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My husband Eddie was 33yrs old when he came down with viral Meningeo encephalitis in May of 2001. In mid April 2001, Eddie passed out while at work. He didn't think much of it, but went to the doctor just to be sure. He was told he had allergies and put on medication and sent home. Almost 2 weeks later, he started complaining of a headache and just laid around for a couple of days. On the 3rd day, he was running a fever and feeling miserable and the headaches were unbearable. He went to the ER and was now told that he had migraine headaches and was given imitrex and sent home.
That night he continued to get worse. By the next morning, he was hardly able to walk without running into every wall in sight. We went to the doctor, and he was admitted to the hospital for possible brain damage because his eyes were going from side to side real fast, as if someone had just spun him in circles. A spinal tap was done, and we were told he had meningitis. He remained in our local hospital for 5 days, until he got so bad that our doctor didn't know what else to do. So he was transferred to a bigger hospital in Chicago.
An hour after he was admitted to Chicago, he quit breathing, and was put on a ventilator. He was put into a self induced coma with some kind of
medication, and was left on it for a couple of days. When he was taken off of
that medication, he went into a coma on his own. At this point the doctors said
his chances of survival were very slim. More test were run, such as spinal
Taps, EEG's, EKG's, and there were still no answers. It was then suggested that
a brain biopsy be done to get some brain tissue and have it tested. I was afraid to put him through a surgery at this critical point.
A week passed by with no improvements, so I decided to go ahead with the brain biopsy. The biopsy showed encephalitis, but did not show what virus actually caused this terrible illness. A week after the biopsy, he came out of the coma. He was unable to move any part of his body. He was unable to talk because of the
trech. We communicated with him by reading his lips. He knew who everyone
was, but didn't remember how old our 2 children were, this was devastating to
me. He slowly started moving his hands and arms. We thought it would take a
couple more days for him to start moving his legs and feet, but unfortunately to this very day, that still hasn't happened.
After being in the hospital for 6 weeks, he was released and admitted to an inpatient rehabilitation institute. He stayed in inpatient rehab for 6 more weeks, then was finally able to come home. It has been 1 year now and he really has come a long way, but he still has a long way to go. He suffers from depression and short term memory problems, but the paralysis is the hardest part. If anyone has experienced paralysis or has any info on it, we would love for you to give us any info that you can. His paralysis is at the T8 level, which is approx 2 inches above the naval. I could go on for hours, but I won't.
Just remember be strong and have faith, I truly believe those are the two things that got me through all of this.
God Bless You All !
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Eddie's Wife
Illinois, U.S.A.
Posted: July 22, 2002 |
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