For years I was fine and never gave it a second thought. Then on May 30 1996, ten years to the exact day I went back into the hospital after having a seizure in a K-mart near my house. This time was not quite as serious as the first. Again the doctors say that it was triggered by another disease, this time mono. According to them chicken pox and mono are related somehow, but I don't really understand that. The point is I got encephalitis again. This time the doctors induced my coma. I had many of the same tests, spinal taps, EEG and blood tests, but this time I was 16 and not nearly as sick. A week or so later I got to go home, but I didn't get a big enough dose of my medicine and had another seizure while at home. So I went back to the hospital for a night and received a larger dose.
When I finally got home I was not allowed to do anything, that was tough because I was in many sports, theater, and just running around with my friends. I was not allowed to do any of this, I was also not allowed to finish up my last week of school, and I didn't have to take my finals, which was good. All I was allowed to do was sit there and watch TV. Eventually I started getting better and by the end of the summer I was play all my sports again and even getting ready for varsity soccer. One of the hardest parts was that my birthday had been a week before I got sick. Because I had seizures I had to wait 6 months, then when I went of my medicine two years later I had to stop driving for 6 months again, and that was my senior year. Today I am doing great, like I said I run for my college I play all kinds of sports, and I am about to graduate from college and I might even graduate with honors. I hope this encourages someone to push through because you can do it. I am no superman, it took a lot, but anyone can do it. If anyone would like to email me feel free to do so.
JeremiahPennsylvania, U.S.A.
Posted: Feb. 10, 2002
