#meningitis
This is Kendra Creek, she battled meningitis in 2010 and lost her limbs below the elbow and below the knee. As with many meningitis victims she also suffered severe kidney damage. She is currently in End Stage Renal Failure (ESRF). She is in desperate need of a kidney donation. If you or anyone you know would be interested please call Tracy Perry at 1-800-382-4602. I believe all donor costs are covered. Please reblog this post because even if you can’t part with one of your kidneys you may have a follower who can.
You only need one kidney to live, and Kendra’s are shot.
http://www.facebook.com/KendraNeedsAKidney
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Scars of survival: Moving series of portraits captures the brutal effects meningitis inflicts on children and young adults
- Photos capture 15 young people who lost limbs to meningococcal disease
- The meningitis-related illness seems like a flu but can be near-fatal
- Photographer Anne Geddes wanted to portray them as beautiful survivors
Jamie Schanbaum (pictured 2nd row, on the left) was 19 when she fell ill with what seemed like flu.
Within weeks she had lost both legs and all her fingers to meningococcal disease - a meningitis-related illness.
But six years later, staring stoically into the camera, she is now the star of a striking series of photographs honoring survivors.
The 25-year-old is one of fifteen young adults and children to pose for the revered photographer Anne Geddes.
In her case, she was fashioned as a Helen Of Troy character.
And a set of twins (pictured 5th row) embraced lovingly - one having lost her limbs, the other unaffected.
The project started as part of a campaign being jointly run by charities including Meningitis Now and the Meningitides Research Foundation.
It has since grown, however, into a what Geddes sees as her best work to date.
‘I’ve been photographing for 30 years and I think this would be the most significant project that I’ve ever done,’ the Australian photographer told CBS.
'I wanted the images to be timeless. The vast majority of the 15 survivors [photographed] don’t have legs.
'So I had to find a way to portray them, to give them a sense of strength and their own sense of individuality.'
The disease is caused by an infection of the meninges cells in the brain and spinal cord which can lead to blood poisoning.
Symptoms include a severe headache, fever, vomiting, blotchy skin and usually cold hands or feet.
Viral meningitis - the other type - is far more common but less serious.
Other children appearing in the photographs are Harvey Parry, eight, who contracted the condition when he was one, and Ellie-May Challis, who was infected at just 16 months.
In an interview with the Daily Mail last year, Geddes said: ‘As a mother and passionate advocate of children, I want to empower parents to understand meningitis and know how best to protect their children.
‘You only need to look at Amber, Ellie and Harvey to understand the impact of this devastating disease. It really would be your worst nightmare to see any child go through such an ordeal.
‘But at the same time, these children and their families are overcoming huge obstacles to rebuild their lives and these beautiful pictures capture their strength in the face of adversity.’
According to Wiki: “The most important form of prevention is a vaccine against N. meningitidis. Different countries have different strains of the bacteria and therefore use different vaccines. Five serogroups, A, B, C, Y and W135 are responsible for virtually all cases of the disease in humans. Vaccines are currently available against all five strains, including the newest vaccine against serogroup B. The first vaccine to prevent meningococcal serogroup B (meningitis B) disease was approved by the European Commission on 22 January 2013. The vaccine is manufactured by Novartis and sold under the trade name Bexsero. Bexsero is for use in all age groups from two months of age and older.
Menveo of Novartis vaccines Menactra, Menomune of Sanofi-Aventis, Mencevax of GlaxoSmithKline and NmVac4-A/C/Y/W-135 (has not been licensed in the US) of JN-International Medical Corporation are the commonly used vaccines. Vaccines offer significant protection from three to five years (plain polysaccharide vaccine Menomune, Mencevax and NmVac-4) to more than eight years (conjugate vaccine Menactra).”Post link
@academicgangster asked:
1. I have a character who’s caught meningitis but thinks it’s the flu (/sinus issues) for a couple days until he collapses on the third. Is this realistic? Also, when his colleague calls 911 on him, what sort of questions are the EMTs likely to ask him and what sort of immediate treatment would he receive in the ambulance on the way to the hospital? (It’s the 80s, if that makes a difference.)
2. Another character is in severe pain from a cracked shoulder blade, but also has a concussion (from the same accident). What kind of pain meds would they be able to receive, and would those meds actually help with the pain at all? Should I just get them lots of ice and call it (kinda) sorted? Also, how would their doctor differentiate their being semiconscious from the pain vs. being semiconscious from TBI complications?
Hey there! Thanks for your question!
So let’s tackle these in order.
1) Meningitis vs Flu
Meningitis can indeed feel like flu symptoms, with a few significant differences.
First, neck stiffness. Your character won’t be able to bring their chin to their chest; it will be very stiff and painful to do so. This is called nucchal rigidity by those “in the biz.” They’ll also have a fever, vomiting, often a headache, body aches, chills, tiredness, possibly confusion, and sensitivity to light.
It’s kind of like if a flu and a hangover trashed your head’s living room and you found them asleep on the couch and in the bathtub respectively.
The other thing is that meningitis typically(not always) hits like a goddamn freight train. Your character may have had the flu before, but this will be The Worst Flu. I’ve had patients who’ve gone from “I feel fine” to fucking dying in less than six hours. This depends on the type and aggressiveness of the meningitis; bacterial meningitis, particularly meningiococcal meningitis, is a fucking bastard of a disease and is extremely aggressive. VIral meningitis, such as from an Epstein-Barr infection, varicella zoster (our friend chicken pox), mumps, or herpes.
Viral meningitis is more common in little kids, but not unreasonable in an adult.
As for EMS questions, this question is predicated on something I don’t know much about, which is “EMS Before I Was Born for 800, Alex.” They would likely isolate him by wrapping him in sheets even though he has a fever and take him to the hospital, where doctors would give antifever medications like acetaminophen and perform a lumbar punctue, or spinal tap. This is the process of having the character curl up into a ball and sticking a needle into the small of the back to draw out a small vial of cerebrospinal fluid. This hurts and causes massiveheadaches, which, your character is already having a No Fun Day.
They’ll be looking for blood and bacteria in the CSF. If you opted for viral meningitis, they won’t find bacteria in there, or blood. They’ll likely be placed in isolation while they’re sick, meaning all hospital staff will wear gowns and gloves and paper masks to care for them (same for visiting friends/family). If it’s viral, there isn’t a whole lot to do, and I get sketchy about 80s meningitis meds and don’t want to send you down the wrong path. Odds are they could simply rest for a week in the hospital and get better and go home.
2) Car Go Crash
“Crash-o-smash!”
“That’s all I need to know!”
Hey there! There are a few things we need to talk about with this crash.
First, how did they crack their shoulderblade? That’s an unusual injury, to my knowledge. They would have to be thrown back into something, but car seats are padded. What did they hit?
Second, about concussion vs TBI vs pain:
There are a number of clinical assesments that can be used to help determine if the head injury is a concussion or something worse. The most definitive is a CT scan, but they may not actually need one! According to the Canada Head Trauma CT Guidelines, your character only needs a head CT if:
- They can’t remember more than 30 minutes before the accident
- They have mental status changes (unable to follow commands, don’t open eyes on their own, or are confused about who/where they are)
- They’ve vomited more than once
- The mechanism was super dangerous (thrown or ejected from the vehicle)
- They have a depressed skull fracture. (Simple linear fractures don’t require head CTs.)
- They have signs of a basilar skull fracture; search this blog for LeFort fractures.
Shout-out to @cranquis for teaching me about those guidelines, I wasn’t familiar with them before his tender ministrations to my upcoming book :)
They will likely be seen in the ER, have their arm put in a sling to protect the shoulder, and sent home with an appointment to follow up with orthopedics. Someone should be with them and will be asked to wake them up once about 4 hours after they go to sleep to make sure they canwake up, but otherwise, let them rest as long as they need to.
In terms of pain meds, I would expect a three-day course of oral pain meds such as oxycodone/acetaminophen (Oxycontin) or hydrocodone/acetaminophen (Vicodin), in addition to getting similar pain pills while they’re in the ER.
If they need surgery for their shoulder, it will be scheduled with ortho on an outpatient basis unless the scapula is literally poking through the skin.
Whew! I hope this helped!!
xoxo, Aunt Scripty
