Key points from today’s guests:
Courtney Walker, received fecal matter transplant for C. diff infection
- Courtney has Crohn’s disease and was fighting a number of terrible GI issues, putting her in the hospital six times since 2017.
- She needed a kidney transplant, but needed to be healthy enough to be on the donor list.
- She did research and learned about FMTs – fecal matter transplants – that could help with her C. diff infection.
- It was an easy procedure – similar to a colonoscopy – and she started feeling good within 2-3 days with a marked decrease in symptoms.
- She is now able to lead a more normal lifestyle and her daughter has also become a donor.
- She recommends being your own health advocate, doing research and getting a second opinion.
Dr. Shadi Hamdeh, gastroenterologist, The University of Kansas Health System
- Our gut biome is a dynamic ecosystem and there are trillions of microbes – some are good and some are bad – but the key is balance.
- FMT is a very safe and effective way to help patients with C. diff infections.
- Some patients might require more than one transplant and might have two or three transplants. The chance that patients are going to respond to FMT goes up and up with every subsequent transplant.
- Antibiotic resistance is making it harder to treat these types of infections with antibiotics.
- About 1-2 percent of patients can die from C. diff.
- There has been about a 43 percent increase in C. diff cases and we are seeing more cases from other states, including Arkansas and Oklahoma, that we treat with FMT.
- You can talk to your doctor about how to be a donor.
Tuesday, July 2 at 8 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. A Kansas farmer lost his hand in a farming accident. He came to The University of Kansas Health System to be fitted with a new robotic hand. You’ll see how the husband and father of two has adjusted to his new hand.
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