Hope you can help

I recently had a hip replacement. All went well until I went into Rehab. There they told me that a urinalysis showed I had colonized VRE in my bladder. I had never heard of VRE. But I was so alarmed and scared when people working there seemed to panic. They ran out of my room terrified. One said, "Wow, are you in trouble. You have inside MRSA". And she ran out of the room terrified. I cried so hard, thinking I had MRSA.

I was isolated and people would enter in gowns, masks and gloves.....if they would enter at all. They would not help me in the bathroom, shower, dress.....nothing. I felt dirty and unwanted there. I was so confused and cried a lot. My husband was furious with the way I was treated. I received no educational materials about this infection I consider serious. Yet, they would take me down to PT out of isolation. Employees would run when they saw me as would patients because apparently I was the talk of the ward. I'd even get dirty looks as people passed my room. People would only talk to me from the door. I had my meds rushed in by a nurse who would run out and my food, which I wouldn't eat, was run in then they would run out. Again, they would not help me in the bathroom, help me shower, changes or even change my bed or clean my bathroom. It was very painful.

Worst of all is I can not get my questions answered. Toward the end of the week, I noticed the isolation rules were relaxed. People would maybe wear a gown put on half way, not gloves or mask. I even had to get upset when an employee tried to touch my incision with no gloves on nor did she wash her hands. I would not let her touch me. She said, "Oh, I'm ok. You are colonized". I said,"Well, I'M not ok of you touch my incision with unwashed hands and no gloves". She said I was not infectious since I was colonized but how did I know she didn't have VRE on her unwashed, ungloved hands? She did wash her hands and donned gloves at my request.

I have so many questions I can not get answered. I can not afford an infectious specialist at this time and my internist knows very little about this infection I take so seriously. No specialist will answer my questions unless I become a patient at great expense to me. The Internet confuses me. All I want to know is can the colonization in my bladder spread to my bloodstream? Everyone dances around this question for some reason. Two urine cultures have come back clear after two weeks on Zyvox but I know it can return. Will it ever go away or will I always have it? I doubt very much anyone here will answer my questions and I understand. But I sure hope you can help me.

Thanks so much for at least reading my post. I am really scared.

Janie