Stanford D. (Pittsburgh, PA)

In March 2009, I was diagnosed with cellulitus in one of my legs. I underwent surgery to treat the infection and was eventually placed in a nursing home to assist me with recovery. During my month long stay, I developed a bacterial infection commonly known as C. difficile. Dealing with C. diff turned out to be an experience that was not only terrible, but also embarrassing.

About one week after I was released from the nursing home, my attending nurse noticed that I had developed large boils on my leg surrounding surgical wound. I was sent to the ER and then to my PCP before I was finally admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with MRSA. My leg was urgently operated on once again to drain and heal the lesions caused by the MRSA infection. I was then placed in isolation in the same nursing home following the operation. It wasn’t until June that I was discharged. I never in my wildest dreams thought that anything like this could have occurred.

It was a total of three months from my original diagnosis before I was back on my feet. Who knows how much of my grief could have been prevented if I never developed this infection? I am 61 years old and am now paying thousands of dollars in medical bills that I could have used towards my retirement. Throughout this whole experience I have never once received an apology or any acknowledgement of guilt and I’ll probably never know how this really all happened.