Medical question for all the Doc's

[Phil]

Hey Doc.....in early November, I returned home from a month in Indonesia and PNG....we did our share of muck diving as well as open seas. The last 4 days before retunring home I developed a fever and the sweats and other symptons of the flu...sore muscels, all around yuk for two days and then it dissapeared as fast as it came.

About a week after I got home, I noticed a very slight raspy sound in my lungs when I exhailed. It dissappeared after 4 days. Then a few days later I developed a nasty cold that lasted well into Dec. One of the worst colds I have ever had.

It's now 60 days later and the cold is finally gone and I have developed a swollen gland on the left side in my neck and a shark pain under my left armpit. I went to my family doctor, she did an Xray and said my lungs were clear. (no blood test) I insisted on seeing an ENT next week and have that scheduled.

I am scheduled to head back to Borneo, Lembeh, and Indonesia again in 44 days but I am a little apprehensive just because I feel that I maight have pick up some microbe from the muck diving that some non diver doctor might not know about.....

Question....I am 60 years old in moderately good physical shape with 350 dives.... am I being peranoid ? or should I push my family doctor to do more investaging? The muck in Ambon and in Tufi was "Really Muck". Have you ever heard of someone picking up some respatory bug that the normal doctor might not have seen before?
Any suggestions ?

Phil

 

[ScubaBabe22]

I am certainly no Doctor, nor will I ever be, but I would highly recommend googling your symptoms. Additionally, make an appointment with a tropical disease specialist, or even lung specialist...

As they say, better prepared, even out of the water...

Hey Doc.....in early November, I returned home from a month in Indonesia and PNG....we did our share of muck diving as well as open seas. The last 4 days before retunring home I developed a fever and the sweats and other symptons of the flu...sore muscels, all around yuk for two days and then it dissapeared as fast as it came.

About a week after I got home, I noticed a very slight raspy sound in my lungs when I exhailed. It dissappeared after 4 days. Then a few days later I developed a nasty cold that lasted well into Dec. One of the worst colds I have ever had.

It's now 60 days later and the cold is finally gone and I have developed a swollen gland on the left side in my neck and a shark pain under my left armpit. I went to my family doctor, she did an Xray and said my lungs were clear. (no blood test) I insisted on seeing an ENT next week and have that scheduled.

I am scheduled to head back to Borneo, Lembeh, and Indonesia again in 44 days but I am a little apprehensive just because I feel that I maight have pick up some microbe from the muck diving that some non diver doctor might not know about.....

Question....I am 60 years old in moderately good physical shape with 350 dives.... am I being peranoid ? or should I push my family doctor to do more investaging? The muck in Ambon and in Tufi was "Really Muck". Have you ever heard of someone picking up some respatory bug that the normal doctor might not have seen before?
Any suggestions ?

Phil

 

[Dr Deco]

Hello Phil:

This is very well a topic for a specialist in tropical diseases. There was one in Houston I heard about when I was with NASA and the Johnson Space Center. Whether such is practicing in Oregon, I do not know. Tropical infections are a topic with which a generalist in the United States might have little acquaintance.

If this persists, and apparently, it is, I would recommend looking into a specialist of this nature, if a diagnosis has eluded the physicians in your area.

Best of luck!


Dr Deco :doctor:

 

[TSandM]

There's a travel medicine clinic at the University of Washington (or at least there used to be). There are so many odd viral and parasitic diseases in the tropics, I couldn't even begin to come up with a shopping list of what could cause fever and body aches. And it's completely unclear if the respiratory illness was related or completely separate.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Since you are thinking a tropical waterborne pathogen, leptospirosis sprang to mind as a wild guess, but there are so many bugs... but here is a link to CDC with a description.

Disease Listing, Leptospirosis, Update | CDC Bacterial, Mycotic Diseases

For sure follow-up with your MD. A possible resource would be for her to confer with Queens Medical Center in Honolulu. They are more likely to have a tropical disease specialist on staff.

Good luck.

 

[fisherdvm]

I think an infectious disease specialist, someone with an interest in tropical medicine would be a good place to start. Have your doctor forward your record, xray's, labs to him/her before your appointment would help.