The flu

[Pat5775]

(05-28-2017, 09:08 PM)packerbacker Wrote: Very happy your ok buddy. Wow that must have been scary.

It certainly was a crazy time, I forgot to mention the exact same disease I had killed a good friend of mines brother years ago (he was a very sickly young man who unfortunately never had a particularly healthy life). Apparently staph infections in the heart are more common than most people think. They are commonly caused by open cuts or routine dental work (they have no idea what caused mine and likely never will). It affects people within a matter of hours, presenting itself as simple flu-like symptoms: fever, chills, body aches, headaches. Stuff many people wouldn't think twice about

Lucky for me I was out for the worst of it so I don't remember anything truly horrifying. I missed the initial injections, prodding, catheters, etc. All I experienced was some come-and-go headaches and annoying stomach issues. I was constantly starving but the antibiotics gave me some severe intestinal issues. No nausea, I didn't vomit once (my 18-year no vomit streak is still alive somehow). I could keep everything down but absolutely nothing in   No cramping, pain, nothing. Basically I was desperate to eat but even a few bites of food and bam, away we go... My diet consisted of bananas, applesauce, boost protein shakes, Gatorade and ginger ale. I went from 220 lbs to 169 lbs in the 15 days I was hospitalized. But again, that was the worst of it.

What's really scary is how normal I felt. Even before I fell out of it I didn't really feel that sick. I felt sicker when I had mono and tonsillitis in college. Nothing at all made me think I needed immediate care. Now whenever I get a fever or feel flu-ish I have to go right to the emergency room to get some blood work to make sure I'm not coming down with endocarditis again. I was told it's a requirement for me from now on, and every doctor wished more people would do the same. It's scary stuff, folks. Common Flu-like symptoms can be indicators or several hundred other diseases, many of which are fatal if not immediately treated. Odds are it is just the flu for most healthy people, but prior to May 13, 2016... I was one of those healthy people. I had never been sick in my life. Aside from a couple of viruses and sinus infections when I was young, I was perfectly healthy. Life can really change in the blink of an eye.