The past week has been extremely busy for me at work and have been eventful in the PIDD community in the most unfortunate way. I found out that a couple of very different patients passed away. It weighs heavy on my heart in many ways.
The first was a man named Mark. He was a CVID patient like me... and he was doing very well. So well, in fact, that there was no issue with him getting an outpatient surgery. He had the procedure and developed meningitis. This was a well-controlled patient on adequate replacement. That's part of what makes it so scary for me. He died because of a "routine" procedure.
The second was a 12 year old boy named JP. JP actually had an immune deficiency that is considered by some to be less severe than mine. JP also had other complications and issues that he was constantly fighting. It's so scary because his pneumonia started out much the same way my first big sickness did. He was fine and then, suddenly, he wasn't. I am just so struck by how much his family must be hurting right now. I can't imagine losing a child, a sibling... It's got to be amazingly difficult.
Situations like this give me a big case of the "What Ifs." What if I hadn't gotten better? What if my family doctor hadn't been on top of things when I was in middle school? What if I had gotten meningitis after one of my many outpatient procedures? What if my family had to make the decision to remove life support? What if? I am both jarred by these stories and thankful that I'm still here.
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