Kim Nelson Writes

 

An Ode to Valley Fever

 

Breathe them in

To the lungs

Airborne filaments and spores

In the warm, moist pleura

Spots and spingles form

Then plan

Their next move

 ~

For most

It is mild,

This inner invasion

~It means~

Fever, cough, chills, ache

Perhaps a rough, red rash

~ 

Six months

A year

You’re better

~

For others

Even twenty years later

Fever, weight loss, cough, chest pain

Blood-tinged sputum

Nodules to blame

But you don’t die

~ 

For the vulnerable few

Lung growths, ulcers, abrasions form

Skull, spine and bone lesions, the norm

Knees, ankles, other joints ache

The brain and spinal cord join in

Forsake

~

Recourse?

Rest

Fluconazole

Itraconazole

~But perhaps most important~

Learn the lessons

Do your best

This may be

The final test.

A few years ago, my dear friend died from a mad conflagration of valley fever and lung cancer. This piece emerged from that experience.

For the latest information regarding Coccidioidomycosis, commonly called Valley Fever, click here.