A sorrowful return...
Hi everyone! Sorry it's been so long, but I return with something that I feel must be said...
So here's the story:
A young girl is now no longer with my college's population. She was diagnosed with meningitis a few days ago and we kept hearing worse and worse about her. She was admitted to the hospital with her diagnosed disease... she is in critical condition... her kindeys stopped working... all this in the course of two lightning-fast days. Then on Wednesday afternoon rumors began to circulate that they had managed to get her kidneys to be operational again, and our hopes were raised. Many of us didn't know the girl, but we all know of her now. We all care.
Wednesday night 7:40 PM... Caitlin died.
I thought back to my vaccination and the ordeal that I went through after it. Hell, that thing is NASTY. Caitlin had that too, but that wasn't enough to stop the strain of the disease from taking her life. I guess this was a wakeup call for us all. We're not immortal. Thank you Caitlin for if anything giving us that. I'm so sorry that there was so little time for you in this world, and I'm sorry your death came too rapidly for your family.
But now the chaos after the initial shock has set in. We have had two informational meetings and a hastily put together memorial service. Many are in the grieving stage, but the added panic is hell. Caitlin was a partier and as such had much contact with many people. Meningitis is extremely contageous and is spread just like mono. Much of the school is now skiddish over cold symptoms, and many students are seeking antibiotics "just in case". My French professor nearly had a heart attack when I let her know I was sick.
So now the news is getting out... Parents are frantically calling their children here, begging them to come home. Many students will be taken out for Thanksgiving break early this year due to the panic. Rumors are flying left and right, one saying that if one more person falls deathly sick the government is stepping in and sealing off our campus for quarantine. The news is national apparently, because somehow our parents know and no official notice has been sent out by our president. Pictures of Caitlin are seen everywhere so we can all tell if we'd been close to her recently or not. We're innundated by information about meningitis and what to do if we think we have it...
Some would call it caution, others see the panic. Marist College is scared. That is the bottom line. We don't know what to do, we're mourning and we're nervous. We're scared.
So here's the story:
A young girl is now no longer with my college's population. She was diagnosed with meningitis a few days ago and we kept hearing worse and worse about her. She was admitted to the hospital with her diagnosed disease... she is in critical condition... her kindeys stopped working... all this in the course of two lightning-fast days. Then on Wednesday afternoon rumors began to circulate that they had managed to get her kidneys to be operational again, and our hopes were raised. Many of us didn't know the girl, but we all know of her now. We all care.
Wednesday night 7:40 PM... Caitlin died.
I thought back to my vaccination and the ordeal that I went through after it. Hell, that thing is NASTY. Caitlin had that too, but that wasn't enough to stop the strain of the disease from taking her life. I guess this was a wakeup call for us all. We're not immortal. Thank you Caitlin for if anything giving us that. I'm so sorry that there was so little time for you in this world, and I'm sorry your death came too rapidly for your family.
But now the chaos after the initial shock has set in. We have had two informational meetings and a hastily put together memorial service. Many are in the grieving stage, but the added panic is hell. Caitlin was a partier and as such had much contact with many people. Meningitis is extremely contageous and is spread just like mono. Much of the school is now skiddish over cold symptoms, and many students are seeking antibiotics "just in case". My French professor nearly had a heart attack when I let her know I was sick.
So now the news is getting out... Parents are frantically calling their children here, begging them to come home. Many students will be taken out for Thanksgiving break early this year due to the panic. Rumors are flying left and right, one saying that if one more person falls deathly sick the government is stepping in and sealing off our campus for quarantine. The news is national apparently, because somehow our parents know and no official notice has been sent out by our president. Pictures of Caitlin are seen everywhere so we can all tell if we'd been close to her recently or not. We're innundated by information about meningitis and what to do if we think we have it...
Some would call it caution, others see the panic. Marist College is scared. That is the bottom line. We don't know what to do, we're mourning and we're nervous. We're scared.