fracas

I’ve made no secret that from time to time, I just might have a bit of a potty mouth. I came across a story though, that sheds a whole new light on the idea and has assured me that potty mouth is far more prevalent in the UK than here in my own home country of Canada.

A grandmother who contracted a potentially fatal superbug in Scotland has been saved after a hospital fed her daughter’s faeces to her.

Ethel McEwan, an 83-year-old from Guardbridge, Fife, was near death after contracting Clostridium Difficile, the Daily Record reported.

But she was saved after receiving a “faecal transplant” from her daughter, Winnifred.

The treatment involves liquidising a sample of faeces from a close relative of the patient, and feeding the liquid down a tube into the stomach.

I’m sure you think I must be making this up, but no… indeed, I am not. In my own disbelief, I searched for more about this odd procedure and located a story about a doctor in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, also saving the lives of those afflicted with C. Difficile.

His choice though, is a might different from that of British physicians.

He administers the fecal transplants via enema, and something tells me that this just sounds right. I’d rather my potty mouth was a result of some salty words… but that’s just me. Perhaps it’s a British thing? Perhaps this colorful old Brit might have an explanation?

Calgary physician Dr. Tom Louie, head of infection control at Foothills Hospital, is  one of the few physicians in Canada who treats patients with chronic C. difficile with fecal transplants, or fecal therapy. He has done 38 procedures to date.

The procedure involves getting a close relative of the patient, such as a sibling, to donate several days-worth of stool. Louie tests the stool for diseases such as hepatitis and HIV and then mixes it with saline to create liquid feces. He then administers the stool to the patient through an enema.

Louie said the technique allows good bacteria from the transplanted stool to reduce the number of C. difficile bacteria in the intestines and to restore normal intestinal function.

As for me… I now have one more reason to be glad I live in Canada.

Now go vote for this post for me… please? If this doesn’t warrant a vote or two, I don’t know what does!