I can’t help it. I know it’s not funny. I know it’s not a joke. But ‘death by hamster? just sounds funny to me.
I am bad.
I’m going to Hades.
I can’t help it. I can’t stop thinking about those three folks who died because they received donated organs infected with some sort of yucky hamster disease.
The actual circumstances surrounding their deaths is sad. How and what did they die from? Read on.
According to a report from the Boston Herald of May 24, ‘Three critically ill patients — including two from the Bay State — died from what they thought were lifesaving transplants because the organs they received were infected by a virus transmitted by the donor’s pet hamster, health officials said . . .
‘Four people — two from Massachusetts and two from Rhode Island — underwent transplant surgery on April 10 and 11, after receiving the organs from a woman who died from an embolic stroke.
‘The Rhode Island woman’s organs were tested — and cleared — for several infectious diseases but not for lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, or LCMV, a viral infection she got from an infected hamster she bought three weeks earlier at Petsmart in Warwick, R.I.?
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At times, I have heard folks discuss how they want to die. Most folks chuckle and throw out, ‘Peacefully in my sleep.? Some simply say, ‘Quickly and painlessly.? I have heard, ‘In battle.?
I even heard, ‘By drowning in a vat of beer.?
I have never heard of death by hamster.
Personally, I don’t like thinking, let alone talking, about death. It is not in my scope of interpersonal communication topics. I mean, I feel bad when folks die. I feel sad when someone I know, and love, dies. I feel pained when I learn of people being killed in a disaster or in war.
I just don’t think or dwell on it. There is too much to think about when it comes to life and the land of the living. There’s a wife to love. Kids to raise, bills to pay, home repairs to be made . . . you get the picture.
Well, dangblabit! Death never was a part of my thinking until this darned story. Here’s more from the Globe article:
‘The only other known incident of LCMV-infected organs causing a death occurred in Wisconsin in 2003.
‘Humans become infected with the virus when they come in contact with rodent urine, feces or saliva. In healthy people, LCMV usually only causes flu-like symptoms.
‘But organ recipients get drugs that suppress their immune system to help prevent organ rejection. The downside, officials said, is that they are more vulnerable to infectious disease. Officials would not identify the donor or victims, citing privacy laws.?
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I guess the only way to get out of this column is to change the subject . . .
Some rat frackin? blastin? body ‘charged? me with ‘aiding and abetting MDA with the intent of helping area residents with Muscular Dystrophy. It’s part of the annual MDA Lock-up program.
And, while I abhor asking people I know for money, I do it when I have to. If any body wants help. Drop me a note.
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Kinda wizzed off at Star Wars magnet George Lucas. The latest episode is not good for kids under 13, which is fine and dandy. This is America — make the movie you want — just don’t merchandize it to the 10 and under with toys at every fast food chain in the world and light saber spoons in kids? cereal AND stop promoting it during kid time on TV.
Can’t wait to break the news to 7-year-old Shamus and 5-year-old Sean that they can’t go to the show to watch Star Wars.
They’ve only been talking about it for six months — when they first saw a preview for it at a showing of some movie like Robots or Finding Nemo.
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