Sister (54 yrs old) has Meningitis

[brandonfromla]

Her first couple of days in the hospital were spent fighting a terrible headache.  But now she looks like a mental patient.  She appears confused and has difficulty speaking or even recognizing us.  She is diagnosed with viral - they think she got it from her herpes that shows up as a rash on her butt.  Question.  what questions can I ask the doctor to better understand what she has and how they are treating her?  Is it "normal" for a patient not to recognize her own brother?  any comments are appreciated.

Thanks.
Brandon

[Caliber2005]

Hi Brandon,
How is your sister? What were her symptoms before admitting her?
You said the doctors have told that she has meningitis.
What type of meningitis is it? Is it Bacterial, Viral or Fungal?
What investigations are they planning to do for her?
What investigations they have done already?
Have they done any imaging study and are they planning to do MRI for her?
What is the type of intervention for her and what are drugs they have started for her?
What antibiotics they have started?
What complications to look out for? Can it occur due to TB?
If your sister has meningitis, and if she is not recognizing you suggests that she is developing complications.
These are few questions which you ask the doctor's treating her.
Keep me informed about her state and well being.
Bye.

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

I am concerned about your sister, as much as you are. It is not all normal to fail to recognize your loved ones. Her present state is due to the meningitis or possibly an encephalitis.

You may discuss with the doctors the extent of the infection in the brain, which areas of the brain are affected more, what tests are done to confirm the diagnosis and what are various treatment options.

The doctors will be able to give you a fair estimate of the time she will take to recover from this situation.

You may also ask, if this is not due to the virus, could it be dementia !! his looks unlikely, as the symptoms are recent and have a relation to the rash.

Hope this helps.

Regards