My name is Bert. I was a reasonably fit & healthy 38 yearold male in Adelaide, Australia. On 29 September 2001 (Saturday) I got a bad flu I thought, I went to see my doctor which I rarely see I unless it is really bad. He said ear infection, flu etc but all else OK.
By Monday, I was almost out of it so my wife called the locum who diagnosed it as bronchitis and suspected lung infection. Tuesday I was pretty well out of it so they sent me for chest X-rays in case of pneumonia & lung infection. All results were good. By Wednesday, I was spewing bile and completely out of it so I got sent to hospital. On Thurs/Fri they finally worked out I had Encephalitis via a lumber puncture. They traced my Encephalitis due to Mycoplasma pneumonia.
Basically my brain shut down my whole body for 3 weeks. One week was in high dependency unit. I was not in a good state, either mentally or physically. A doctor told my wife to go home & pray for me.
After 3 weeks the swelling must have started to go down, I started to be conscious & aware of my body. With the help from physicians, doctors, speech therapists, eye therapists, microbiologists, physios, neurologists, nurses etc, they started to put me back in line. Fortunately I don't remember one bit of it, and can only rely on my loving family to tell me what happened.
The nurses told my kids they would have to visit me in hospital for Christmas.
Well, I walked out of hospital unaided and with no medicine on the 27 Nov 2001, (4 weeks in hospital) and had a brilliant Christmas. To the surprise of medical staff, I recovered reasonably quickly and well.
I don't know if it was my high level of fitness, strong internal energy, motivation, family support, God or the medical staff, (probably a bit of all). I did well.
After 10 weeks (December) I was actually back at work. (the Doctor's actually said to return January or February.)
I did a lot of mental & physical exercises.
It is unlikely any of my symptoms may be permanent. My coordination is not 100% but close, I have only minor emotional & memory problems. Physically I seem to be shaping up also. I was told in Jan 2002 I was 90% recovered and could 99% in a few months.
My biggest symptom is actually a bonus. My shit doesn't stink. (I have lost majority of my sense of smell)
So I think I have done well,
Regards,
