My Personal Fear Factor-Living with a Dental Student

Have you ever heard of a nasogastral tube? For your sake, I hope not. Last week Nathan came home from school and as usual began sharing with me all the wonderful things he has learned about during the day. This time it was about pseudomembranous colitis. This is the reason you see everyone at hospitals washing their hands all the time.

And you thought it was just to keep the common cold away!

It is disgusting and most likely to be caught in the hospital by someone who has been on antibiotics too long. It messes with your GI tract, resulting in severe diarrhea and if left untreated, pseudomembranous colitis can result in . . .

death from dehydration.

(stay with me here, it gets better. aren't you jealous that your husband isn't in dental school and can't share these interesting tidbits of disgusting knowledge with you like mine can?)

The first treatment is to discontinue the antibiotics that are aiding in the killing of your good bacteria. The second is to take a special medication to kill the pseudomembranous colitis.

Wanna know what you gotta do if that doesn't work?

Do ya? Do ya? Do ya?

Guess what the treatment is. Go ahead and guess!

You have to get "good" bacteria down there, so you have to get a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

POOP TRANSPLANT

So do you want to know what a poop transplant has to do with my first question about nasogastral tubes?

Put the two parts together.

(Naso)+(Gastral)= a tube in your nose which takes someone else's poop into your GI tract.

A Poop Transplant.

ew. I think I'd rather die of dehydration.