Urgently Requesting Help (Charleston: rating, top, hospitals)
Charleston areaCharleston - North Charleston - Mt. Pleasant - Summerville - Goose Creek
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[quote=macalan;31452566]Wow - thanks. I did ask the doctor about that & he said "oh it's not how that presents". But why not test?? The other "out there" thing that the Charleston County Dept of Health recommended testing for was Malaria.
Klysik, can you send me the link?
Thx again.[/QU
From the 3-4 website that read, headaches and fever that get worse are the 2 primary symptoms. The 3rd symptom is rash but that only presents in 50%+ of patients. When my daughter was in the hospital for Kawasaki Disease the infectious disease doctors kept saying it can't be that because she didn't have the rash. But I pointed out time and again that not ALL children have the rash. Low and behold and long story short, I was right.
When I was a child, my mother became suddenly ill with what was thought to be RMSF. However, it was later determined to be leptospirosis. It's rare, but they thought she somehow contracted it through gardening. She had never been to any third-world countries or done any handling of animals other than our dog. She came within about an inch of dying. I would mention this illness to the doc as well.
Hi Klysik. Thanks so much for asking. It has been an exhausting 18 days....
The hospitalist that I liked so much went on vacation Wed, and the hospitalist that came on board discharged my husband on Friday - against my better judgement - because his temp had been normal for 2 days and because his liver values were going down. I would have fought it, but my husband was so anxious to get out of there, and the docs thought he would recover faster at home, where he could rest more and be away from more potential germs.
He still has pneumonia, fluid in his lungs, liver damage, joint aches in his legs and is very, very weak. He has some cognitive deficits (they called it "slowing") but they said that would improve (I hope). I asked him one morning if he would like oatmeal for breakfast, and he asked me "what's oatmeal?" - scary stuff.... But the severe, incapacitating headaches he was having are all about gone. I'm just SO thankful to have him back home.
He follows up with his PC tomorrow, and has repeat labs, and a chest xray on Thurs, so I feel a bit better. They said that he would need to be out of work another 3-4 weeks to recover fully.
They sent the first set of all the tests in early Sept when he first got sick, but they have to run a 2nd set 4 weeks later as antibodies don't usually develop until then. So we'll know more shortly. I really would like to know what it is, just to know. Such a strange, fast-moving, debilitating illness. Based on all of the symptoms and course the illness took, my guess is Rocky Mountain Fever or Leptospirosis.
My husband said "wouldn't it be funny if after all this, and all these docs, it was our vet that diagnosed what I had." (Leptospirosis). His PC got that ordered late one night when he stopped to see him - the new hospitalist never would have gone for it.
I wanted to test for Dengue, and the other hospitalist would have, but this new hospitalist said when I told her I wanted the test - "he's being treated with what you would treat Dengue with anyway, and he's getting better, so there's no need for more tests".
This is a really far reach but I read about this yesterday (a different article) and thought of your husband. It is extremely unlikely that this is it but you may want to contact surrounding states to see if there is anything else going on. Hopefully he is on the mend now but if you start to see things starting to go down hill again, keep searching. Like you said....you are his best advocate.
My God! Talk about scary stuff. Those poor people.
I doubt that's what it is because I don't know how it would be transmitted, but who knows. With the rash, and headache and leg aches, I still think it was a tick borne disease.
But this is exactly why I want to know - so that I don't make myself sick with worry....
My God! Talk about scary stuff. Those poor people.
I doubt that's what it is because I don't know how it would be transmitted, but who knows. With the rash, and headache and leg aches, I still think it was a tick borne disease.
But this is exactly why I want to know - so that I don't make myself sick with worry....
Thanks for sharing (I think - LOL!).
My point wasn't to scare the crap out of you but share that so much stuff goes around that you never know what it could be. You'd think the local docs would be on top of contagious trends.
Could it be a staph infection? My aunt got a staph infection from the dentist. She went a month without getting ill but when she did, it hit like a brick. She needed to be incubated and it was touch/go for a couple days. Her rash appeared on her upper back shoulder and even though she had sought treatment, it was misdiagnosed. She was in the ICU and it was terrible!!! She recovered just fine.
You must be so frustrated. I can't imagine no answers at this point. Definitely don't worry about the article..all those people had brain surgery while they used the same instruments that weren't fully cleaned. Scary to think that they can't fully sterilize that stuff or it ruins the instruments! I so hope you get your answers soon.
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