Encephalitis Cases
Jemina
Mexico City, Mexico
Posted: March 3, 2001
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Encephalitis Cases
Jemina
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On December 22nd our child, Jimena, was with her mother, her uncle and her grandpas. That day could
never be forgotten for us. She was standing at a nun's house. Her uncle is a priest. So some nuns,
friends of her uncle, invited them to have breakfast. My child was standing looking at all the people invited
without saying anything. My daughter starts moving her head to the right and her eyes too. She can't
move to other side. I was not there but I can imagine the situation and pain my wife felt. My wife thought
she was kidding but she realized that she was not. First, my wife tried to move her head. She was
conscious, but she doesn't respond to anything. My child's uncle took her to a chapel because he thought
she was possessed or something and the nuns start praying, so did her uncle. They realized that she's not
responding and took her to a clinic that was two blocks from where they were.
A doctor's first diagnosis was a seizure and they took her to the nearest hospital to practice an EEG
(electroencephalogram). The hospital's neurologist told us it was epilepsy. Five hours after the seizure
she recovered totally. She talks, moves her body and arms as if nothing happened. We stayed there only
one night. At that time no medication was given to her because the doctors said that it could be only an
isolated seizure and maybe it won't happen again.
On December 24th, the same symptoms were detected as the first seizure and we took her again to the
same hospital. But the doctors order us to take her to another hospital to make her cranial resonance.
The results were negative. This study was to be sure that there were no tumors in the brain. We return to
the other hospital and they started to administer her Depakene and two drops of Rivotril. We go out of the
hospital the next day. She was lazy with her movements, caused by the medication.
She was talking and playing at New Year's Eve, without any symptoms. But on January 4th, 2001 she
starts with no movement in her right arm. She can't hold a pencil. She starts to get desperate because of
that. The next 7 days she had four or five seizures a day, with a lot of movement and anxiety. She literally
"flies" to her bed looking for something. Her mother and her grandma could not control her.
By January 10th we went to another doctor to get another point of view. At his consulting room, my
daughter had another seizure of anxiety and the doctor thought it was child's schizophrenia, so he sent us
to make her another EEG and it reveals important damages in her brain's left side. So he told us to stay at
the hospital because our child is very ill. We were at the hospital for 2 weeks, the worst of our lives.
Jimena had about 4 or 5 seizures per day. She sang out loud about 2 o'clock in the morning, for an hour,
hour and a half or yelling out loud for the same time. She bites us. She harms us with her nails. She
scoffs her hair and ours. The doctors haven't seen such a scene in their lives. Studies were practiced and
she was very ill. Blood samples were taken from her 2 or 3 times a week to see if the medications get the
right level in her blood. But the seizures continue.
After 2 weeks at the hospital, my daughter can't walk or talk. She was sleepy all day. But the terrible thing
was when a neurologist told us that our daughter had a rare illness. That our child is going to die in one or
two months, because all the symptoms coincide with that rare illness. Just 200 cases reported in the
world and there is no cure for it. Just in Canada had obtained a medication but it can't cure it: The
Rasmussen Syndrome. By that time we were shocked and disconsolate, crying for our child.
As a desperate action, my wife's cousin recommended us another doctor. By January 21st , the doctor
visited us at the hospital and told us that my daughter has viral encephalitis and we quickly took her to
the other doctor's hospital where he can attend her. She was taken to a Video Electroencephalogram
(VEEG) room isolated from everybody for about 36 continuous hours connected to those cables in her
head. My wife was shocked again. We can't get out for a coffee or have our meals. The hospital took
care of that. Jimena still had 3 seizures per day and in those 36 hours the nurse had to tie my daughter so
that she can't harm herself or try to throw herself to the floor from the bed. It was really a nightmare. We
slept 2 or 3 hours just in the time she was connected to the VEEG.
The next 11 days at that hospital seizures and convulsions diminish. On February 2nd we left the hospital.
Almost a month ago we still pray God to help us with her. She still bites us, she is angry almost all the time.
She only gets a relief taking her out in the car for a short ride. At night she can't fall asleep. She can
repeat what we say but she can't give a simple yes or no to a question. She can't stay calm for a while or
just sit in a chair for a minute. She continuously wants to go out, even at night. We consulted another
doctor that had experience in this cases and he told us that Jimena needs time to recover her skills and
behavior. Maybe 9 or 12 months. Obviously she can't go to first grade and we just got out of school. We
hope next year she can go to school again. We hope that our child get well and she play and run again.
There are still medical studies to be done next month and we hope those studies reveal that our child is
getting better every day. We feel a relief telling our story to you and hope this could be a little guide to
parents with a similar situation. Thanks a lot and we are going to keep praying for all of you to get well
soon and for all doctors who are still fighting this terrible illness so that they could find a cure or a vaccine
to prevent it. Feel free to contact us. Thanks for this opportunity.
John Paul Mexico City, Mexico
Posted: March 3, 2001 |
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