Since this is such a long post, and I apologize for that, I'm cutting and pasting from a couple of other sites that I participate in - basically because I'm too lazy to re-type it every time.
Hi Everyone,
I've had a slight set-back since I've last posted, but I am slowly recovering. As some of you might know, I am a transplant patient, post almost 5 years now. I did relapse a year after transplant and am on 80mg of Sprycel daily as a preventive measure. I've been PCRU for the last three years -- just a short history.
On Monday, May 11, 2009 I awoke about 7:00am with nausea and a slight headache and an overall feeling of "awfulness". I sensed this was not going to be just an ordinary post-transplant sick day. I asked my wife to drive me to Presbyterian/St Lukes hospital where my post-transplant care is being done. Unfortunately that drive is about an hour away, and after five minutes in the car with my pink "puke" bucket I knew there was no way I was going to make it so we diverted to the closest hospital.
When I arrived at the ER I was having a tough time with nausea and a continuing headache so my wife dropped me off at the door and they wheeled me right in to the ER exam room. Fortunately their was an Infectious disease doctor on duty, and for whatever reason, he immediately suspected meningitis so he ordered a spinal tap and blood test, and there it was, Bacterial Meningitis from the bacteria Morganella Morganii http://web.mst.edu/~microbio/BIO221_2004/Morganella_morganii.htm. What a mouth full, and according to the doctor very rare. Prior to even identifying what was happening, he had already put me on three wide-spectrum bacterial antibiotics, and as luck would have it, merrem http://www.rxlist.com/merrem-iv-drug.htm was one of them - the actual drug of choice for treating this rare type of spinal meningitis.
Here's a little note I picked up from surfing the net on this infection:
"We report herein a case of Morganella morganii-associated acute purulent pericarditis that developed 3 years after allogenic bone marrow transplantation. The patient was successfully treated with surgical drainage and cefotaxime for 6 weeks. Splenectomy and immunosuppression for chronic GVH-D are likely to have favored the development of this rare infectious complication after BMT. M. morganii should be added to the list of bacteria causing purulent pericarditis, especially in immunocompromised hosts."
I remember asking the doctor if I was going to make it as I was passing in and out of consciousness. He said it's not looking great but if I could hang on for 48 hours and the drug worked I would have a fighting chance. The next two days I was semi-conscious but don't remember much but excrutiating headache pain. This also could have been caused partly by the spinal tap.
When I awoke Wednesday morning the doctor was standing over me telling me to hang in there I was responding well to the antibiotic. I've continued to gain strength and was released this afternoon, May 18th with home nursing care for the next two weeks. I need a 21 day course of this IV antibiotic. We only have a suspicion that the bacteria entered my body through my port, of course like all other post-transplant complications we'll never know for sure.
Thank you for letting me sharing this information -- knowledge is power...
Blessings,
Don
