One for the Pelican doctors

[widebody911]

Around the first part of April, I got sick, with standard flu-like symptoms: chills, fever (99° to 102°), aches, headache, generally wanted to stay in bed. After about a week and a half of that, I went to see my primary. He told me "yeah, you're sick, but you should be OK soon" After another week or so, he basically said the same thing, but ordered some blood work. The tests confirmed that I was indeed fighting something, but didn't say what. Doc thought it was probably something like mono, told me I'd be better in a few more weeks (!). A week or so later, I started getting a "blind" spot in my left eye. Doc refers me to ophthalmology; initial diagnosis is possible central serous retinopathy. Get a fluorescein angiogram; retinal specialist kicks me back to ophthalmologist saying it doesn't look too serious. Follow up with opthalmology, they take more pix and then I have a sit-down with the opthalmologist, and she goes over my test results and then a bunch of health history questions. Have I ever done drugs, smoked, viagra, blood pressure meds; any recent illnesses? I told her about my flu-like symptoms (which I still had, but improving). Then she asked if I had a cat. "Um, yeah. 4 indoor, 4 outdoor, actually." Then the asked "Are any of them kittens?" "Yes, we adopted a kitten about 6 months ago." She ordered another set of tests, and the final diagnosis? I'm not making this up. Bartonella henselae aka Cat scratch fever.

[motion]

Crazy. Good on her for pulling that one out of the air. Does it explain your blind spot, though?

[look 171]

Well I don't know where they come from
But they sure do come
I hope they comin' for me
And I don't know how they do it
But they sure do it good
I hope they doin' it for free

They give me cat scratch fever
Cat scratch fever

[vash]

crazy!!

hope you feel better..and great doc to home in on that one. btw, is your doctor a super grouchy elderly guy that walks with a cane?

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by motion

Crazy. Good on her for pulling that one out of the air. Does it explain your blind spot, though?

Yes; a certain percentage of people who get Bartonella henselae also get neuroretinitis (it wasn't actually central serous retinopathy). It was the extended flu symptoms that tipped her off.

[look 171]

Will your vision come back and what type of treatment for this. I never thought such illness were real, and always thought that its a joke. Sorry man.

[motion]

The joke's on widebody911. Hehe, couldn't resist.

[ckelly78z]

Cue the "Motorcity Madman" Ted Nugent.

A good doctor who knows thier chit is a valuable asset. She actually paid attention in class, and keeps up on the latest advanements. We had this problem with most of our "family" doctors that just want to subscribe a ZPac for every ailment and charge you for an office visit.

[sammyg2]

I've never heard of dog scratch fever, just sayin.

[Tobra]

My recollection is that Pasteurella multocida was the most common infection from cat scratches.

Ironically, azithromycin is the antibiotic of choice for Bartonella, so the shot in the dark would probably have worked. Either way, beats the hell out of valley fever.

I was thinking it might be something more along the lines of this.

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by look 171

Will your vision come back and what type of treatment for this. I never thought such illness were real, and always thought that its a joke. Sorry man.

My vision should eventually come back to normal; they have my on doxycycline for the time being. I already feel 100% better.

[quicksix]

Thank goodness you were diagnosed early, I had the same symptoms, not caught early, mine developed into scratch that beaver.
RE: Valley fever: been there, done that, no thanks

[stevej37]

My next door neighbor, an elderly woman who was feeding stray cats every day, was bitten on the ankle by one of them and it took her a month to recover from the effects. She could hardly walk, and had been in great condition beforehand.

[Kistle]

Was your ophthalmologist wang dang.....?

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by Jandrews

Was your ophthalmologist wang dang.....?

No, that's my urologist

[GWN7]

Hope your feeling better.

[vash]

Originally Posted by widebody911

No, that's my urologist

weird..mine's Dang Wang.

hope you're feeling better..and seeing better.

[Baz]