Hopkins Revisited

Halloween Night at Hopkins

It's been a while since I've posted a blog about my transplant experience and related health issues, so I thought I'd share my latest news. My Johns Hopkins nephrologist admitted me to the hospital on Halloween. I'd been having inexplicable fevers about every three weeks for several months which had her very concerned. Random fevers are atypical for post kidney transplant patients to experience. My only other on-going symptoms were occasional headaches along with a stiff neck. I loathe being in the hospital, but agreed to be admitted for the rounds of testing that we both hoped would get to the bottom of what was causing the fevers.

It was an odd day to be admitted to the hospital. While my husband Kevin and I waited for my room assignment, we saw all sorts of people, mostly adults, go by in various flashy costumes. One woman who rushed past us was dressed up as a giant Crayola Crayon.

Kevin took the above photo of me in my "Halloween costume," my very unattractive hospital garb. There was concern I might have the flu (which I didn't) so my "costume" came complete with a face mask that had to be worn whenever I was wheeled off for various tests. Everyone entering my room was required to wear a full body protective gown (bright yellow), gloves (purple), face mask, and eye shield ... making them all look like clowns :)

On the second day, I was interviewed by the Johns Hopkins infectious disease team headed up by a very impressive physician with a "total recall" memory. After meeting with me in my hospital room, he stepped just outside the room to confer with his colleagues. I could hear him repeat almost word for word our discussion, which had been quite lengthy and detailed. There were giggles among the team when he repeated a time or two that Kevin and I lived in a cabin in the woods ... an amusing detail for them that actually was a useful clue.

Fortunately, I did not have to stay in the hospital long, in fact, was able to go home the next evening. Much of the testing could be continued at my local lab, so I was discharged. Kevin and I were ecstatic to be on our way back home to our cabin in the woods!

All of the early tests results for what were considered the most likely causes came back negative. It wasn't until the second tier of test results came in that it was discovered I had acute Lyme's disease ... thanks to the bite of a nasty, little deer tick. Even though I was not pleased to find out I had Lyme's disease, I was happy the root cause of my symptoms was no longer a mystery. I was also relieved to find, since it seems to have been caught early enough, that a three week course of antibiotics should do the trick to quell the disease ... a real treat :)

It was indeed a ghoulish Halloween for us this year ... but the spooky mystery of the random fevers was ultimately solved and no longer haunts us!