Maxi's parent tells his story.
My son contracted strep bacterial meningitis at the age of 7 months.
We live by Michigan State University and 2 years prior there was an outbreak resulting in a few deaths. He had a fever and was fairly inconsolable. He had always been so content. I knew something wasn't right. I called the doctor's office and the nurse said it was okay to keep breaking the fever but to call back if he worsened. I called the next day and he saw our family practice doctor. He diagnosed an ear infection and prescribed augmentin.
By the next day he was vomiting. We took him to the hospital where they said he had the flu. There were no pediatricians at the ER. We were ambulanced over to their sister hospital 6 1/2 hours later. Within 5 minutes the pediatrician told us she suspected meningitis. His hospital stay was 1 month. It was hell.
Subsequently, he is having many problems including behavior and an inability to communicate. We try to use sign language and oral communication but it is very difficult. We have been told that he has frontal lobe damage and bilateral temporal lobe damage. Just needing support from others.
I am very happy I found this site!
Nat@teammatthews.com