Bob Werner
ASMP Advocate
Our daughter Becky was a beautiful, outgoing, and vivacious 20-year-old. She attended our local tech college, where she would have graduated in June with a marketing degree, and planned on going on to get a degree in graphic arts.
She had played volleyball since she was in 5th grade. That was her only sport, and she loved every minute of it! She could flash a beautiful smile at any given moment as well as light up a room with her presence. She loved everything about life, from her friends and family to the sport of volleyball and animals, but especially her precious dog, Rocky, who she trained and teased relentlessly, and he loved her to death. One was never without the other.
On the morning of Feb 24, 2004, Becky got up, complaining she didn’t feel well. We suggested that she stay at home, drink plenty of fluids, and take ibuprofen. I called her around lunchtime to see if she was okay. She sounded pretty sick, but I was sure she had some type of flu. She had been fine the night before and had even gone out to eat with us. When I arrived home from work at 7:00 pm, Becky still did not feel well and said that she had been in bed all day. When she decided to get up for a little while and check her email, she was unsteady, and I told her to go back to bed and that the email could wait until tomorrow. She went back to bed without any argument.
At 1:00 am, my wife found her lying in the hallway, moaning, and asked her what was wrong. She said that she didn’t feel good. At 3:00 am, she found her lying on the floor next to our bed, moaning. Again, the same circumstances presented themselves. She said that she had been vomiting and now had a small amount of diarrhea. There were no outward signs of any vomiting and, again, no fever! By 5:00 am, she found her again in the hallway. She complained of being very weak and that she couldn’t see! She flipped on the hallway light and saw that her eyes were rolling around in her head; we knew she was really sick.
When we arrived at the ER, we were still convinced that she had some type of flu. The doctor came in and looked at her. She said she had an ear infection, but her blood pressure was very low. We mentioned to him that her fingertips were blue, and she was complaining of her legs falling asleep. Then, a flurry of things started to happen, and no one told us anything. We never left her side, and she kept asking us what was happening to her. They told us that she was being transferred to the ICU and would probably stay there for about two weeks. Two weeks for an ear infection? Every time we asked what was going on, all they could tell us was they weren’t sure yet. By the time she did get to the ICU, symptoms started to manifest themselves. No one was calling it meningitis yet.
The ICU doctor began to unfold what was going on. By 9:00 pm, her heart stopped, and she slipped peacefully away with about 30 friends and relatives around her.