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| Sam |
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My name is Sam, I live in a small town in Ohio, and I have been retired from the U.S. Navy after having Herpes Simplex Encephalitis. I was stationed in Coronado California at the time, working at a Navy SEALS base. I was working as a "yeoman" (clerical assistant) for the Commander of the Squadron in Coronado. I was 42 at the time, and had been suffering from severe bouts of mental depression. The Navy had given me excellent care at the Naval Hospital in San Diego, and had tried many different anti-depressant medications on me at the time. Nothing seemed to work, so I was instructed to take electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) for treatment of the disorder.
After five sessions of shock treatment, I was at my desk at the command when (as my shipmates tell me) I was taken with severe headaches and was speaking rather incoherently. The next day, I didn't show up for work and was phoned. Once again, I could not speak coherently, and forgot whatever I was told. Several of my shipmates came over to find out what the matter was. One Petty Officer told me later that my fever was over 105 degrees Fahrenheit. I was rushed from my place and put in hospital where I was put on IV's and morphine. Whenever I woke up, I was screaming in pain and was later told I could not receive visitors or take phone calls. The excruciating pain and the incohesion of reality finally eased, but I spent over three weeks in hospital and told I would have to go to a private nursing home in San Francisco. My command said my enlistment was ending and once I had my wits, was sworn in for another enlistment. The neuro-psych tests were performed and repeated six months later. I had severe deficits in memory retention, and total intolerance to any small disturbance. My mental depression was much worse and I cried incessantly for months.
I was sent home with a full disability retirement and now going through a Veterans' Learning Center. I am slowly getting better and hope I can work somewhere at least part-time. I earned a Master's degree while in service and wish to give back to society and my country whatever services I can still perform.
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Sam
Ohio, U.S.A.
Posted: July 24, 2002 |
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