Autopsy results

[Guest guest]

Folks,

I got 's autopsy results finally. I was interested to see what a

routine forensic autopsy would or would not notice given that they

weren't looking for anything in particular. I think that enough

evidence of chronic inflammation was noted that it's very significant,

although of course, they did not know what to make of it and the cause

of death was "autopsy negative sudden death" which I believe we used to

just call "unknown causes".

Probably the biggest finding was this:

"The leptomininges [of the brain] are white and opaque in some areas,

probably representing fibrosis."

(later, in the microscopic examination):

"There is dense fibrosis of the meninges." (or in other words,

widespread inflammation).

This

is consistent with her primary symptoms, which were neurological: brain

fog, problems locating appropriate nouns for objects, profound balance

disturbances, walking into things, etc., as well as more broadly,

severe dysautonomia.

If you look this up in the mainstream literature there are

three organisms commonly suspected as causing "fibrosis of the

meninges": tuberculosis, syphillis -- and good old Borrelia

burgdorferi, better known as Lyme Disease. Guess which of the

three I suspect?

Guess which one had tested positive for?

Actually another reference mentions mycobacteria as a possible

culprit. I'm not terribly familiar with those; does anyone know if

they the same as or related to mycoplasma? She certainly tested

positive for those, especially Mycoplasma Hominis.

Apart from that there was some inflammation in the heart and

kidneys at the cellular level, a half-inch gall stone, a flock of

fibroids up to 3/4 inch in size, and several

other findings that are directly or indirectly inflammation-related.

None

of this is a surprise to me but it is a little validating that the

uncaring wider world is able to glimpse a little of 's reality.

In the last 2 or 3 years, it was basically "all inflammation, all the

time".

Another inflammation-related finding was in the lungs (again at the

microscopic level):

"There is marked irregular enlargement of the alveolar spaces and some

of the alveolar septa are thickened by fibrosis".

was not experiencing any

congestion or overt respiratory symptoms

in her final weeks, although she was used to a substantial

background noise of pain and discomfort that she did not really bother

to talk about. The point is, something nasty was going on in her lungs

that was not causing overt, acute symptoms.

Anyway ... for what it's worth. I'm passing

the full report to 's doctor for his continued research and

information sharing with colleagues.

--Bob