Hope you can help

[JanieHA]

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

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

We cannot answer your medical questions on an anonymous message board. If your physician cannot answer your questions try your local/county health department for assistance. Online you can check out resources from the cdc.gov website.

It's frightening and I can fully understand your fear and concern based upon what you described. Try reaching out to the patient relations department at the hospital to enlighten them as to how you were treated by various staff members, especially the one who tried to argue not washing hands & wearing gloves.

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

Here is the link to the patient information regarding VRE from the cdc website:

http://www.cdc.gov/hai/organisms/vre/vre.html?mobile=nocontent

[JanieHA]

*sigh* I do understand. I don't think any of my questions will be answered until I see an infection specialist. I have gone to the sites you have helpfully posted but it's like going in circles. Even the CDC wouldn't answer them. I get vague answers. I will go on Medicare in November and maybe then I can afford an infection specialist. It's a long time to wait and a long time to be scared but it's all I have. Why my internist didn't know much about VRE is beyond me. I was shocked.

I did contact the Patient Advocate at the Rehab and she was very kind. I do not know if anything was done about the way I was treated. I've lost a lot of weight over this and even quit eating at the Rehab, I was so upset. It was noticed but I think it was my way of fighting back. I was very depressed. My husband did encourage me to eat a bit because I am diabetic but I still didn't eat enough.

I have learned a lot about VRE but not enough. I always felt safe in hospitals and rehabs but I no longer do. I had many wonderful nurses, really. But if I ever have to go back in, I will watch closely for hand washing, gloves and where they place any equipment they use on me. I even had to ask the lab person who took blood to use a new needle after she placed the one she was going to use on my food tray when she tied my arm off. I never would have known to do this if this had not happened. It scares me to think what could happen if I am sedated or unconscious and can not watch carefully but I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

Thank you so much for your suggestions. I will keep trying to find the answers to my questions. Thank you for your kindness.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

((HUGS)) being place in isolation can be terrifying. It sounds like you have some uninformed nurses aides caring for you. The CDC link talks about VRE CDC - VRE in Healthcare Settings - HAI You have had 2 negative cultures indicating the antibiotics are doing their job. You may also want to look at this link....CDC - Type of Healthcare-Associated Infections - HAI

I wish you the best...I pray for your recovery. It is a bump in the road but a little one. ((HUGS))

As per the Terms of service we cannot give medical advice...it would be impossible for we cannot evaluate your chart and examine you.

Thread closed.