I had bacterial meningitis in college. 21% mortality rate. Makes the Kung Flu look like the common cold
Brought this here as it's not really on topic, but dang. That had to suck. I've never had it (I at least am under the assumption I have all the meningitis shots now, but I'm actually not totally sure) but I've read stories about these disease and I know how it can wreck people. I was kind of startled a few years back when I went to a doctor for the first time in ages and found out about this strain for meningitis that they had started vaccinating for shortly after we stopped wondering about vaccines (Meningitis B I believe so its one of the rarer ones but even then, and yes, I got the vaccines for it when I found out).
The sickest I feel like I've ever been isn't really even a deal that normally can really get you (and I know there's much worse that happens). I may have told this before, but whatever, I will again. Back when I was 12, I got strep throat for the first time. Only my dad initially blew it off as a cold. So, I took Zicam first, which I kinda think actually worked for my colds when I was a youngster, but that's not important to this story. I had a mild sore throat, but that was pretty much it. This goes on for a few days, other than the mild sore throat, I was okay. There may have been a day or two where it even went away, as this story gets further and further away from present day, there are some minor details that I forget. But then, there was a day where I was eating lunch in the middle school lunchroom, I want to say it was a "fake rib sandwich", and that funny feeling in my throat was back.
It was not long after that in which I woke up at some point in the middle of the night crying hysterically because my throat was swollen so badly. My dad had to come comfort me, and he kept me home from school the next day. The day after (so I spent about two days with major swelling my throat) we went to the pediatrician and I obviously had strep throat and not a cold (oddly no fever but my throat was in awful shape and I don't think I really ate at all for a couple days which is why I say that was probably the sickest I've been). Received antibiotics, after two rounds and a night of sleeping, I was back to normal.
I think my dad felt awful after that incident, but he doesn't like doctors. Never really has but he's not to the point of insane, like people that don't vaccinate their children (in fact I think he's said that it's a crime to not vaccinate your children). It ironically stems from grandpa (his dad), who was an MD, talking about how you should avoid doctors as long as you can and don't put your full trust in them.
