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Source: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/A...aspx?e=3160578
C. difficile left daughter facing terrible choice
By GRANT LAFLECHE, STANDARD STAFF
Posted 20 hours ago
Joyce Western was asked to make a calculation no child ever wants to make -- having to solve the grim arithmetic of which of two medications her mother should take, knowing either choice could kill her.
Western's 89-year-old mother, Marjorie Howse, was at St. Catharines General Hospital being treated for several serious conditions, including pneumonia.
But the antibiotics used to fight the infection made her susceptible to C. difficile infection. So-called "good bacteria" in the human digestive system keep C. difficile bacteria at bay -- but some antibiotics kill off the good bacteria, giving C. difficile the opportunity to grow and make its host sick.
Howse was sharing a room with another patient and they were were moved to another floor to avoid any contact with patients who had C. difficle.
But it was too late. Howse was already infected,...
C. difficile left daughter facing terrible choice
By GRANT LAFLECHE, STANDARD STAFF
Posted 20 hours ago
Joyce Western was asked to make a calculation no child ever wants to make -- having to solve the grim arithmetic of which of two medications her mother should take, knowing either choice could kill her.
Western's 89-year-old mother, Marjorie Howse, was at St. Catharines General Hospital being treated for several serious conditions, including pneumonia.
But the antibiotics used to fight the infection made her susceptible to C. difficile infection. So-called "good bacteria" in the human digestive system keep C. difficile bacteria at bay -- but some antibiotics kill off the good bacteria, giving C. difficile the opportunity to grow and make its host sick.
Howse was sharing a room with another patient and they were were moved to another floor to avoid any contact with patients who had C. difficle.
But it was too late. Howse was already infected,...