By midnight she has started vomiting and screaming in pain. We rushed her to ER again this time demanding they do something. As a flood of nurses and 2 doctors came rushing in our room they explained she probably had meningitis but they wouldn't know for sure without doing a spinal tap. During the spinal tap the ER doctor told us that she definitely had bacterial meningitis because he measured the pressure on her brain from the tap and it was very high. 15 minutes after that we were shipped to Scottish Rite were she was admitted near PICU. Not long after we were admitted she began to have double vision and couldn't see. We were horrified and didn't know what to think.
Finally after 3-4 days the swelling on her brain went down. She could see again and her pain was better. We stayed at Scottish Rite for 14 days. She now has frequent headaches and a learning disability as result from meningococcal meningitis.
It didn't hit me how blessed we were until her pediatrician told us that most kids who contract bacterial meningitis without a spleen usually die. It was then that I realized more people need to be educated about meningitis. Our outcome was a good one but so many have not had the same. Please please vaccinate your children and teens! It could very well save their life.
Mollie Heard
June 2014