KOK-see

 

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.