I got an email Friday night that one of my friends from Long Island was in the hospital in critical condition with an “undiagnosed infection” and was at death’s door. He’s 47. That was bad enough, but look at Sunday’s followup:
*Subject: Update on Xxx - Sunday June 21, 2009
I just got off the phone with Xxx’s Mom. He’s still hanging on. They
are taking it hour by hour. Each hour he makes it is a sign of
improvement, she said, but its touch and go. He’s made it this far, so
hopefully he can keep up the fight.
He is heavily sedated and on a ventilator. He’s on dialysis and they
are still trying to prevent organ failure. They do not know how his
kidneys will be after all of this.
They have a firm diagnosis of Legionnaires’ Pneumonia. Apparently it’s
very rare, rare enough for the government to get involved (CDC?). The
doctors at his hospital are treating him from “out of the books”
because it’s so rare and no one there has first hand experience with
this. If any of you doctors out there know anyone who does, please let
the family know, or contact me directly and I will pass it on. He is in
(Undisclosed) Hospital on Long Island. They wanted to move him to
another hospital, but he’s not stable enough to move.
He was recently traveling in Kentucky and they think he must have
inhaled stagnant water, perhaps from a dirty shower head, but they
don’t know where or how. They are trying to figure out where he stayed
on his trip, possibly in multiple locations, so they can figure out
the source. He had visited a cave while on his trip, which is why they
thought it was a disease from inhaling bat guano (histoplasmosis?).
She said that the family is all hanging in there and they appreciate
the outpouring of support and prayers from Xxx’s friends.*
The economy, Iran, and now this. the 1970s really are back! :mad:
I had one patient with a case of it. He had been young and healthy, and was carried into the ER one night by his 8 month pregnant wife. Sick, and delerious, he nearly didn’t make it. Several patients in our community did die of it, with that outbreak.
I’d like to take credit for suspecting Legionella, and treating him appropriately, but I was just lucky. I gave him IV erythromycin (this was in the 80’s, after all) on the principle of “when you don’t know what respiratory infection it is, erythro covers nearly everything (including Legionella), even though it hurts like hell”. Most other standard community-acquired pneumonia antibiotics in that era wouldn’t touch that bug.
I* spoke to Xxx’s mother, she said they are finally saying that Xxx has
passed over the worst and is starting to show signs of improvement.
Still intubated. Still a long road to recovery.*
I think it’ll be some time before he posts on here, if he even wants to talk about it at all. But, I’ll ask when the time comes.
I saw this the other day and didn’t read it at that time. It looks like they’ve found the bacteria in the Cop Water in the Detroit area: http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/19829561/detail.html That’s some nasty shit there. I hope your friend has a speedy recovery.
I hope your friend has a speedy recovery.