Menendez Recuperating from Meningitis

It was while practicing for the Lake Guntersville Tour stop that the 40-year-old Kentucky pro was struck with meningitis and had to be hospitalized for more than a week. It began with an excruciating headache, followed by a high fever. That led to a spinal tap that indicated he had contracted meningitis, a life-threatening ailment.

Fortunately, Menendez had been taking antibiotics after periodontal surgery for several months. Unknowingly pre-treating the meningitis likely saved his life, according to doctors.

Since then, recovery has been slow, but steady.

“I’m coming back,” the three-time CITGO Bassmaster Classic qualifier said. “Things are starting to improve quicker now. I’m starting to fish a lot more here around the house. I’m starting to feel a lot better.

“When I left Guntersville the doctor said recovery would take two to six months. I thought I’d be back at it in a week or two, but she knew more about it than I did. It still presents a lot of challenges, especially endurance. The fishing part of it is not a problem. If he bites, I can still catch him. Endurance is the thing I’m worried about right now.

“I don’t have any leftover symptoms at this point. When I first got home, my eyesight was severely affected; I couldn’t see very well. When the meningitis symptoms went away, the swelling on the spinal cord and the brain went down and everything started coming back to normal.”

At the time of his diagnosis, Menendez and wife, Donna, were adjusting to life with a 6-month-old daughter and had just received word that she was pregnant with a son.

“It made me just kind of slow down,” he said. “The last six or seven years I had been going wide-open running here and there.

“Getting some time at home gave me some perspective on what’s really important, and I’m kind of readjusting my schedule to do the things that I need to do and spend time at home with my family. It really has made a big difference.”

Like Edwards, Menendez is anxious to resume his career.

“I’m going to fish the Southern Opens,” he said. “I’d like a shot at the 2006 Classic. By time the Tour starts again, I think I’ll be 100 percent.

“The unfortunate thing about this is I lost my Elite 50 position, and I won’t be able to get that back for three years, but it’s still better being in the position I’m in and not looking at the backside of the daisies, if you know what I mean.”

From BASS