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| Karen |
It is a year ago today that my father, aged 77 was admitted to the emergency ward with what turned out to be HV encephalitis.
It is a long story but one I need to put on paper in order to try to understand everything that occurred.
In November 2003 my mother told me that a strange thing had happened to dad. He had asked where his bedroom was as he had forgotten. Thinking that he might have had a stroke I told her to keep a close eye on him until the morning when I would be there. The following day he could not remember his bedroom but claimed to have had dinner with his sister (who was deceased). We begged the doctor to make a house call and he claimed that dad was suffering from early dementia, but when I studied the symptoms, I feared it was something worse. This went on for 10 days with dad barely able to walk, seeing dead people and losing all orientation. The doctor again said it was dementia but finally I called an ambulance when he fell asleep during a conversation. I was horrified when they told us in the emergency ward that his CAT revealed massive inflammation of the temporal lobes, possibly a melanoma.
The neurology department eventually diagnosed Herpes Viral encephalitis even though some of his symptons were absent, and treated him with acyclovir. He was completely unable to move but at least knew his family and felt little pain. For 2 months he remained in hospital until the inflammation subsided, and did a few weeks in Rehab. Unfortunately he would panic whenever being moved and all they could do in rehab was to strap him to a tilted bed. His short term memory was badly damaged and he was unable to perform the simplest task such as rolling in a bed. He had really strange delusions such as travelling on planes, ships, as well as paranoia in believing the orderlies were policemen trying to arrest or rape him. Dad, a very logical accountant, could not understand the most simple logic, or numbers or read beyond a few words.
Eventually at the end of January they released him to a nursing home. We managed to get a private physio to help him walk on a frame but his muscles were so weak and his brain so damaged that it was decided not to continue. At least he was now able to sit in a wheel chair rather than lie in a huge water chair all day and he could use his arms to a limited extent.
Encephalitis has had a devestating impact upon my father. Physically he can barely do anything and mentally he has the faculties of a child. However emotionally he has changed enormously. Prior to his illness dad was a very unemotional and logical person. Now he often cries, even when he does not know why. Every day he is engulfed in waves of confusion so that he cries out for help and cannot be placated. He is like a person with advanced dementia although sometimes his mind is clear and he has an understanding of his situation. But most of the time he has no memory of his past life or his home although, thankfully he still remembers his family. The impact upon my mother and the rest of the family has been enormous as we are still struggling to come to terms with what has happened. My mother still clings to the delusion that he will come home again even though she is told continually that he is a complete invalid.
Now that a year has passed and my dad is living in this purgatory I have to wonder if it was worth all the effort to prolong his life. It is no exaggeration to say that encephalitis has ruined my family's life over the past year and left my dad in a foggy twilight zone.
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Karen
Australia
Posted: Dec., 13, 2004 |
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