ENCEPHALITIS CASES

Encephalitis Cases

Tiffany

Please let me introduce myself, my name is Tiffany Taylor. On November of 1998 I had Encephalitis, when I was 15 years old and I had just started the 10th grade. This was a severe case of Encephalitis, my family told me during and after my recovery.

The last day I remember was on Oct. 31, 1998 my aunt Frankie's birthday to December of 1998 vaguely. My family told me that I was in and out of critical condition and intensive care for a month and a half. They also told me that I was never by myself because we had family come from Indiana, Alabama, Oklahoma and here in Maryland to take shifts to keep my brain active and stable so I wouldn't go into a coma.

During the time in cortical condition and intensive care at John Hopkins I under went surgeries that involved having a Tracheotomy place because they needed to remove the tubes from my throat or else I wouldn't be able to speak my parents told me, GP Tube for feeding and medication and then a Brain Biopsy to see what really caused the illness. I was also paralyzed from the neck down and severely brain injured. There were times when my parents and the doctors didn't think I was going to survive. Then there was a time when my dad told me that the " Hospital Staff," would take bets on me to see if I was going to live, which dad approached the staff and said " don't ever do that around her." My parents told me that they took pictures of me at John Hopkins to keep some type of record at the time on how I looked. The doctors had to let the illness run it's course, I had a 50/50 chance.

Then came a blessing, I was going to make it. I was transferred to the rehabilitation hospital for children Kennedy Krieger Institute on Dec 14, 1998. When my mind slowly started coming too I thought I was dreaming, and I thought I was in a closet. I couldn't move because I was still paralyzed, I had no gagging reflexes, and I couldn't speak, I really couldn't see because my vision was damaged. I didn't know or understand what was going on. It felt like I was a newborn baby because I couldn't do anything for myself. People were changing my pampers, I was being feed and so much more. I felt so hurt, embarrassed, and questioned " what did I do so wrong to deserve this"? I had to have a tremendous amount of Physical, Occupational and Speech/ Language Therapy which my therapist would take pictures of me so I could show to my family when they came in to visit me, which that was everyday. (Amen). Then as time passed on in the Rehabilitation Hospital I will never forget the first day I started to learn how to walk. It was on Christmas Eve, which my main physical therapy ( Ms. Angela ) had me in between the parallel bars and helped me stand from my wheel chair, which I took my first step since Oct, 31, 1998. The therapists took pictures of me on that day and I gave the pictures to my family as a Christmas present. More time passed on and my family surprised the world out of me "YOU'RE GOING HOME." I screamed and screamed and had tears of Joy. But it was still a long road of recovery because it took 3 years for everything to heel in my body and mind. I have after effects of the Encephalitis , which is that I have Optic Neuritis (90% blind in my left), slight knee pain. Which I'm very thankful and blessed.

Now I'm 25 years old and going to school to become a Medical Coding Specialist. To make sure the doctors are diagnosing the patient properly and more. I'm currently working at Kennedy Krieger Institute as a Care Center Specialist, where I help doctors who deal with the Encephalitis, Nutrition, Orthopedics, Spinal Cord Injuries, Neurology, and more cases. There is so much more for me say, if you have any question please don't hesitate to email me.

If you need to talk, our home # is (410) 768-1568
My cell phone # is (443) 722-0252.
GOD BLESS

Tiffany
Maryland, U.S.A.

Posted: May 28, 2008

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