Anthrax Survivor Tells His Story
Pain, Problems Linger Two Years Later
POSTED: 5:46 pm EDT October 10,
2003
UPDATED: 5:55 pm EDT October 10,
2003
WINCHESTER, Va. -- It's been two years since someone sent deadly anthrax spores through the U.S. mail, and one of the survivors is now telling his story.
Five people died and 18 others survived the bioterror attack. Six of the survivors lived through inhalation anthrax, the deadliest form of anthrax exposure.
David Hose (pictured, left) is one of those survivors. He lives in Winchester, Va., and two years ago, he didn't have any reason to know what anthrax was. Today, he knows all too well the terrible damage it can cause.Hose enjoys spending time at home with his dog, but his life will never be the same since that October day two years ago when his exposure to anthrax made him seriously ill. At first, it just seemed like a case of the flu. But he quickly realized he was in real trouble."I started vomiting blood, about 5:30 in the evening ... very sick all night. The following day at noon, I went to the emergency room," Hose said.At first, the doctors at Winchester Medical Center weren't sure what was wrong, and they didn't know how to treat him. Anthrax had already killed two people at a D.C. post office, but David Hose didn't work there.Doctors gave him a blood test and an antibiotic and sent him home. The next day, they called him back."They said I definitely had anthrax, to get in there or they would send an ambulance, and then that's when it started," Hose said."He was very sick, but fortunately he could talk to us and at least that meant he had enough lung power and he was able to speak. He had enough oxygen and at least that was a good sign, and it gave us hope from the beginning," said Dr. Mark Galbraith, of Winchester Medical Center.Hose was a forklift operator at the State Department's mail facility in Sterling, Va. It was also his job to sort the diplomatic pouches and to look for suspicious packages.Doctors believe he was exposed to the anthrax-laced letter that was sent to Sen. Patrick Leahy."The sorting machines squash letters as they go through, and it pushed all those lovely little spores out and all over the building and they just floated everywhere. How the other people didn't get it, I don't know, but I got it. I was right in the middle of it," Hose said.When Hose was admitted to Winchester Medical Center, his heart rate and blood pressure were sky-high. He was feverish and too weak to walk. The doctors pumped a powerful antibiotic cocktail into his system, gave him oxygen and waited."He had abnormal heart rhythms, he developed some bleeding ulcers, a lot of complications that you would see with very sick individuals," Galbraith said."My lymph glands in my chest, on the MRI, were the size of cherry tomatoes, which normally you can't see them. And I was bleeding around my heart and around my lungs," Hose said.Hose spent a week in intensive care. The internal bleeding went on for two months. But slowly, his body stabilized and he started to recover.Progress has been very slow, though. A year ago, a severe case of pneumonia put him back in the hospital.He still hasn't been able to return to work, and he doesn't know if that will ever be possible.He takes a medicine cabinet full of pills to relieve the pain in his joints and the problems with his heart.And he's battled other anthrax issues like asthma and memory loss."I can't walk very far without getting tired. I can't sleep at night. That's another wonderful thing about anthrax -- you can't get to sleep at night," Hose said."There are only five individuals in this country who have survived inhalation anthrax, so we don't have any idea what the long-term effect of this illness is," Galbraith said.Still, throughout his two-year struggle, Hose and his family always keep in mind he is one of the lucky ones."I was very healthy before, otherwise I would have been dead. It's extremely hard. Not just a little bit -- it's extreme," Hose said.The financial problems are another aspect to Hose's struggle. He gets workmen's compensation payments and will go on permanent disability, but those benefits don't begin to pay the medical bills Hose has accrued since his illness.
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David Hose (pictured, left) is one of those survivors. He lives in Winchester, Va., and two years ago, he didn't have any reason to know what anthrax was. Today, he knows all too well the terrible damage it can cause.Hose enjoys spending time at home with his dog, but his life will never be the same since that October day two years ago when his exposure to anthrax made him seriously ill. At first, it just seemed like a case of the flu. But he quickly realized he was in real trouble."I started vomiting blood, about 5:30 in the evening ... very sick all night. The following day at noon, I went to the emergency room," Hose said.At first, the doctors at Winchester Medical Center weren't sure what was wrong, and they didn't know how to treat him. Anthrax had already killed two people at a D.C. post office, but David Hose didn't work there.Doctors gave him a blood test and an antibiotic and sent him home. The next day, they called him back."They said I definitely had anthrax, to get in there or they would send an ambulance, and then that's when it started," Hose said."He was very sick, but fortunately he could talk to us and at least that meant he had enough lung power and he was able to speak. He had enough oxygen and at least that was a good sign, and it gave us hope from the beginning," said Dr. Mark Galbraith, of Winchester Medical Center.Hose was a forklift operator at the State Department's mail facility in Sterling, Va. It was also his job to sort the diplomatic pouches and to look for suspicious packages.Doctors believe he was exposed to the anthrax-laced letter that was sent to Sen. Patrick Leahy."The sorting machines squash letters as they go through, and it pushed all those lovely little spores out and all over the building and they just floated everywhere. How the other people didn't get it, I don't know, but I got it. I was right in the middle of it," Hose said.When Hose was admitted to Winchester Medical Center, his heart rate and blood pressure were sky-high. He was feverish and too weak to walk. The doctors pumped a powerful antibiotic cocktail into his system, gave him oxygen and waited."He had abnormal heart rhythms, he developed some bleeding ulcers, a lot of complications that you would see with very sick individuals," Galbraith said."My lymph glands in my chest, on the MRI, were the size of cherry tomatoes, which normally you can't see them. And I was bleeding around my heart and around my lungs," Hose said.Hose spent a week in intensive care. The internal bleeding went on for two months. But slowly, his body stabilized and he started to recover.Progress has been very slow, though. A year ago, a severe case of pneumonia put him back in the hospital.He still hasn't been able to return to work, and he doesn't know if that will ever be possible.He takes a medicine cabinet full of pills to relieve the pain in his joints and the problems with his heart.And he's battled other anthrax issues like asthma and memory loss."I can't walk very far without getting tired. I can't sleep at night. That's another wonderful thing about anthrax -- you can't get to sleep at night," Hose said."There are only five individuals in this country who have survived inhalation anthrax, so we don't have any idea what the long-term effect of this illness is," Galbraith said.Still, throughout his two-year struggle, Hose and his family always keep in mind he is one of the lucky ones."I was very healthy before, otherwise I would have been dead. It's extremely hard. Not just a little bit -- it's extreme," Hose said.The financial problems are another aspect to Hose's struggle. He gets workmen's compensation payments and will go on permanent disability, but those benefits don't begin to pay the medical bills Hose has accrued since his illness.Copyright 2006 by nbc4.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
