Seven Years Later and Still Hurting

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

"I am not going to get any better really. I just hope things do not get too much worse."
That's how Randy Dollyhigh,a North Carolina victim of the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak put it when asked about his condition seven years after the deadly outbreak became public.
It was early in October of 2012 when the public first learned that a deadly outbreak had surfaced in Nashville. Soon it became clear that it was not limited to Tennessee. Soon after that state and federal health officials were able to trace the problem back to a rogue Massachusetts drug compounding firm.
Thousands of vials of a steroid, methylprednisolone acetate, laden with deadly fungi, had been shipped from Framingham, Mass. to health providers in more than 20 states. The deadly doses were then injected into the spines and joints of unsuspecting patients seeking relief from chronic pain.
Over 100 of the more than 800 victims have died, but for many of those that have survived, life has been no picnic.
Like Dollyhigh many of the victims complain of chronic bouts of severe pain that come suddenly and without warning.
He described some of those as "like being hit in the head with a club or a bat. The worst ones are in the head."
Dollyhigh, who says he had "a fantastic memory" before the outbreak, now cannot remember "names or simple things."
"One of the biggest problems after meningitis is that I cannot understand people very well," said Joan Peay of Nashville, Tenn., who suffered not just one but two separate bouts of fungal meningitis.
"I can hear volume, but have great difficulty understanding people.I often feel left out of conversations," Peay added
Peay, like Dollyhigh and other victims,says she suffers from recurring sharp pains in the back and neck.
"I sometimes get a cramp so bad I could pass out," Peay said.
"The disease seems to have aged me ten years. I just do not have much energy since then," Peay added.
Peay also reports having "a constant sound in my ears—like a very distant field of crickets or very light TV static. It is very annoying."
Many victims say it was not only the after effects of fungal meningitis that still sickens them but also the debilitating anti-fungal medications needed to treat the disease.
In fact Jack Pavlekovich, an Indiana victim, said his doctor told him that his current health problems stem more from the anti-fungal medications than from the initial bout of fungal meningitis.
A former police officer Pavlekovich said he needs to use a walker even when he is in his house. Like several other victims he said he has lost short term memory and suffers from sharp severe pains.
"I'll be watching tv and when the pain hits I'll actually jump out of my chair." he said.
Ken Borton, a Michigan victim, is still suffering from sudden, intense headaches that he gets treatments for every three months.
His wife Donna says he also continues to have "memory loss and seems to have no sense of time. He has no idea if he has been doing something for an hour, or three hours or more. He just keeps going and does not realize that he needs to stop and rest."
Dawn Elliott, an Indiana victim, says after effects of the fungal meningitis and the anti-fungal medications have left her hesitant to leave her home.
"This pretty much keeps me at home, afraid to go anywhere," Elliott said citing back and joint pains, bowel problems and multiple infections.
"I’ve been hurting quite a bit," Elliott said. "I am sick of this."