Just finished the irritating paper. Not really a whole lot of brain power into it... hell, half the people in my class are having a hard time staying on-topic in discussions, so I'm sure my paper is "quality" for the teacher...lol.

So I finish up, then mom calls... my brother is in the hospital with spinal meningitis (he had it as a kid and apparently it was the viral kind, so he continued to carry it and it's back). Ugh. Doctors ran a buncha tests on him and just can't figure out why they can't kill his splitting headache... meningitis headaches are like migranes times a million. So he's all doped up on morphine and still crying (he has AMAZING pain tolerance, so if he's crying, this is BAD BAD BAD).

Guess I'm gonna spend the rest of the day with my fingers crossed and praying

Oh I'm so sorry to hear this. Meningitis is HORRID. To see a loved one go through it is terrible. You'd take their pain, if you could. I know lumbar punctures are horrific things with high risk but they can take so much pressure from the fluid away. It's been a decade since I've had dealings with it, so the treatment may have become more advanced over the time.
I didn't know viral meningitis comes back?!? I was just relieved at the time it wasn't the much nastier bacterial meningitis Thinking of you and your bro and hope there is some relief at hand soon!!!

Sheesh... took me forever to check me ol blog comments! I thought meningits didn't come back... apparently it can. There are two types: bacterial (HIGHLY contageous, but can be killed w antibiotics and doesn't return) and viral (non-contageous, but remains in body in dormant state and can, in some cases, return). My brother recovered from this bout in the hospital (they first thought the menigitis had returned, but ruled it out and dx'd him with an "unknown virus"). About a week later the same scenario happened again, and once again he landed in the hospital with docs not able to identify the virus. He keeps getting MASSIVE migranes that go beyond even what normal migranes would... both times he was driving and almost wrecked when the migranes hit. About a year ago he fell 25 feet off a ladder and shattered his one heel. Now the docs are thinking he might have sustained some head injuries that are only now becoming apparent. My brother's not had a very easy life and depends upon his physical fitness to do his work (outdoor home repair) and feed his family. His wife of 17 years just left him (for the second time) in the middle of all this hospital stuff. He's trying to work, take care of himself, and look after 3 children. I just wish he didn't have it so hard. It's difficult for me because there's nothing I can do for him atm... I just make sure I call him every other day to let him chat and vent as he needs to.

Seems like bad things somehow manage to pile up on good people

I am really sorry your brother is struggling and thinking of him.

Cracked

Thanks, Cracked