Back from purgatory
This is a true story in which a very close friend was involved and I wish that you read this to educate yourself to a very hard to diagnose and a very rare type of infection. If not treated in time it can consume your entire body and you may have no chance of survival.
The information here can save a life.
Only the names of the characters are changed to protect the individuals’ privacy.
Let me call the central character by the name “Tarun”.
In August 2024 Tarun was trying to reduce his weight, by reducing his belly fat, by decreasing his food intake. He did start losing weight, but then the weight loss did not stop and he kept losing weight; by November he had lost more than 10 kgs. Had become weak and very thin. Almost a skeleton.
Tarun and his wife are both fond of travel and they he had gone to London for a short trip. They were to return on 5th of January.
On the night of the 18th of December, Tarun tripped and fell, while going to the toilet, hurt his lip and his head. It was discovered that he had become quite weak and had lost his sense of balance. He had two successive falls in the next few days while they were moving in the market and he hurt his head. He had become totally disoriented. He was unable to even stand up or go to the toilet without help. Was unable to move or even sit in the car without assistance.
He was taken to Saint Georges Hospital, London, in an ambulance, where he was admitted. For 5 days, many test were conducted. All parameters appeared normal, except that he had lost a lot of body weight and muscle mass. He was discharged from hospital. They had to extend their stay in London, and came to India on 16th February.
He was unable to move on his own and needed support even to stand up.
After reaching Delhi, he was taken to Max Hospital for check up and almost every test in the books was done, but without successful diagnoses.
He also consulted a very senior private dermatologist, Dr Sanjiv Khandari. He got the biopsy done for the scalp, as Tarun had also developed lesions on the scalp. The report took almost 10 days to appear. With this, finally the diagnosis was done. It was diagnosed as a fungal infection, histoplasmosis, that had affected his entire body and had also started attacking the vital organs.
A senior doctor, Dr Rommel Tickoo, of Max Hospital recommended him to consult a specific doctor, Dr Anivita Agarwal, of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, who happened to be a specialist in infectious diseases and this particular infection. They met Dr Agarwal, and Tarun was admitted in Sir Gangaram Hospital for 17 days for enabling them to test the medication on Tarun, which was to be given intravenously in the drip. It had to be done in the hospital. Since it was an SOS situation. Monitoring the dosages and the reaction of the strong drugs that were being pumped into his body.
He was allowed to go home after 17 days in the hospital and to continue the medication orally at home. Also regular consultation could be required for the next one year. Recovery had started and slowly he was regaining his body weight and muscle strength. He had had blisters on his head, tongue and gums, which had now started healing. Gradually, as the mouth’s blisters healed, Tarun was able to eat normally, in spite of the fact that he had no appetite nor desire of eating. He was simultaneously undergoing physiotherapy to regain muscle strength and to enable him to stand and walk. Finally, he was able to walk in about 2-3 months. It appeared like a big step in the recovery.
Now he is improving day by day, after about five months of suffering, as the diagnosis had finally been done correctly. Dr. Khandari who had recommended the biopsies, when he saw the report, exclaimed that he was seeing this rare infection after a period of about 45 years.
At this juncture, there was scan’t hope of survival but Tarun managed to pull through.
His head injury, although it was external, there was no internal damage, except that his vision became slightly
abnormal and defective. His peripheral vision was also affected at the moment. He is now walking without support.
At present, he is allowed to eat anything. There is no restriction on food. He needs to concentrate on having proteins, to build up his muscle mass. Do regular exercise, physiotherapy and walks
In this period, he realised how important is the family support and will to live.
Correct and early diagnosis is crucial.
I do hope none of my readers have to go through such an ordeal.
To know more about histoplasmosis, you can read on AI sites like chatgpt or Gemini.
The good news is:
1 it’s curable
2 it doesn’t spread from an infected person.
The bad news, it’s hard to diagnose, as it’s very rare and uncommon.
