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MADRID — Jaycee Carroll has always been healthy.
"I haven't been sick in eight years," he said from his Madrid, Spain hospital bed, where he has spent the last five days and six nights.
Salmonella live in the intestinal tracts of humans and other animals, including birds. Salmonella are usually transmitted to humans by eating foods contaminated with animal feces. Contaminated foods usually look and smell normal. Contaminated foods are often of animal origin, such as beef, poultry, milk, or eggs, but any food, including vegetables, may become contaminated. Thorough cooking kills Salmonella. Food may also become contaminated by the hands of an infected food handler who did not wash hands with soap after using the bathroom.How Common is Salmonellosis?
Every year, approximately 42,000 cases of salmonellosis are reported in the United States. Because many milder cases are not diagnosed or reported, the actual number of infections may be twenty-nine or more times greater. There are many different kinds of Salmonella bacteria. Salmonella serotype Typhimurium and Salmonella serotype Enteritidis are the most common in the United States. Salmonellosis is more common in the summer than winter.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The doctors didn't know what was wrong. They knew he had pancreatitis and that his pancreas was enlarged, but they didn't know why. It is usually caused by heavy drinking of alcoholic beverages, but Jaycee doesn't drink.
"I was a medical mystery! I would have made a good episode of ‘House'" (TV drama) Carroll told me when I talked to him via Skype Thursday afternoon.
Carroll can joke about it now as Thursday morning the doctors found out the cause of his enlarged pancreas - salmonella poisoning.
Jaycee explains how he got food poisoning. "We had a team luncheon a week ago Wednesday at a fancy restaurant. One of the fancy things we had was a crepe filled with a bird's egg." That's right, a bird's egg! RAW!
Carroll went on to explain, "Out of the 25 eggs I got the bad one. I have only had crepes with jam or ice cream inside and this tasted a little ‘meaty'. I didn't know it was a bird's egg I thought it was something like peach jelly."
Now that they have diagnosed the cause of the pancreatitis, Jaycee will be able to go home Friday morning. He hasn't been able to eat solid foods and has lost 11 pounds in five days.
He is looking forward to getting his strength back and get back on the court. Carroll has already missed one game and will miss this weekend's game but he plans on being back on the court next weekend.
He is the leading scorer (11 pts/game) for Real Madrid as they are getting ready for the playoffs which begin next month.
