Originally posted by sacniner:
Man.. this thing ruined our season. S**t.
I wouldn't say ruined the entire season, but DeMarcus is going to be out for a tad. Fortunately, it's viral meningitis. If you're going to contract meningitis, this is the version you want because it's rarely fatal if caught and treated early. I'm not saying it can't kill you because it has and can. But in today's day and age, if you catch it early enough and your body is in good shape, chances are you're going to survive. That isn't the case with other types of meningitis.
Spinal meningitis is the absolute worst. I can still remember the spinal tap I received for it in 1965 -- even though I was the tender age of 2. You just don't forget one of those big, cold and sharp needles going into the back of your neck -- no matter what your age was. You've heard of a procedure called Spinal Tap? Or perhaps the band? It's rather shocking. My brother tells me the needle got halfway in and I was screaming so much that I simply passed out on the spot. There was no such thing as a "Children's Hospital" back in that day and age, and hospitals didn't accept sick children. You were normally given a diagnosis and sent home with your parents to die.
For some reason -- I didn't. It might have been one of those experimental drugs they were pumping into my two-year old body. It might have been pure luck. Who knows? My mother, before she died, told me I went to bed with a 104 degree temperature and when I woke up in the morning my temp was back to normal, I was standing at the edge of my crib, and demanding a bottle of milk.
About ten years ago an MRI of my head revealed the presence of a cyst as large as my fist. It's literally taking up half of my head. That's why I kid people that I have just half a brain. The surgeon who discovered it was so shocked that he called me out of the blue at 8:30 PM on a Saturday night to ask if I was alright. He said he had patients with cysts half that size who were so severely disabled that they needed round-the-clock care.
When I told him about the bout with spinal meningitis as a child and how it suddenly and miraculously went away, he postulated that the cyst may have formed then to capture the spinal fluid that was leaking into my head.
