Survivor Stories

Chad Giddens

Some of the details of my story are kind of sketchy because I was only in second grade when I had my bout with meningitis. Although I do have some memories of my own, I've also been told a lot by my mother, who was by my side every step of the way.

As I recall my illness began while I was at school one day. I had a raging headache. I felt so sick that day that I did not even want to participate in recess... and that was my favorite part of the day! I know that after recess I put my head on my desk and began crying and screaming. My mother was called and I went home for the rest of the day.

Later that evening my headache had not gotten any better and I actually begin hallucinating and developed a very high fever. My mom took me to the emergency room. I don't know what the diagnosis was, but they obviously didn't suspect meningitis, because I was sent home after a few hours with some instructions on how we could reduce my fever.

The next day I wasn't any better. My pediatrician was on vacation but my mom called the doctor covering for him and he had us go to the other hospital in town. He met us there and performed an exam, but could not determine what, if anything was wrong with me. He admitted me because my mom demanded it, but he actually told her that he thought I was just the product of a recently divorced family seeking attention. Apparently he must have thought I was so attention starved that I had the ability to increase my body temperature to nearly 104 degrees.

After a night in the hospital my own pediatrician returned from vacation and came to exam me first thing in the morning. I don't recall what he saw that previous doctors that had examined me did not, but after just a few moments he ordered a spinal tap. The results concluded that I indeed had bacterial meningitis. My doctor told my mom at that point that I had a 50/50 chance of survival.

Over the next couple of weeks I experienced everything from more hallucinations to partial paralysis on the left side of my body. I developed fluid around my heart. From what I've been told, every day was a struggle. I was isolated, my family had to wear masks and gowns when they visited me and I didn't recognize the majority of the people who came to see me, despite the fact that they were mostly people I knew very well. Even once it was apparent that I would survive this battle, it was still very likely I would have long term effects from the meningitis.

Fortunately, for whatever reason, the after effects of meningitis were somewhat minimal for me after all. My motor skills returned with some physical therapy and I was even able to play tee ball that summer and made the all star team. I did have terrible migraine headaches throughout my childhood and even on into my college years. But otherwise, I made a 100% recovery and have lead a healthy and active life. I'm very fortunate!

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