I was going to post this on my build thread, but due to the importance, I decided I should do a separate thread.
The guy who takes care of miscellaneous pool things for my PB has been out of pocket lately. He's been so great about taking care of my pool since it was filled July 24th. He and his 15 yo son were coming to the house about 1-2 times a week to check on things and do minor pool maintenance (although he soon found out I was already doing most of it by learning from TFP). I enjoy him and his son - they're fun to kid around with and give me lots of information.
A little over two weeks ago, he told me his son had just come down with the flu and couldn't come out to the house. His wife took the son to the doctor who immediately sent for an ambulance to take him to a nearby hospital. He didn't stay long before being transferred (I think the same day) to Texas Children's Hospital in the Medical Center downtown.
He was in a coma for several days, and the initial diagnosis was meningitis. But the doctors said some of the tests had to be sent off to California and would take two weeks to come back. Before his son came home a couple of days ago, the results came in - not good. He had a rare form of the West Nile virus or West Nile Meningoencephalitis. My pool guy was told that only 1% of those who get the West Nile virus get this, and it's the first documented case in Houston. So now they will be interviewed by the CDC.
My pool guy has been keeping his son busy this summer by having him go to all the different pools to supervise and take care of loose ends. They both talked about what a great summer it has been spending so much quality time together. I feel badly for both of them. The hospital has been trying to nail down where all the son has been to focus on those areas, but as his dad said, they've been everywhere - all over NW Harris County and Montgomery County. He said there's no way to tell where his son became infected.
My pool guy and his wife are taking turns staying with their son at home. It's a nerve-wracking time. Their son is still very weak and not always with it. Time will tell if there's been any permanent damage. The dad told me today that he can't wait for his son to be bugging the heck out of him again. They were so afraid of losing him.
Just last week, I was telling a friend how I don't use insect repellant because it all makes my skin feel like it's on fire and then gets numb. So I just haven't worried much about the pesky little biters. But now I think I will find out more about spraying around our yard. I'm not an alarmist, and I realize the risk is slight. But I don't want my 30 yo son to have to take care of me over something preventable.
So as the saying goes..... Be careful out there. I've made some really good friends on TFP (many who live in this area). I can't afford to lose friends, you know?!!
Thanks for reading and being a little more vigilant about those skeeters!
Suz.
The guy who takes care of miscellaneous pool things for my PB has been out of pocket lately. He's been so great about taking care of my pool since it was filled July 24th. He and his 15 yo son were coming to the house about 1-2 times a week to check on things and do minor pool maintenance (although he soon found out I was already doing most of it by learning from TFP). I enjoy him and his son - they're fun to kid around with and give me lots of information.
A little over two weeks ago, he told me his son had just come down with the flu and couldn't come out to the house. His wife took the son to the doctor who immediately sent for an ambulance to take him to a nearby hospital. He didn't stay long before being transferred (I think the same day) to Texas Children's Hospital in the Medical Center downtown.
He was in a coma for several days, and the initial diagnosis was meningitis. But the doctors said some of the tests had to be sent off to California and would take two weeks to come back. Before his son came home a couple of days ago, the results came in - not good. He had a rare form of the West Nile virus or West Nile Meningoencephalitis. My pool guy was told that only 1% of those who get the West Nile virus get this, and it's the first documented case in Houston. So now they will be interviewed by the CDC.
My pool guy has been keeping his son busy this summer by having him go to all the different pools to supervise and take care of loose ends. They both talked about what a great summer it has been spending so much quality time together. I feel badly for both of them. The hospital has been trying to nail down where all the son has been to focus on those areas, but as his dad said, they've been everywhere - all over NW Harris County and Montgomery County. He said there's no way to tell where his son became infected.
My pool guy and his wife are taking turns staying with their son at home. It's a nerve-wracking time. Their son is still very weak and not always with it. Time will tell if there's been any permanent damage. The dad told me today that he can't wait for his son to be bugging the heck out of him again. They were so afraid of losing him.
Just last week, I was telling a friend how I don't use insect repellant because it all makes my skin feel like it's on fire and then gets numb. So I just haven't worried much about the pesky little biters. But now I think I will find out more about spraying around our yard. I'm not an alarmist, and I realize the risk is slight. But I don't want my 30 yo son to have to take care of me over something preventable.
So as the saying goes..... Be careful out there. I've made some really good friends on TFP (many who live in this area). I can't afford to lose friends, you know?!!
Thanks for reading and being a little more vigilant about those skeeters!
Suz.
