Introduction

Hello, My name is Tom Partner, and I am a Family Nurse Practitioner, and I am also someone who has had c diff 5 times.

My first case was about 40 years ago, at age 30. I got c diff after I received intravenous antibiotics for a peri-anal fistula, which occurred after having hemorrhoid surgery.

The next case didn't occur until about 30 years later. That occurred after having antibiotics for for an appendectomy.

The next 3 times I got c diff all occurred in the next 5 years.

One followed antibiotics I got when I had my left hip replaced.
A second occurred after getting a small dose of amoxicillin prior to having my teeth cleaned.
And the last case occurred about a year later without any obvious reason.
For each of these cases, except one, I needed three courses of either metronidazole, vancomycin or Dificid before I got better.
After each one of these relapses I would be relatively well for about the next 9 months, until I relapsed again.

But, on August 3, 2023 I followed the 3 courses of vancomycin with an FMT, which I received via a colonoscopy. Since that time, which has been over 2 years, I have been well.

In the following series of videos, I am going to review some POSSIBLE treatments and possible Adjunctive Therapies.

They are all considered POSSIBLE treatments because there is NO ONE treatment that works for everyone.

I encouraged everyone to watch all of the videos--but, feel free to jump to any video that you think is most important to you.

Let's get started.

Experience

Tom Partner, NP has worked for 16 years as a Nurse Practioiner, 24 years as a registered nurse and 8 years as Health teacher. As a nurse practitioner he has worked primarily in the urgent care field. As a a registered nurse he worked in a variety of fields including emergency room, sugical intensive care, HIV/AIDS, and psychiatry. He is now working in telehealth.

Early Years

Tom Partner grew up in a small, blue-collar town called Turtle Creek. Turtle Creek is about 10 miles east of Pittsburgh, PA, which at the time was largely a steel-mill city.

College

Encouraged by his high school physics teacher he decided to go to the University of Pittsburgh.  His first career choice was to be a physician, but he ended up going to the School of Nursing.  Four years later, despite numerous obstacles such as being a male in a largely female profession, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and a Registered Nurse (RN) license.

At age 50, after being encouraged by a physician friend, he decided to return to college and become a nurse practitioner. He was accepted at the University of Phoenix, and after 2 years; he graduated with a Master’s Degree in Nursing and became a licensed Nurse Practitioner License. That was in 2008.