I went to bed that night and don't remember waking up the next morning. I had called my office to leave my boss a message and to change my voice mail message. I was told my speech was so slurred that they thought I had had a stroke. My boyfriend rushed over to take me to the hospital. In the doctor's office, I refused to allow them to take my temperature with an ear thermometer. I was told I was actually violent with them. So, they gave me a shot to calm me down. I lapsed into a coma. That was February 2, 1995.

I was in the coma for six weeks. I was in ICU for a month where they did a tracheotomy, a feeding tube (peg tube), and a biopsy of my brain. They also did numerous spinal taps on me and finally determined I had encephalitis. They told my mother I was brain dead and that I would probably never wake up and if I did I'd be a vegetable. I was given an anti-viral agent but nothing seemed to work.

I woke up from the coma around March 16, 1995, and I was in a nursing home. I had a terrible case of pneumonia, they had shaved my head (to do the biopsy), and I couldn't walk, talk, or eat. I was told the disease had settled in my brain stem. On March 29, 1995, I was moved to an excellent rehab facility here in Birmingham, Alabama. It was there that I learned how to walk, talk, and eat again. It was hard work but I had made up my mind I was going to get well. I must admit that when I was in the nursing home I would cry every day thinking I was never going to be like I was before the illness.

I was released from the hospital on May 19, 1995, and I returned to work on July 3, 1995. I am what you would call a walking miracle. My doctors are still baffled as to how I came through it without any lasting effects. I am bothered by loud noises and I sometimes have problems with some of my words. But, my memory is intact and I have no problems with any of my motor functions.