After being pretty sure Dad had Lyme Disease, the doctors were very confused when the confirmation test came back negative just after I posted that last entry. It took a day or two, but they finally have a 100% accurate, triple-tested answer: cryptococcal menengitis. It's a soil-borne fungal infection in his brain/CSF. The fungus is extremely common, but not usually strong enough to attack someone who isn't immunocompromised (most people with this infection also have AIDS or another immunodeficiency). We think Dad picked it up over the winter while he was sorting through his mineral collection -- covered in dirt and kept in a humid cellar. He's such an unusual case that the doctors are going to write a paper about him.
The meds are working great, he's almost back to his old self, and he should be transferred to rehab next week, assuming the Infectious Disease doctors are satisfied with his progress. Then rehab will get him walking and writing like normal, and he ought to be home by the end of August.
While we're talking about good things, one of the perks of my job (loading trailers for UPS in New Hampshire) is that I get to load outgoing shipments from Harrisville Designs. Last night we got a bunch of big boxes from them going to another familiar name (which I will not reveal, because I don't know whether this shipment is secret or not), and I couldn't keep from scribbling a little note on one of the boxes. I get such a kick out of knowing a bit about both the shipper and the recipient of the packages I load!
Now if only I could make friends with some of the recipients of the boxes from North Country Smokehouse that make my trailer smell like delicious meat on warm nights... hmm.
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