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| Rich |
In August of 1987, I was stationed with the US army in South Korea. Often we would go on training marches through rural areas of Korea. It was during one of these marches that a mosquito transmitted a virus, known as Japanese Encephalitis to me and at least one other individual. Lots of people get infected with the Japanese encephalitis virus, but for unknown reasons, only a few actually develop the disease. Also a vaccine had been developed for this particular form of encephalitis, but it was not effective in my case and a few others. The irony is that according to official US government statistics there were no cases of Japanese Encephalitis in Korea among US military personnel in Korea at this time. Guess my other encephalitis buddy and me were just figments of someone's imagination. I don't believe that this was the result of any grand conspiracy on the part of the government, just an oversight in the reporting process.
I had heard of encephalitis before, having lived in Florida, which had outbreaks from time to time. I was always under the impression it was a relatively benign disease, but what I experienced in Korea, was anything but benign. My medical records stated that when asked who the president was, I said "Jimmy Carter". Reagan had been president for almost eight years at the time. They asked me where I was and I responded "stateside". Of course I was in South Korea. I don't know who this person was that answered those questions. I called him "that encephalitis guy". I wrote this short piece to describe my encephalitic experience.
My soul left this world for a while;
embraced by the cold darkness of no return:
and yet it managed to tear away,
and reenter an enfeebled body.
Suddenly, I awoke to the beauty of the Sun,
the warmth of its fingers reaching into my room,
A nurses gentle touch reassured,
that the journey back to myself was complete.
What sets encephalitis apart from most diseases, is that it attacks not only your body, but also seemingly your very soul, the very essence of what makes you, you! That is why even people that supposedly made a full recovery, often seem "odd", "different", "strange", to their loved ones after an encephalitis attack.
As far as the after math is concerned I have done pretty well compared to many. Having had Japanese Encephalitis, I was warned by the neurologists, that I may develop a mild, premature form of Parkinson's, but this hasn't happened yet. Physically, I have "goofy" days when I am accused of being hung over (I don't drink) by some stupid people. Mentally, I don't catch on as quickly to tasks as I did before, but I have learned to take my time and be patient with myself. Other people get irritated with my mental "slowness" and just general "goofiness" but that is their problem. People can be cruel at times, so I have developed an emotionally thick skin and have learned to try and keep some verbal retorts prepared ahead of time. It is extremely important that I exercise not only physically but mentally as well. If I don't do this, even to this day, I seem to regress somewhat. It is also important to pay greater attention to emotional health than before the illness. Since often the emotional centers of the brain seem to be affected to one extent or another. I also had some strange sensations for a few years after the encephalitis. This caused emotional problems because I didn't understand what was happening. Now I recognize these episodes were probably a form of epilepsy but I didn't have a clue as to what was happening at the time. Since I didn't get officially diagnosed with epilepsy, I just call them my "post encephalitic spells" since I never had them before encephalitis. But this hasn't been a problem lately. Maybe it takes the brain a lot longer to heal after a severe case of encephalitis, than is generally acknowledged by neurologists. Who knows? My main purpose in posting my story along with so many others is to let recent sufferers know that they are not alone. You may have to work harder at things that came easily before the illness and you may have to make some adjustments in life, but take it one day at a time and everything will be ok.
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Rich
Wisconsin, U.S.A.
Posted: July 1, 2000 |
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