Simple advice that could save your life

[HawgZWylde]

Hi fellow FNNers. Very recently, as in I'm still recovering, I became very ill and nearly lost my life. On Friday the 16th my fishing partner and I set out to DVL for a normal day of fishing. It turned out to be an extremely algae filled day. We did pretty good in-spite of having to constantly battle the wads of slime that clogged up our gear. Pretty normal algae day except by the following Tuesday I was running a high fever and had some Diarrhea going on which I didn't think much of figuring I picked up a virus somewhere. I even shook it off and went fishing the following day still a little "sick". Had a killer 20 fish day that day but as the day wore on I was definitely getting sicker so we called it and left. I spent the next couple of days getting sicker and my wife then said you are going to the hospital.

To make a long story short, I ended up getting a bacterial infection from the lake that was wrecking havoc on my intestines and other organs due to extreme dehydration. My advice is this, TAKE A BOTTLE OF HAND SANITIZER AND USE IT RELIGIOUSLY. You eat, you drink, you may smoke and that bacteria is on your hands. Wiping your face etc. etc. etc. if you get it near your mouth it could end up in the same place as it did in me, in your gut. Yes, this is a very rare occurrence and the doctor who treated me had only seen it twice before and both times were back east. Don't fool yourself and think it can't happen to you because it surely can. I've been a hardcore angler all my life and nothing like this has ever happened until now. You only die once and I nearly did. Please take this advice seriously...

**EDIT
I will add that using your mouth to wet your line when cinching knots and then biting off the tag will indeed expose you...

[GhettoBasster]

Yikes!!! Thanks for the warning. Glad that you are alive. Usually it's the stuff we can't see that can kill us. Just out of curiosity, did the lab identify the organism?

[etucker1959]

That's some great advice!!!!! I'm glade you're feeling better, it's just not the same around here without you pointing out the Evil of left wing socialist politics. lol

[bassmeister]

Wow you never know what lurks outside. Thanks for the tips, one would never think about what is coating your line and wetting it with your mouth to tie your knots.
Most important is that you came out on the right side of your ordeal.

[fishinone]

I'm glad that you've recovered Pat.

Fishing is supposed to be for rest and relaxation!

[Fishingkid97]

Glad your ok. I talk to a friend tuesday night who had just got home from the dr. He had been shitting uncontrollably for 6 days straight day and night. Found out he had gotten a bacteria from lake havasu. dr said possibly could have gotten on his hands then passed to his mouth or under his finger nails then touch his lips any how not a very fun experience I am sure. just something to be careful of.

[Hometown]

Thanks for the advice.Hope you are feeling better and back on the water soon.

[catchingsomefish]

Wow, that is really scary, things that we all take for granted, I am glad you are on the mend, and thanks for the heads up.........................Dave

[AZ.Kid]

Sorry to hear that Hawgs. every door I touch scares the hell out of me these days. even trying to give up fast food out of fear of getting something like that. Glad you got to the Doc. on time and hope you feel better soon.

[HawgZWylde]

Thanks for the kind words guys, this has been a real eye opener for me to say the least. GhettoBasster, I do not as it takes up to 72 hours for them to grow a culture from a sample. Once I was stabilized (2 1/2 days) I was released and told to see my primary immediately for follow up. Unfortunately I can't get in until next Wednesday. At that point I will find out the specific organism. I'm not out of the woods yet though as I'm still dealing with a fever that pops up about every 6 hours but it's much lower than the 103-104 temps I had before. The diarrhea has subsided and I'm now making little green Martian rocks. My liver is enlarged and I had some kidney damage done as well. With that said hopefully I'll be back on the water next week...

[DEVOREFLYER]

My best guess is that you contacted Giardia. If I had know sooner I would have suggested you take two aspirin, half a bottle of Jack, assume the prenatal position and turn the electric blanket up to nine. Then in the morning when you wake up after sweating the evil bug out send me $20, I don't make house calls.

Kidding aside my Dr. has told me almost every case he has treated the patient had been swimming or boating at Lake Perris.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/giardia-infection/basics/causes/con-20024686

[HawgZWylde]

My best guess is that you contacted Giardia. If I had know sooner I would have suggested you take two aspirin, half a bottle of Jack, assume the prenatal position and turn the electric blanket up to nine. Then in the morning when you wake up after sweating the evil bug out send me $20, I don't make house calls.

Kidding aside my Dr. has told me almost every case he has treated the patient had been swimming or boating at Lake Perris.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/giardia-infection/basics/causes/con-20024686

Nope, this isn't Giardia. Our whole family including the 2 dogs came back from one of our Sierra trips with it a few years back. The infection I have is far far more severe. None of us had fever that accompanied the runs we had from the Giardia bacterium. But speaking of Jack, the Doc at the hospital ask me a few times if I drank alcohol, he was quite surprised when my wife and I both insisted we haven't drank alcohol in over 15 years. He is quite concerned with my enlarged liver...

[PONTOON]

Pat,

I was completely blown away when I read this post. I saw that you were off the boards for a while. I had no idea why but I know now and thank the Good Lord you made it. My thoughts will be with you and I hope the doctors can get this identified and get you rid of whatever it is.

I hope you are able to get back on the water soon. You're an asset to the boards and I enjoy all of your informative reports.

[HawgZWylde]

Pat,

I was completely blown away when I read this post. I saw that you were off the boards for a while. I had no idea why but I know now and thank the Good Lord you made it. My thoughts will be with you and I hope the doctors can get this identified and get you rid of whatever it is.

I hope you are able to get back on the water soon. You're an asset to the boards and I enjoy all of your informative reports.

Terry, thank you for the kind words. I am going nuts I want to get on the water so bad but I cannot as I'm still running low grade fevers and my balance isn't so great yet. Lol, my wife got a bug in her ear about me possibly going out Tueday, well she armed herself with the cast iron skillet and said go ahead and try lol...

[GhettoBasster]

Holy Crap Hawgs! I hope you get out of that circle of hell soon! Take care.

[TUNAVIC]

Wow,glad to hear your ok after that scare, thanks much for that heads up,that danger or risk never even crossed my mind.

Cya Tuna Vic

[Which Way Out]

Very good to hear your on the road back, although full of pot holes. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Your story sure makes me glad I didn't jump into a mountain pond I was near this weekend, sure looked refreshing but after your story, I am going to be very careful. Will have to add to my list of other things I won't swim in. #1- A Public Pool

Get better
WWO

[old pudd fisher]

Hope you are getting well, being sick sucks and is just a waste of time.

[SurfCityUSA]

Thanks for the post. My kids and I have been fishing DVL in the algae over the last month or two but we will be more careful. Thanks again and I hope you are better.
SurfCityUSA

[Marley]

Amoebic Dysentery?

Some scary stuff out there. Glad you're getting better.

[one time]

prayers, get well soon brother. been missing your reports.....

[GhettoBasster]

Amoebic Dysentery?

Some scary stuff out there. Glad you're getting better.

Amoebas were my guess too.

[HawgZWylde]

Amoebas were my guess too.

I'll find out today at 3:00pm. When I was discharged from the hospital, I was sent home with a prescription and told to use only in an emergency, like if the high fevers and extreme diarrhea returned. The prescription is the same antibiotic used to treat Anthrax. Fortunately I only have a low grade fever (99-101) which goes down when I take Ibuprofen and the other while not back to normal, is much better...

[DarkShadow]

HawgZWylde,

Damn, that sounds like a messed up ride. Glad you made it out OK.

I've been told that soap and water is as effective as hand sanitizers, which, from certain scientific points of view, are the main culprit of the new strains of 'super germs' that we have now, that have built resistance to hand sanitizers.

Thoughts?

[perch]

WOW THANK YOU for sharing all the information. I sure hope you get feeling better and back to normal soon. thats really scary and sure makes us all rethink putting the hands near the eyes or mouth without washing them first. Take care hope and pray for a speedy recovery for you.

[HawgZWylde]

HawgZWylde,

Damn, that sounds like a messed up ride. Glad you made it out OK.

I've been told that soap and water is as effective as hand sanitizers, which, from certain scientific points of view, are the main culprit of the new strains of 'super germs' that we have now, that have built resistance to hand sanitizers.

Thoughts?

Thanks DS, it is one messed up deal. Yes, you are correct, the overuse of anti-bacterial soaps and anti-biotic medicines have indeed caused resistance and created new super germs. My wife has eliminated all ant-bacterial soaps in our household. But you cannot use soap and water out on our lakes. It was the doctor who treated me in the hospital who recommended it because you can use it and wipe it off your hands with a rag, no harm to the water and since it's not everyday it wouldn't affect your bodies immune system. That would be the only time I would use it now. Yes, it's rare to get something like this but trust me, you don't want to get whatever this is and it's well worth it to use it several times a day when being exposed to the amoebas, bacterium etc. etc. found in freshwater lakes. Hand sanitizers are basically just gelled alcohol, not antibiotic soap, so it it effective killing most of the bugs that could get on your hands then into your gut.

Thanks again DS...

[HawgZWylde]

Ok guys I promised I'd come back and give a report when I got the results of the tests that weren't available yet when I was discharged from the hospital but first I want to thank all of you for your encouraging and supportive words to me, even some of you that in other threads where we have had major disagreements I thank you for your support.

Now on to the results, first sorry it took so long but the new primary I had to take due to the changes in the healthcare laws dropped the ball and did not have the results from the hospital, my wife went there the day before and gave them my discharge papers and told them it was critical they get the results of the tests and other paperwork from the hospital, well they never sent the request and were fully unprepared when I arrived, my wife went completely ballistic. If you know my wife, then you know they got hammered hard and loudly. We called back on Friday and they still had not received the paperwork so back to the ER I went. I got there and explained why I was back and they took me back immediately and got to work on me running a new round of blood tests. When I got the results back they showed my enzymes which involve my liver were close to being back to normal. My red blood platelets were also returning to normal and my sodium levels were coming back as well. When I was admitted before the enzymes were dangerously low as were my sodium levels. And my red blood platelets were low and very disorganized. My liver swelling had gone down and my kidneys have returned to functioning properly. The Hepatitis A&B tests were negative. Now here is where the mystery begins, the lab could not get any bacteria to regrow in the petri dish from the stool sample. The doctor said that isn't unusual especially because the culture was taken so long after the initial infection. He strongly feels that basically I was hit with both barrels at once, he thinks I was infected by bacteria from the lake and at the same time got something more exotic from somewhere else. He explained that with all the new and exotic infections and diseases coming into our country, our local labs just can't keep up with identifying them. He says the local labs are not set up to identify all these new bacterium's. In another of my replies here I said he gave me an antibiotic used to treat Anthrax but told me not to take it unless my symptoms degraded quickly, he now has ordered me to begin taking them. He says to give it 3 days and if my fever remains, I will be referred to an infectious disease specialist. If it works, then I'm good to go. So with that being said, I will indeed hit the water on Tuesday. It's been a month since I've fished and I'm going freaking nuts. For better or for worse, expect a report.

Thanks again for the encouragement and concern you guys, this was a big eye opener for me, actually, it scared the you know what out of me since it's completely unknown what bit me. Oh, and the doctor reiterated to me that when out on the water, use hand sanitizer religiously and I certainly will, so should you...

[CrouchingNinjaHiddenFish]

Thanks man hope you get better