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I've also been exposed to meningitis, but not sure if it's the same type; I had spinal meningitis at 8 months old and doctors told my parents that, in the slim chance that I didn't die, I would be blind, deaf, or mentally retarded for the rest of my life. Fortunately, we discovered that I have an extremely diminished sense of smell (takes a while to realize when your kid can't smell- we didn't find out until I was about 14). So I guess I was extremely lucky.
Tigergirl52, my symptoms were similar. My mom tells me that I was fine one minute, then seizing the next. My fever was through the roof but my body was extremely cold, so my mom remembers laying me in a sunny spot on the floor of the living room to warm me up. I spent 16 days in the intensive care unit, unconscious for about 5 of them. My mom said that they did 8 spinal taps on me during that time and I didn't cry or fidget at all for the first 6, and those things hurt like hell!
What's sad is that when a young child has problems like that, they shave your head, the IV goes in the top of your head instead of arms (babies pull them out with their teeth), and they tie the baby's arms down so that they can't reach their face or head, all the while keeping the child in complete isolation. It's really disturbing and my dad to this day will not discuss when I was sick, because it still tears him up.
I was also under the impression that if you've had meningitis before, it's rare to contract it again. It's a scary disease and I urge everyone to be educated about it and be vaccinated. Even if the vaccine doesn't stop all forms of it, DO IT ANYWAY! It's just like drunk driving- you don't want to take the risk.
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