Encephalitis Cases
Jake
Nevada, U.S.A.
Posted: April 16, 2002
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Encephalitis Cases
Jake
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My son Jake began his journey towards darkness on October 13, 2000. It just happened to be Friday
the 13TH! He hadn't been feeling good. I took him to the doctor and he had a very bad sinus infection.
The doctor prescribed medicine and we took him back to school. When we got there, he complained of a
headache. I told the nurse I would take him home and give some Tylenol And then I would bring him
back to school. At home, he started to become lethargic. I gave him some Tylenol. Then he started to
run a fever and vomit. He just laid in bed.
This was very unusual for my 7 year old very active boy. He fell
asleep so I just left him alone. The fever was going up and down all night. I called his father around 9
PM that night and told him to come over because something wasn't right with Jake. When he got there,
I told him to watch Jake while I got dressed to take him to the Emergency Room. At 9:45 that night, he
went into a seizure and stopped breathing. We called 911 and the operator was giving me instructions
to relay to his father on CPR. Now mind you, I knew CPR. I had to use it twice in my life. When this
happened, I had NO idea what to do. What seemed like hours, the ambulance finally came. They had
to intubate immediately. He was having seizure after seizure. I rode in the ambulance and his father
followed.
When we got to the Sunrise Children's Hospital, (Las Vegas, Nevada)
we were met outside by about 7 people. I knew this must be serious. In the ER things were happening
so fast. Cat Scans, blood work, spinal tap. The first thing they were able to tell us was that he had
spinal meningitis. They said they were moving him to pediatric ICU. In ICU, he was put on advanced life
support. The doctors were convinced that something else was going on with Jake besides the meningitis.
The next day they were running more tests. The seizures continued. They asked me the next day if we
were religious. They didn't know if he was going to make it. I then called in a priest to administer last rites. We were
terrified. My mother flew in from Chicago and my best friend Michelle was at my side since the ER. God
bless them both!
After 3 days, the doctors told us that not only did Jake have Spinal
Meningitis but he also had encephalitis. The medical term was Viro Meningo Encephalitis. They said
each disease was serious by themselves but to have the combination of both was horrific. The chances
of getting both were about 1 in a million. Boy, did we feel lucky! They called in an Infectious Disease
Specialist from California. He was there in case it was bacterial. It did turn out to be Viral. To this day,
we have no answers as to how he ever got this horrible virus.
After 11 days in ICU, he was moved to the regular pediatric ward. By
this time, he was still having seizures, and anger episodes. They finally had to put a restraint vest on him
tied to the bed and his arms and legs were also restrained.
It was Heart-wrenching. Jake was reduced to a toddler. He was
wearing diapers, did not know he could feed himself, and was having bouts of spitting and swearing. The
doctors started PT, ST, and OT. He stayed in this ward for 12 days. They told us they wanted us to go
look at a rehab center where we could transfer him for another 6 weeks or so. We agreed and were to
transfer him on Monday. That Sunday night, he turned to me and said, "hey mom, where am I"? I was
shocked. I ran for the doctors and nurses. He was very confused. This was the first time in 23 days he
even made sense. They explained it as coming out of a conscious coma. He doesn't remember anything.
That night we took him home and were to start all his therapies on a outpatient basis. This continued
for 3 months. His short term memory is shot. He has difficult processing things through his brain. His
emotions have changed drastically. He is very sensitive. Before he got sick things never really bothered
him. He is having trouble in school focusing. His behavior has gotten worse. This is where we are now.
He just returned to school on January 29, 2001. We are still finding
things out about him day after day. We are having a hard time regulating his seizure medicine. We are
constantly trying to deal with day to day life trying to find ways to adjust to the lasting effects of this
disease. People just have no idea what we are dealing with. We are trying to get his school to understand
this is not the same boy as before. Although he looks and talks like Jake, he will never be the same. It
just amazes us how powerful the brain really is.
And now Jake continues his JOURNEY into life (thanks to the
wonderful doctors, family, and friends who took this journey with us) hopefully to become a productive
and very special person. We have no idea what is ahead of us but we thank God every day for giving us
this chance. It is very hard and trying for all of us because there really are no answers. We really have
learned to take each day at a time.
We have many obstacles ahead of us and would encourage any
input from anyone going through this with their child. We would appreciate any help.
Kathy Nevada, U.S.A. Posted: April 16, 2002 |
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