About three months ago I was asked to do research for an online article regarding illnesses that come from pets. I was really busy at the time and almost turned down the assignment, but for some reason I decided to do it. One of the things I learned about was a worm called ascaris. It is actually a round worm that has infected a large number of people worldwide. It is transmitted by eating food that is contaminated with animal feces containing the eggs of the worm. Once consumed the eggs hatch in the gut and they multiply and can migrate into the lungs where they cause a respiratory infection that allows them to be coughed up and swallowed and start all over again. Many people never have symptoms but others can go on to become quite ill. Now I know you are wondering why I am writing about this and what it has to do with synchronicity. Here goes.

I have many patients who travel all over the world in an effort to make it a better place. One of my patients who traveled to South Africa came in with belly pain. After a series of blood tests I ordered an abdominal ultrasound to see if she had gallstones. There were no gallstones but the radiologist noted a little density in her bile duct that looked like a worm. Fortunately, I had just learned about ascariasis and sure enough that is what she had. Once treated, the little worm was gone in the follow-up ultrasound. I thought that was pretty cool (not to mention slightly gross) and then another patient came in with a different complaint.

Just about a month later a young patient of mine who had been to China over a year ago had continued problems of abdominal pain followed by cold and flu symptoms. She had been all over the country looking for answers as to why she felt so sick. She had a zillion tests including two colonoscopies and two upper endoscopies. She had me perplexed until I realized there was a cycle to her symptoms. She would get abdominal pain and cramping and nausea and then when that subsided she would get a cough and flu like symptoms. Going back to the life cycle of the worm I thought maybe that is what she had and sure enough she did! We gave her the de-worming medicine and she is back to good health.

How funny that I learned about ascaris just in time to recognize it in both of these patients and that first patient made it so much easier to find when the second patient came in. I think that is one of the reasons I love medicine so much. Things like this happen all of the time. I wonder what the next adventure will be?