I just got this request and thought I'd post it here.  If anyone has any way
to locate information, please post it here, mail me, or call any of the
numbers below.

A caucasan woman, mid-40's, recently came down with "flu-like" symptoms.  They
got worse and she has landed in UoM Hospital ICU.  As of 12/9/95 @ 5pm she
is heavily medicated/sedated and breathing only with the help of a respirator.
The doctors are at a loss to diagnose her illness.

In late August, into September, she travelled to the Middle-East, visiting
Isreal, Turkey and Jordan.  Search of the CDC morbidity & mortality index
failed to show up any alerts which could relate to her condition.

Please inquire into your information sources, discussion groups (like this
one), list-serves, usenet groups, etc to see if you can help her doctors find
a cause...and hopefully a cure.

I can be reached at 313.971.7177 and there is a 24 hr answering service on
that number.  Or you can mail me at grex or mnet (rickyb at both locations).

I posated this for a friend of the woman, David Abramson.  David can be
reached at his hime # 313.668.0955, or via his pager, 800.680.5048.

Thanks for your help.

23 responses total.

This is obviously a request for professional assistance or referral. 
I'm not a medical professional, but I can tell when insufficient
information is given to suggest a diagnosis. I know that "flu-like
symptoms" includes a multitude of causes. Would it be fair to conclude
that all the fungal respiratory illnesses, Legionnaires disease, and
these recently prominant hanta virus diseases, have been excluded?

also did she purchase anything that she used when she returned home such as
a cosmetic type product or a food that she ingested so that allergies could
be eliminated as well. A "bite" from an insect thet found a hiding place in
her suitcase among her clothes? that is insect or spider above.
Something she wouldn't remember or thiank about...just some thoughts.
My best to  her and David...

Thanks rcurl and odakim for your responses and good wishes.  I am a medical
professional (though not a pulmonary specialist) and recognize, indeed, that
very little in the way of background was provided.  This is merely what was
provided me and I passed it on.
        I know the woman involved, and David is also a friend of hers and the
family.  He posted the notice because her husband was too busy at the hospital
and with the kids to even look at his computer.
        We've discussed possibilities of "extra-ordinary" infestations of
fungal, viral or bacterial organisms (or mixed infections) and bite reactions
(venomous, allergic and as innoculation routes for infection).  I didn't think
about cosmetics (I don't think she uses much, but that doesn't mean none),
and I know food has been considered, at least.
        I'll add your responses to the growing 'think-bin' and perhaps someone
will stumble upon something her docs didn't think of yet.
        Thanks again.

A recent article in the Observer about Parke Davis mentioned that one of their
"wonder drugs" which has since been nearly banned in the U.S. was still common
in foreign countries, and caused the death of a touring American.  

RE #4: And the following month there was a letter to the _Ann Arbor Observer_
stating that, because of their story on the Parke Davis "wonder drug," the
Parke Davis plant might close, a lot of people in town would be out of work,
and it would be all their (the _Observer's_) fault.  This is what's wrong with
life as we know it.

Well please let us know  how she is doing when you hear anything and just what
it is that is happening to her/

If (when) Parke Davis closes it will most certainly not be the
fault of The Observer.  

UPDATE: Patient is still on 100% oxygen (nearly) and unable to be
weaned from the respirator.  They continue to attempt to wean her.  Her
antibiotics seem to have resolved any infection but pathogen remains
un-identified.  Her kids will likely be visiting grandparents for the
holidays.

Oh how sad...I hope she comes out of this soon....please continue to keep us
in touch ok?

My thoughts are with her and her family.

rickyb, this may be the same response as Rane's, but in the recent past there
were news articles about some respiratory disease caused by mouse droppings
in desert areas.  The disease was very hard to diagnose and was reported on
indian reservations in the southwest.  This may be the "hanta virus" Rane
refers to, but just in case it is a lead, I'll mention it.

That was to what I was referring. Has that virus been excluded as a
possibility?

Admitedly I have not heard anything new, since my family celebrates both
hanukkah and christmas, and the AA schools are closed, this has been a rather
hectic couple of weeks for me.  As I may have already said, the infection
seems to have been resolved, apparently with antibiotics...so a bacterial
infection is suspected.  No organism has been identified yet.  My hope is that
they have finally been able to get her off the ventilator, she has secondary
inflammation of the lungs due to the machine and was unable to breath on her
own.  The longer she is in the ICU the more damage to her lungs, so they were
hoping to be succesful at weaning her off this week.  I guess there is still
the chance of viral infection, but my impression is that the docs don't think
that's the problem because of the "rapid" response to the antibiotics.  Hope
they're not suffering from tunnel vision.

me too!!! Thanks for  letting us know Rick...Lets pray she gets better ever
day....Rick...tell her that we here are thinking of her and  praying for her
ok?

Here's an update...
        As of Saturday, 12/30/95 @ 2pm she is still in ICU on respirator, but
is responding to steroid therapy.  They are reducing her oxygen to minimal
and she will attempt to participate in her own breathing within a few days.
        She is able to recognize family and respond to them, but still cannot
move at all.  Being at UoM, she will get a whole new set of doctors at the
end of the month, although her nursing staff (excellent has been used to
describe them) will continue unchanged.
        Hopefully, she will not back-slide or suffer complications of the drugs
or machines, so she will be able to recieve visitors in a week or two <?>.
She will likely not remember any of this (due to the amnesiac affect of the
sedative medications) which is good, since it would be really scary to wake
up with a trach-tube on a ventilator after three weeks of uncounsiousness.

        Keep up the good thoughts and prayers.  Even the medical
"establishment" is beginning to beleive in the power of prayer!

        Happy New Year to all...and a healthy one, at that!

Ricky, I can't quite figure out how you're tied to
this case or the information surrounding it.  Sometimes
it sounds like you know something of medicine and
then it sounds like maybe you watch a lot of ER or
Chicago Hope.  Are you in the medical field?

That sounds much more hopeful..rick....YES!!!!!!

(chelsea...yes, I am in the medical field.  This patient is a friend, but I
am not involved in her case at all.  The info I have has been 2nd or 3rd hand
and that's why the contradictory vibes, I'd guess.)

It is with deep sadness that I report this patient died suddenly on 1/2/96.

I have no details, I may learn more at the funeral on Friday...but I don't
know if I'll be able to give anymore info for awhile.  While she was not a
close friend of mine, my son and her daughter are very close friends (as close
as five year olds can be).  For some reason, this loss is hitting me
unexpectedly hard,,,I'm even having trouble typing this right now, sorry. 

rickyb - Sorry to hear about the loss and thanks for sharing this with us.

This response has been erased.

I didn't know her of course but it  makes me cry to think of everyones loss
who loved her.  I had hoped she would have made it..very much.
I am very sorry Rick...very sorry.

Thanks to all of you for your concerns and good wishes.  I have a little more
information, not that it can do any good.

She responded to her respiratory problems with steroids, and was beginning
to participate in breathing on her own, with reduced oxygen supplimentation,
but still assisted by the respirator.  Suddenly, she developed a massive,
unoperable cerebral anyerism which was quickly fatal.  It seems totaly
unrelated to her conditons and her treatment...a bolt from the blue.

The immediate family was very strong at the funeral, the 5 yo daughter (my
sons friend) sucking her thumb and waving to everyone in the crowd.  The
synagogue was filled to standing room only.  My wife and I couldn't even stand
to be in the same room, watching little Ellana with her smiling face, we sat
in the library and listened to the service through the speaker.

Why is this so difficult for us?  We barely knew this woman, brought together
only by our children.  In fact, I'm not sure we would have ever become
friends, it just didn't feel like that kind of relationship, different strokes
for different folks and all that.  But, I can hardly get this off my mind.
It doesn't help, either, that my wifes best friends mom has been diagnosed
with wide spread cancer in the last few months, and we just learned she likely
won't last until we return from a trip to california.

These things do make tou sit up and take notice, though.  Carpe Diem, and the
like.  We should all count our blessings and enjoy every minute we have with
our loved ones.  (I hope that didn't come across as trite).  I've been
laboring to remember a passage that once made a great impression on me, and
I've finally remembered it.  It could have been a Shakspearian character, or
maybe not.  I forgot the source.

        "Let each of us in our death remember life,
         a memory without pain"

                                                Shalom Wendy

You are not trite at all....Often death makes us think of our own immortality.
and the suddenness makes it al the more thought provoking.  Especially when
you have children the same age.  
Funny I thought of that this morning...the what if's..and what would i do.
I let it pass through my mind like so many others and  decided to enjoy life
whatever amount I have.

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