ENCEPHALITIS CASES

Encephalitis Cases

Betty

My name is Betty Anderson, I live in Bonifay, FL but lived outside of Vernon, Fl when I got the Encephalitis. It happened to me New Years Eve 1960, I was 10 years old.

My family had visited some of our cousins that had chickens, we went out to see the chickens in the middle of the afternoon and they were all on the roosting poles just like it was night. They were asleep. None of us touched any of them and out of six of my family members that saw the chickens, I was the only one that got sick. I was always sickly when I was a child and maybe that is why I got it, don't really know.

Anyway I don't know how many days after that day that I actually got sick. On the day that I did get sick we had all been helping my oldest sister rake up pine straw out of her yard. We all worked hard that day and I earned $.50 to buy a Roman candle to shoot off on NY's. I never got to do that though. That evening while my mother was fixing supper, I told her that I didn't feel good and she told me to go and get in bed. That is the last thing I remember. When she started to bed she realized that I had thrown up on myself and had wet myself. My oldest brother that was at home at that time, lifted me up and put me on the sofa. They changed my flannel gown and tried to wake me, but I wouldn't wake up. He told my mother that something was wrong so they put me in a quilt and took me to the nearest hospital, which was about 15 miles away. They told me that as soon as they got me there I started having convulsions and they started working on me. I was never told that I ran a high fever or anything like that, that I was convulsing allot and had to be givin a shot every hour on the hour. I was never aware that any of this was going on. That was on Friday night and I guess they never had to pack me in ice either, no one ever said that. My family was really worried and my mother had my dad call a preacher that she had a lot of confidence in. I was constantly convulsing even with the shots. My mother said that when my dad came in and told her that he talked to Brother Sylvester Ward and he would start praying as soon as he hung up the phone. Within in a couple of minutes after my dad said that I stopped the convulsing and laid quietly. Afterwards my doctor came in and kept slapping my face gently until I responded, that was about 11:00 pm Sat. I didn't know where I was, who he was, but I did recognize my mother, dad, and my aunt that had been sitting up with my mother. I think that I had to stay in the hospital for about 4 weeks.

I had no problems talking, etc. I just was disorineted the whole time I was in the hospital, always would have to look out the door to see if they had moved me into another room.

My mother always told people that I was left with a mind of a 10 year old, although I have done a lot of things that I don't think a 10 year old could do, such as drive an 18-wheeler across country! I have some problems, but have never considered that it had anything to do with that illness, but after reading some of the stories, maybe that is why I have the problems that I do. I do know that if God had not smiled on me and my family that night, I probably wouldn't be writing this now. I do have depression and sometimes I feel as though I run a fever and have to sleep it off. I can sleep all day long sometimes and still feel as if that isn't enough. I know that when I was on the road and didn't get enough rest my body would shut down and I ran a fever until I got enough sleep.

I can't think of anything else to say at this time. Thanks for making this site for us.
God Bless you.

Betty
Florida, U.S.A.

Posted: September 9, 2009

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