Encephalitis Cases
Daniel
I contracted Encephalitis in 1997 and
my life as I knew it changed overnight. The Encephalitis was contracted
by a mosquito bite when I was on my honeymoon or from a flu shot I
received a week earlier. And after 12 years I learned that it doesn't
matter what type of Encephalitis you get. If your hit by a car does
it matter if it's a Mazda or Chevy?
I was married on Valentines Day, February 14, 1997. At the time I was Computer
Operations Manager, managing six government agencies in Boston at the "Government
Center." I was making a great salary. I had made the Dean's list in college
in school. I enjoyed life, work and play. My new wife of only 5 weeks and
I were looking for a home to buy. I enjoyed my family and family outings.
I was an avid bicyclist bikeing 8,000 miles a year. I also played guitar
and enjoyed my collection of records and books. I'm the one on the right
in the photo.
Shortly after returning home from my honeymoon I had flu like symptoms one
afternoon while at work. I went home feeling ill and never seen my office
again. The following day I had a temperature of 107 degrees and my head
hurt so bad I couldn't talk, eat or drink. I was taken to the emergency
room, and they packed me in an ice bed and my temperature went down a few
degrees, I was released to go home that night, at that time they believed
I had the flu.
The next day I was unable to move. I lay in bed in a fetal position unable
to talk or convey my feelings. My wife kept talking to me to prevent me
from slipping into a coma. I was taken to the Brigham Woman's hospital in
Boston where I was admitted immediately. I had pain of such intensity, that
only those who have had it can imagine. I suffered the tortures of the damned.
Morphine, Demerol and Percoset all in the same day and it did not stop the
pain! I slipped into a deep sleeep and when I awoke nothing was the same.
I could not remember my home address when asked by the doctor nor could
I remember who the current president was. I could not remember things at
work even though I had worked there a few days before. I was kept in the
hospital for a while. While in the hospital they taught me how to walk again
so that I would be able to climb the 5 steps to our home. I was allowed
home from the hospital wearing an electric pump attached to me feeding Acyclovir.
I went home to a house that seemed unfamiliar to me. I couldn't move or
eat for many days.
After many months I was finally able to start doing little things. I remember telling my wife after about 4 months that I had gotten up on my own and gotten an apple from the refrigerator. It was a small milestone. Each day I pushed myself to try to do a little more. The improve-ments came very slowly. Friends and relatives soon stopped calling and the cards stopped. I was different and I guess they couldn't handle it? I soon learned that not even the medical professionals knew much about this illness. My wife sought help from our HMO. We had to ask many, many times for therapy. Finally a meeting was held at the HMO between my doctors to see if I would benefit from therapy. I sat in front of 5 people while they observed me and discussed whether I should be allowed therapies. I remember this sentence being spoken "how much is this going to cost?" As I sat there at the meeting they sometimes referred to me as "he"- not as "Daniel" (I was sitting across from them, I must have become invisible)? After the other's spoke, I was allowed to speak in my behalf. I found your humble narrator pleading for any therapy that could help me get well. Eleven months after I first got ill I was finally given my first therapies. Twelve years later and I am doing better. I'm better than when I left the hospital, but than I was very close to death at the time. I am only a fraction of my old self. I still have chronic fatigue every day, (Encephalitis has been referred to as the sleeping disease). I have a lot of bad headaches and I have other symptoms too such as tremors. I made progress by playing on the computer for hours to keep my mind active. I wanted to do more so I enrolled at Clark university and I got a degree as an "Oracle Database Administrator." This is a very intense course, but I did it and got all "A's". I had a fantastic teacher named Gary, and he helped a lot. He's my hero. Just before I graduated my doctor suggested that I would not be able to work in the fast paced world of a DBA, I could not work around the clock as they sometimes have to. He was right. On the last day of the course a tear came to my eye. I realized that all my class mates were going off to be DBA's and I would be staying home. I never told my classmates what the doctor had told me and we all congratulated each other and went our ways. I was disappointed for awhile because I had tried so hard. We moved and I decided I would try returning to college again. This time I would plan on taking courses that would help me work, but not require such a fast pace. I took the Webmasters course's. I graduated with honors. I created this entire web site that you are now reading. I am hopeful of finding a job doing web sites. It would be nice to have a salary again. Some have said that I should permanently retire. It's easy to say this, but they don't walk in my shoes so do not understand how desperatlely important it is for me to work and feel useful again. If I could give you just one piece of advice about Encephalitis, it would be start Physical, Occupational and Speech therapies as soon as you can. These are the key to your recovery. My way of helping others with this illness is to give this web site to the world for all the people who have gotten encephalitis and need information that was not available elsewhere when I got ill. Yes, this a diminnshed encephalitis survivor that built this entire web site you are now on. I have found much comfort in helping others through this web site. There is a special bond between people who have survived encephalitis. Sincerely, Daniel Massachusetts, USA  Posted: Feb. 1. 1998 |
