Sepsis, formerly known as septicaemia or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is followed by suppression of the immune system

Wikipedia on Sepsis

I hope for the best for you and your family

C-diff is notorious in nursing home situations for being resistant to many antibiotics. It can be treated but often redevelops once someone has had it. Here's some more info:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172329#prevention

Wishing your SIL a speedy recovery.

infection that can sometimes be associated with taking antibiotics. I don't know about the blood clots, but that can happen when immobilized for long periods of time, or perhaps a vascular (blood flow) insufficiency in her legs. I am so sorry for what you are going through. I hope things start to look better for your family.

This is very complicated stuff. Sepsis is one thing and C. diff is something else entirely. C. diff (Clostridium difficile) is one of those horrible things that attacks you when your systems are already compromised, and probably in her case also because of the antibiotics killing off all the good bacteria in her gut as well as what it was supposed to fight (or instead of what it was supposed to fight!). The blood clots in the leg are a secondary thing to all this and probably a post-op complication. This sounds like one of those awful situations we sometimes encountered in ICU where one thing just led to something else. I really hope she will not have to have her leg amputated. Sending light to you and yours.

Sepsis is when all the contaminants in the bloodstream from the infection travel to the lungs which over-whelms their function and they do not exchange O2 and CO2 like they should so the rest of the organs don't function well either as they need that gas exchange (fresh O2), at the cellular level to be able to function to rid the body of these wastes, particularly the kidneys and liver, then the heart and brain cells. The extremities are at risk as their blood supply is smaller, can clot, and necrosis can set in. C dif is the causative agent here, the bacteria, and can be tricky to treat. She may have had a perforation of the colon which could cause sepsis.

Blood clotting in the appendages is definitely a possible complication.
Loss of normal blood flow and immune reactions to the infection with coagulation cause necrosis in tissues surrounding a clot. There's a lot of studies one can read through the NIH and PubMed; her doctor and your browser and/or a librarian can help find those studies, so you can better understand the reasons for which her treatment(s) and surgeries are being considered.

Sending calming vibes for you, and my prayers for your sister-in-law's recovery!

In the simplest terms, we all have bacteria that live in the large intestine, or colon. Some of those bacteria are "good", in that they provide a function to colon health, and some are bad. Sometimes, particularly in ill, hospitalized or nursing home patients, good bacteria can be killed off and bad bacteria can overtake them, usually this is from antibiotics. When that occurs, the colon becomes inflamed, creating a condition known as colitis. That process can become so severe that the patient develops sepsis, or an overwhelming systemic response to infection, and in those cases removal of the entire colon is the only treatment to save the patient's life.

Blood clots, particularly those that form in the veins of the legs, are a severe risk with sepsis and surgery. As providers, we take measures to reduce those risks, but sometimes they still occur. Sometimes those clots are some extensive that the only choice we have is to amputate a limb, although that is in extreme cases.

I hope this helps answer your questions.

It can be very serious if the wrong medications are administered or it is left untreated.

I happened to have a bad version of the bacteria, a serious strain of it which was resistant to typical antibiotics.

I was quite ill for three months. I still have some problems related to it.

Had a bleeding ulcer and , like an idiot , didn't realize it. Hospital said it led to the C dif. Symptoms easy to recognize - blood in stool which makes it black (and I do mean black), loose and an odor hard to disguise (foul even for shit). In addition your bowel movements may have a greasy, slimy look (sorry to get graphic). It is serious.


They put me on blood transfusions for the ulcer and did surgery on that. For the C dif, they walked a tight-rope and were, in my opinion, were really more concerned with that. From what I gathered from the doctors and nurses, they have to treat it with antibiotics - and I do mean a lot of them. BUT, the hell of it is, those massive doses can cause c-dif in that it wipes out good and bad gut stuff. When they had it under control for me,they were really happy - God bless them.

Hang in there - you gotta have faith and trust- I know mine was tested many times.