Mary and Robert’s story

‘My father underwent knee replacement surgery and was subsequently given antibiotics and pain killers to stave off infection. While in hospital he became very dehydrated and experienced explosive diarrhoea. He was quickly diagnosed with having contracted c. diff and put in isolation. The c. diff infection was caused by the antibiotics he was taking, which were upsetting the natural balance of “good” bacteria in his gut. The c. diff bacteria flourished and produced a toxin that caused diarrhoea and fever. My father became very ill and was in considerable pain. He even lost 20lbs in weight through this infection.

‘As my father’s diarrhoea was so severe, the hospital doctors prescribed vancomycin, an antibiotic that can kill the c. diff bacteria. This seemed to do the trick and the infection appeared to go away. Dad was then discharged from hospital and I looked after him at home, while he was still weak from the surgery and the c. diff infection. I was told that it was important to keep the home environment and especially our hands clean, to reduce the chance of re-infection. To do this, I used a combination of soap and water or alcohol wipes that were handy to keep around the house.

‘Sadly the infection returned very soon after coming home, maybe re-infection occurred just before we left the hospital, I can’t be sure. My father became even more ill than the first time the infection struck and he even had to have an operation to remove part of his gut that was damaged by the infection. This was a very traumatic time for us, especially my father who I thought might die. I’ve since heard this is quite common for elderly people to keep getting re-infected with c. diff and many people die. Obviously I was extremely worried about Dad’s health. I talked to several nurses about what I could do to help prevent re-infection. A couple of the nurses recommended using Tristel products. They had friends in other hospitals that used Tristel as infection control products. The nurses said that Tristel has been great for specialist cleaning in hospitals and can kill the spores that are released by the diarrhoea caused by the c. diff infection. They told me that the alcohol wipes that I had been using don’t actually kill the c. diff spores. I just wish that someone had told me this sooner because my Dad might never have got c. diff in the first place.

‘Luckily Tristel now sell products for the consumer market, they used to only be available in hospitals. I bought the Deeper Clean pack for us to use. I started using the Tristel products on Dad’s bed frame, bedside table and cabinet in the hospital with Tristel. Now that we have returned home again, I regularly clean all hard surfaces with the wipes and the Deeper Clean Gel so that we minimize the chances of my Dad swallowing more c. diff spores. So far my father is on the mend and hasn’t caught c. diff again. It looks like Tristel did the trick in killing the spores.’