OMG~TWO WEEKS IN HELL

Hi everyone! I haven't been on in a while. So much has gone on here. I haven't even updated my profile yet with this. Dan was scheduled to go to CA. for schooling thru the national Guards. he was supposed to leave on the 22nd of this month. Well for the last month he has been having a headache every day and a fever every other day or two. So on thursday the 19th he was feeling very sick. High fever, pounding headache. Body hurt. Shaking violently. So I said to him "You are NOT going to CA sick. You need to go to the doctor today". I took him to his doc and they ran some bloodtests. His doc gave him a prescription for an antibiotic to get ahead of whatever he had. So now we had to go pick it up. Now, mind you, this whole time Dan is in the car and very, very weak. So I run in to get the meds. The pharmacist said to me that the doc called and it was important that I call back. So I called from there. She told me to get him to the hospital right away cause he was being admitted! SHOCK!! I said, what is it? She said the bloodwork came back positive for babesiosis. What the f**k was that?????? It seems that Dan was bitten by an infected deer tick. it is in the family of lyme disease and malaria. It wasn't something that others could catch but he needed to go right away. We go the hospital, they admit him, run all kinds of tests, shoot him up with 4 massive antibiotics and put in an IV. I went home that night and looked up what this babesiosis was. Like I said, it was from a tick bite. It can cause the same symptoms as malaria. Fever, headache, chills, sweats, weakness, loss of appetite. BUT for Dan, it was deadly. I couldn't believe what I read. The doctors and nurses didn't tell me any of this. I found out on my own. Most people can fight this off at home with antibiotics. They get sick but can be at home. Dan on the otherhand, has no spleen. And it is most commonly fatal in people with no spleen because his body doesn't filter the blood. This disease is parasitic. He had thousands of parasites in his blood. When he went in the hospital he had 12% of parasites. The next day it was 15%. The following day it was 19%. Now, he was battling one other problem due to his spleen not being there. His platelets were dangerously low. They were at 38,000. The normal body has between 105,000-150,000. So between the two, he was dying. They talked about sending him to a bigger hospital to have his blood filtered. That meant a lot of transfusions. All I know is I cried so much. The antibiotics started kicking in on the 4th day, FINALLY. But he wasn't out of the woods yet. The doctors weren't too happy that it was too slow. he wasn't eating much, dehydrated, weak. Finally, I just pushed him to eat something and to drink constantly. I was at his bedside everyday from about 12:00-1:00 to 9 pm-10:00 pm. I was on the nurses, making sure he had his meds on time, having them notify the doc of any changes, cleaning Dan up, putting cold facecloths on his forehead. His body started fighting the parasites the best it could and he started changing the numbers around. His platelets started going up to 59,000. Still too low but in the right direction. And the percentage of parasites was going down. They were at 12%. Everyday he grew stronger. On Thursday, 6 days later, he was released to go home. I prayed through all of this and was so happy that he was coming home. He was still extremely weak, but he was home. The last 4 days have been recorded on paper, temp, time, meds. he is slowly getting back to normal. Yesterday he walked quite a bit in the house. Now, during all this testing in the hospital they did xrays and cat scans. The found something. Two doctors had different stories as to the size but in general, they found, thru nueclear meds that two small parts of the removed spleen had regenerated! Spleens don't regenrate, livers do. But they saw two working little peices of spleen. They also found something else. A larger mass in the same area. At this time we don't know what it is. When he is back to normal they want to do a biopsy. What we are praying for is that, the mass is only scar tissue from the removed spleen. But like the doc said, it could also be a tumor. We just don't know yet. Ona brighter note, I am down to 195! And I am wearing size 12's!!! Well some size 12's. Levis are made smaller so I am not in a 12 in levis yet. But I do not ever recall wearing a 12. In 5th grade I wore a 14. So it must have been 4th grade maybe. it feels so good. But I still see that fat me. The doc said that he is happy where I am and if I stopped losing, he would be ok with that. WELL, IM NOT! I see rolls of fat everywhere. I am not stopping yet, no way, no how. Anyhow, I just wanted to post this and to let you all know that I am around. Congratulations to all of you for your successes. You're all dooing a fabulous job in your journeys. I am going to copy and paste this in my profile so I don't have to retype it again. Take care all. Make someone happy, hig them tight and let them know how much they mean to you. love, Joanne

Dear Joanne, My heart goes out to you, honey. We all forget that life is so fragile (myself mostly) and I pray the Lord bring wellness and healing to you and your husband now and always. I applaud your love for him! May he rest under the shadow of God's wings. I don't care if this is a "religeous post", they threw us to the lions 2000 years ago for less. I'll check for lions the rest of the day and let you know. May God bless you and keep you and make his face to shine above you. With much love! Katherine

Joanne, Oh my gosh, what a time for both of you. Your post brought tears to my eyes. I'm sending you many positive thoughts and lots of prayers. When something like this happens, it usually brings a husband and wife even closer together. Remember as a "team" to can conquer anything. Keep us posted. Congratulations on your weight loss. You are doing great. Mary

Big (((HUGS))) Joanne! Girl that is frightening. I agree with Katherine about life being so fragile. If he can get better by your will power, then it will be a done deal. I'll pray for a quick and complete healing for Dan, and peace for you. Hugs, Debbie Good news on the size 12's. You will beOlive Oyle by the time you finish loosing.

Wow! What a rough time you guys had. I'm so sorry to hear about this, but it sure is a good thing they found it as soon as they did (as soon as you got him to the doc). Sometimes they don't think to test for these things. I was wondering where you've been. I'll keep you in my thoughts. Congrats on the weight loss! I'm happy for you that you're seeing success again. By the way, how are your ribs doing? Linn

Joanne, I was keeping track of Dan's progress on the main board - glad to hear that he is doing much better. Hopefully with time, he will be completely back to normal. With regards to the biopsy, think positive. Glad to hear that you are down to 195. I actually hit 193 this week, but am back up to 195. I am in size 14's and I also have issues with the rolls. I can't wait for plastic surgery! Please continue to keep us up to date on Dan and wish him well from us! Barb

Hi Joanne, You probably don't know me as I'm relataively new to this site. My heart is pounding, and I keep saying WOW. Your post really made me step back and remember what is important - the love of family. Enough of the petty squabbling. You're right, just draw them close and give and take hugs. You never know. You just never know what's in the cards for you or your loved ones. I'm sorry that both you and Dan you had to go through all that. I'm sure he is now so appreciative that you haggle him about his health! What a scarey story. Yet, what a wondrous story - a piece of his spleen regenerating. A true miracle. I will pray that the spot they saw on CT scan is just scar tissue. Congratulations on your weight loss and into size 12s. It's great to be below the 200 mark, isn't it. I know that friends and family and even my PCP are worried that I look "gaunt" and should stop losing weight. I think not!! They are just used to seeing me fat and with losing weight so fast it's shocking to them. Oh, well. I wish you well on your continuing journey - with Dan and your weight loss. Paula

You tell your hunny we are thinking of him and sending good wishes to both of you! keep us posted kelly

Joanne, Oh my goodness! I am so sorry to hear of all the problems Dan has had. Thankfully you were there to be with him and he had a physician who looked outside the obvious in his diagnosis. I pray that what they identified on the CT is just scar tissue. On a happy note - hooray for you and your weight loss! How fantastic that you are below 200. I hope you remember to take care of yourself as well as Dan. Please keep us posted! Liz

Joanne, thanks for sharing your story. My GOD!!! I can't believe all that went on with Dan. I also can't even imagine how I'd react if something like that happened to me (or to Dennis). You are a strong woman and seemed to be an integral part of Dan getting well. We're pulling for you both. keep us updated. You are fabulous. Denise