[Az-Geocaching] I'm back...

[Trisha]

Wow, Brian, I am glad you are doing OK. Were you insinuating from your
comment at the end about "things that certain small animals leave
behind" that you think you actually had hantavirus? (a
respiratory/hemorrhagic fever spread by the aerosolized dried feces of
certain rodents) Did they test you for that and rule it out?
Trisha "Lightning"
Prescott


On Sun, 1 Jun 2003 01:20:48 -0700, "Brian Casteel" wrote:








Well, I think only 3 or 4 of those who regularly 
read the forums know why my finds have gone stale since my daytrip to
Wickenburg 
earlier in May.  About 4 days after that, I developed a pretty severe
chest 
infection, with my lungs filling with fluid and my throat
constricting.  
Thinking it was better after a week, I went back to work with a
cough.  Two 
days later, I noticed myself getting a little short of breath, but
didn't worry 
too much about it.  That Wednesday, the breathing became much shorter
and I 
developed a fever again (this being on my b-day).  By the time I got
home 
from work, my breathing was so shallow, I was taking 8+ breaths to
every 
'typical' one breath.  Off to the ER I go, have a battery of tests
run, get 
jabbed all over the place, and find out about 4.5 hours later that I
have viral 
pneumonia.  What fun.  During that hospital visit, I had to cough so 
hard I bruised the ribs in my back.  So I miss the rest of that week,
and 
the entire next, taking more drugs than crosses the border daily.
 
Finally, I start feeling better on Thursday in the 
sense that I was starting to feel 'normal'.  The caches I found on
5/14 I 
did with a 102 fever, and felt terrible.  Guess I wanted to see
Reloaded 
that bad that I tried to ignore my body's messages by masking it with 
ibuprofen/cough syrup/cough drops/antibiotics.  I can't help but think
that 
the roots of my 3 week medical ordeal had something to do with my trip
to 
Wickenburg.  It just seems far too coincidental.  At any rate, while 
galavanting around in the desert this summer, PLEASE be aware of those
things 
you come in contact with, especially those things that certain small
animals 
leave behind.
 
Brian
Team A.I.