Histoplasmosis and Cryptococcal Meningitis and Pigeons

Misty Hollow Carving
This BLOG is sponsored by “Misty Hollow Carving”. You are welcome to visit Misty Hollow and see all of my carvings.

My Web Site is a like a Gallery – please drop in for a stroll through.

To help me promote my Web Site please copy this URL address and email to someone today http://www.murraylincoln.com/

* * * * * * * *
Today’s Blog Post


Histoplasmosis and Cryptococcal Meningitis and Pigeons
This morning early I read the account of Erica Richards, the 23 year old in New Brunswick, that is very sick because of an act of kindness on her part. Michael Staples wrote about her plight.

Erica Richards now has cryptococcal meningitis, a fungal disease carried in the feces of pigeons. She contracted this disease in January of this year while feeding pigeons in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Michael Staples wrote, quote, "The debilitating illness attacks the spine and the brain, causing severe swelling. It left her confined to a hospital bed in a state of delirium for weeks.

But the most devastating consequence of the sickness is that Richards is now blind." Ends quote.

What a terrible thing to happen! Erica wants everyone to know how terrible it is and warns them about the potential danger also.

In three short months her vibrant life has disappeared and she is now fighting for what she has left.

In our City and the City of Toronto, we see Pigeons – by the Billions or is that Trillions?

Not long ago we were eating in a Restaurant in Toronto. It was cute to watch the hungry Pigeons descend in a cloud just outside the restaurant entrance. The man next door was throwing out seed for the Pigeons to eat. Whole handfuls of grain brought enough Pigeons to eat a bucket full of seed.

Every time the Pigeons went to flight there was a gush of wind near their wings and around the rising flock… and in that gush of wind was all kinds of dust… with who knows what is in the dust.

Erica unfortunately found out the hard way… and now she is seriously sick and cannot see again.

This is close to home for me. My dad was very sick as a boy. He was staying at his Grandpa Phillips home in Illinois when he was a boy. While there he was given the job to look after the aviary, which included chickens and pigeons. He become ill and then got better.

Later on when they X-Rayed his chest he was found to have huge scars around his lungs. The suspicions were that he had TB. For that reason all of us in our family were checked each year for the that dreaded TB… because my Dad likely had it… so we might be carriers as well.

Late in his 50s my father studied and then flew for his Private Pilots license. The physical at that time discovered that he had “histoplasmosis” earlier in his life – not TB. That left the scars on his lungs… and subjected all his family to TB tests – because of fear.

When you read of the two diseases, they are much the same.

Erica’s story and my Dad’s story are very much the same. My Dad survived and Erica may not… but if she does she definitely will be living an altered life style.

When World War II came along, my Dad signed up along with his friends. When the medical check-ups took place they discovered the scars on his lungs – indicating that he was less than perfect as a man. He was rejected as a potential soldier… and couldn’t fight along with and die with other men in that horrible war. Instead he fathered me…

Erica’s account of this terrible disease that lingers just around a group of flying Pigeons… has altered her whole life…

I have given this some serious thought… and see now how one small bug could have easily stopped any possibility for me to be me. That shook me more than a little!

Today I am thinking about Erica, about Pigeons and about my Dad.

I am blessed… and very fortunate that the order of things in the past… made a difference…

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/  

Resource:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/Please+pigeons/4673908/story.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptococcal_meningitis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histoplasmosis