|
|
| Phil |
My name is Phil Parker and I had encephalitis in the fall of 1965, when I was 14 and
a freshman in high school. To this point I have never spoken with anyone who also had
encephalitis - at least after they had it. One of the four people (or so I was told)
in Missouri who had it that year was a cousin of my neighbors on the next farm over
I had met him in the spring, but I never got to speak to him as he didn't survive his
bout. I have met some others in my capacity as a special education teacher, but none
were left with the capacity to speak and all were institutionalized for custodial
care. From working with them and reading the accounts on this website, I feel lucky
- it could have been much worse. By the same token, over the ensuing nearly 34 years
I have forgotten a great deal. I know that one individual said she'd prefer not to
survive if she ever got it again. That absolutely rang a bell, but I no longer feel
that way - perhaps because I have forgotten what it was really like.
I do remember having terrible headaches and leaving school before football practice with a fever. The GP my folks took me to thought it was touch of the flu at least in part because I sat in a draft in his waiting room and lowered my temperature. My next memory is of a nurse taking my temperature in the hospital, looking at the thermometer, and running out of the room.
As I got up on one elbow to drink some orange juice, the man in the other bed asked me if I was okay. I told him I
was and remember nothing for ten days afterwards. This gentleman was a friend of my parents (I wish I knew now who it was) and told them later that from the conversation between the doctor and nurse who ran back in, my temperature had topped out (though I don't know what that would be).
I woke up nearly two weeks later (after some long term unpleasant dreams). I remember being a little confused because the newspaper on the table beside me (which I immediately took to the bathroom with me, ala Al Bundy) spoke of things in the past that as far as I knew, should still be in the future. My mother came into the room shortly afterwards and called out to me. I later learned that my coming around was unexpected, at least at that point.
I knew that I was very weak and had lost about thirty pounds. I commented to the doctor that I had sure wasted two weeks of football practice (two weeks of six hours a day in 90-100 degree temperature). His response was that without that conditioning, I would have died. That was a little sobering. I t was years before I learned that my parents had been told that I probably would not survive - and I learned that from close family friends who were - and are - in the funeral business.
I was out of school for about seven weeks. I think it was year before I slept more than a few hours a night. Let me tell you, DON'T try to start an algebra course seven weeks late. While I think the encephalitis did cause some of my problems with math, my abbreviated algebra course couldn't have helped. Years later, though, my (first) wife had to learn to give the Wechsler scales (IQ tests) so naturally I had to take it. This was the first time I had an indication that I actually had a learning disability in sequential memory. This involves math to an extent, but more heavily impacts upon memorization. I make lots of lists. I found myself described in a Harvard Medical Review article... I'm not only a special ed. teacher, but a textbook LD case,
it seems.
One of the counselors where I teach came back from a seminar on ADHD and swore that I had it. I suspect he's right, though when I teach regular class history, the hyperactivity is a good teaching aide - keeps the kids' attention.
I have suffered some discrimination due to the physical and/or mental disabilities with which I was left. A principal I worked for years ago told me in no uncertain terms that I could not remember peoples' names because I didn't care about them. He dismissed out-of-hand my assertion that it was not something I could help, even though I tried. He didn't have too much use for our special education kids, either. Most people, but not all, just see it as part of me. I was surprised to find some other things I have listed as resultant of encephalitis. Some noises bother me tremendously, for example.
With whatever residuals I may still have from 34 years ago, I still count myself as very lucky. First, I survived. I managed to get three college degrees. I have a wife and two children and have been a teacher for 27 years. I think I've made a difference in some people's lives - hopefully in a positive fashion. Finally, after all these years, I've found people I can "talk" to who understand where I've been. Thank you.
|
Phil
Missouri, U.S.A.
Posted: July 1, 2000 |
|
|
