#lemierres

On November 19th of this past year I was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital after a blood test revealed I had an incredibly high white blood cell count. The week before I has a sore throat that seemed to only get worse, I couldn't eat, I could only sleep all day, waking up only after a few hours. I began to feel incredibly weak and physically could not lie down due to back pain. When I got to the hospital they did a series of tests and ruled out a huge list of possibilities including bronchitis, strep, and they even tested me for HIV/AIDS due to the severity of my condition. When all came back negative, one of the doctors was able to confirm based on what she remembered from a med school textbook that I had Lemierre's disease. Lemierre's disease or the "forgotten disease" is a condition in which an abscess forms behind the tonsils and the bacteria that forms often causes a blood clot to form in the jugular vein. The bacteria can then spread to all parts of the body including the kidneys, liver, lungs, and even the brain. 

Throughout this whole process I was very lucky (and I say that almost ironically because the odds of getting this disease are less than one in a million). The infection spread to my lungs and nowhere else. I was in the ICU for 8 days and I barely remember it due to the intense medications. I lost 20 lbs in 2 weeks. I had to have people help me walk when I was able to get the chest tubes out that had allowed the infection to be drained from my lungs. I couldn't walk for more than about 100 yards without getting very short of breath. 

When I got home from the hospital, I had to be under IV medication for another month and a half before switching to oral antibiotics. It has been a long recovery and has not been easy especially when nearly every health professional I have seen following up has told me I should have died. Doctors say that if I had not been diagnosed I would have been dead within 3 days. 

This disease is very serious, and very often misdiagnosed. PLEASE be aware of the symptoms. It is called the "forgotten disease" for a reason. Though it is very rare it can still happen, and numbers are rising as health professionals have lessened their use of antibiotics in order to prevent mutations that cause immunity to medications (which is good, but in turn, increased diagnosis of this particular disease). I was very lucky that my doctor was able to diagnose it, but this has not been the case for many people. It is often misdiagnosed and in many cases, it is so rare that many doctors have not heard of it. It often affects young, and otherwise healthy young adults.