made. She is absolutely amazing and is a lot of fun to be around right now.
Have a great weekend!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
1 comment:
Actally, Brent, your explanation of C. diff is pretty much perfect. (No surprise there.) It's very treatable, usually with Flagyl or vancomycin and usually by mouth or NGT. I'm glad to hear she's still doing well, which I guess is more important than her being home. I still hope you can take her home soon, though! Good luck.
Post a Comment