handwashing – Life on the Farmlet

Hello Friends,

I have been very quiet this month because I have been ill and fighting a bacterial infection. The following could be offensive to your sensibilities, and I hope I don’t shock anyone by speaking about it, but it is good to know if, like me, your immune system is compromised by another health issue. (diabetes)

Somehow I have picked up a nasty bacteria out in the wilds of the public areas downtown. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised as in my observation only about 5 to 10% of folks around here bother to wash their hands after visiting the restroom. (Although strangely, this isn’t the case with Costco shoppers. They seem to wash every time!) Through research on the web I’ve discovered that my bacterial invader lives everywhere, and in specific forms that can attack us, animals and plant life as well. For humans it is most often caught in the hospital and attacks the lungs causing pneumonia.

I never worried about this because I always wash my hands. By doing so I always thought I was safe. I have avoided using hand sanitizers and scary antibacterial soaps with “Triclosan”, because I felt this helped my immune system to build up natural defenses, that our society as a whole has been hell-bent to destroy for many years.

Not any more! I have no scientific evidence to back this up, but I now think that , at least for me, it has become a “when in Rome” situation. The super bugs are out there and need to be attacked; at least when in public.

I asked my home care nurse how I could end up with this bacteria, Pseudomonas, when I am so careful about hand washing and using a paper towel to get out of the restroom in public places… and she said:

“You go into the restroom, use the facilities, wipe, and you have infected yourself because you picked up the germs on the way in.”

I guess in this day and age we need to wash before and after in public?

I am now on large doses of a strong antibiotic, administered two times daily for seven days, which is delivered via a port put into my arm. Why? Because the regular antibiotics given via the normal oral route do not work! At the end of the antibiotic series another test culture will be done to be sure I am well. (If the bacteria goes into my kidneys it is harder to get rid of.)

Not so nice.

As I sit here and read what I have written I think I sound like one of those nut jobs who send out the chain emails you get so often. But, hello! I am seriously freaked-out about this.

OK – End of public health scare advisory

You can now roll your eyes and tsk-tsk at me if you like, I won’t see you, but I feel better for letting you know about this.

Today’s post comes with a pre-warning:

If you are even in the least bit squeamish about being sick, then please just skip today’s drivel and whatever you do – do not watch the clip at the end of the post!

Yesterday, having been sick with a 24 hour stomach bug that at age 62 leaves you low for four days instead of one, I felt good enough to crawl out of bed, take a shower, and think about living again. I had slept for nearly a solid 48 hours. Up for necessities, meds, water, and then back to sleep. I was weak, achy, and moving slowly, but I did a bit of pushing the Swiffer to catch the *buffaloes that wafted by as I passed. I sat down and ate a very light breakfast.

BTW, I haven’t mentioned that I got this nasty bacteria from Bob. He got sick at work and they thought it was his hydration/low blood pressure problem again. So they bundled him into an ambulance and back off to the hospital. (Yes, another ambulance ride that will not be covered under our insurance.) Once there, they again checked him for everything and found not much at all. Suddenly, Bob announced that he had to “…get up NOW!” Whereupon, he got very sick. In the aftermath of his episode the nurse and the Dr. looked pretty amazed by the mess.

It was at this point that I recalled the scene in Stand by Me about the pie eating contest, and I’ll tell you it was just like that! The bug that’s going around stops your digestive system in it’s tracks. So, everything from the morning (including all the bottles of water he’d been drinking to stay hydrated all day) were stuck there and wanted out NOW. It was nearly 4:00 pm.

And he wondered why his stomach hurt so bad? Poor baby!

Anyway, back to yesterday. I then I got up and started a load of contaminated bedding, and cleaned the kitchen with a healthy dose of bleach in the water. Being meticulous about giving every surface we may have touched the once over with hot, soapy, bleach water was gratifying. From there I conquered all the switch plates and door handles throughout the house. Time for another rest. Then it was on to the bathroom, and more contaminated laundry with good hour rests between each task. I felt I was vanquishing those little bastard bacteria who had invaded our bodies and made us so horribly ill!

By the end of the day our house smelled hospital clean, and I was tired, but it was a good tired. The activity of detoxing the house had bounced me back from my morning-after-illness-malaise and I just felt good!