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My Name is Daniel Burns; I am a 38-year-old male, living in Kingston, Canada. I took ill in October 2002; my encephalitis was H.S.E.
I am normally an active man. Late October I came down with flu like symptoms. I had been wearing my self out but not unusual for me. I was taking that week
off work. I was not getting any better. Friday is when it all started; my nightmare. My wife came home with my son, then left to go and get our 18-month-old
daughter at the baby sitter's. The phone rang, and as I was talking, I saw my daughter beside me. It was real, and then she was gone. I looked all
over for her; my own son said mommy had gone to get her. "She is not here," he said. Sure enough, moments later, my wife and daughter arrived home.
I was sure my little daughter was here--I was frantically searching the whole house for her. Later that night about 11 I woke up feeling very bad,
went down stairs to get a drink. That is all I know. Next thing I know, medical people were here. I had a seizure. I was brought to the hospital by
ambulance. They tested me for everything. They said I was dehydrated and had high fever and that's why I had the seizure. They sent me home at 5 am
Saturday... I still didn't feel right something was out of sort.
Sunday came and I was getting worse, I started to get confused again talking mumble jumble. Seeing things ...confused.
(Wife speaking..) I took Dan back to emergency as he was still struggling with a pretty high fever and getting really confused and acting strangely.
They did more tests-some were repeat tests they already did Friday. They confirmed it was meningitis-viral (they did this test on Friday but at that time said the meningitis test was negative)-the next day they said he had also developed encephalitis-herpes simplex. I was so thankful I took him back to emergency when I did. He had another seizure right there in emergency-this time with the doctors by his side.
Dan remembers parts of the emergency but after that first day, he doesn't remember anything, really. They admitted him in hospital-he continued to have hallucinations, confusion, and anxiety. He ended up staying in the hospital 3 weeks. The worst part of it all for Dan was the pain-he suffered tremendous pain in his head-his brain was swelling and fluid was building rapidly-it got to the point where he almost needed surgery but they gave him an emergency type of medication and that worked- thankfully, he did not need surgery. All of our close family and friends were with us at this time-just in case he needed surgery.
Dan suffered many other trials in the hospital but the worst by far was the pain. He was put in a critical care unit -he was there for about a week. Then finally he was able to go into a regular room.
Dan is now home-trying to get back to work-going to occupational therapy and living with his daily struggles--the worst is over and it could have been much worse but Dan still has many obstacles to overcome.
He has problems with memory and confusion still. They told us that he might never fully recover. They told us it could take him 2yrs to get back to "normal"-whatever that is, we don't know yet. When he sleeps at night he has tremors that wake him up-his legs shake. (Not seizures). He has lost his license for a year due to the seizures he had. He is depressed-although the medication helps. I am trying to get him out and do things-see people. He needs people that care about him around him-we have been thankful for all the support from family and friends.
For me, it is like a part of my husband I once knew is gone. I hope I get him fully back some day. But even if I don't he is still the man I married and I will love him and stick by him no matter how he recovers. I want to get him through this. Our children need him back too-he is a loving father and husband and he's trying so hard but it is hard for him to enjoy a normal day-although its getting better slowly.
This is a horrible disease that has infected our lives, to anyone out there struggling with this, our thoughts are with you.
We would welcome any correspondence of people going through the same thing.
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Dan & Diane Burns
Kingston, Canada
Posted: March 20, 2003 |
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