What Did You Have?
Probably a good place to start, seeing as everyone is curious. The easy way to answer that is Viral Meningoencephalitis. The most fun way of answering that is that no one knows. I have (successfully?) stumped every medical personnel ever since this all started. Like I said: I was expected to die. Or at least have major mental hinderances. I evaded (wording…) having a large number of the complications that I was told I would have. I do not suffer any pain or great discomfort. The major issues I face are just adapting to a situation which may just be temporary. No one has been able to tell me otherwise.
What wound up happening to me is my brain swelled forcing my brain stem to swell into my spine. My brain flooded my skull with fluid that my body could not combat. A drain was put into my skull to relieve the pressure. My symptoms are irregular and extreme, in a way. I would like to think my long term burdens have been much less extreme. What is incredibly unfortunate is that all the major functions that your body does are governed by this relatively small piece of anatomy. Processes include walking, breathing, heart beat, speech and sight.
Apparently, my medical charts and what not has a giant question mark under diagnosis. I, personally, find this hilarious. I have been managed by some of the best minds on the planet. I have had hundreds of people tracking my first few months very closely. All of this, and I still managed to slip through the cracks of this over burdened system. I have not had a followup yet with any doctor I have ever had. I have only been asked for a consultation three or four times. When it was clear that, at that time, I was in no state to visit, it was dropped. I do not blame the people that I dealt with, I just believe that the system is over tasked with very few people around to pick up the slack. I have spoken to many nurses who felt like they were being run ragged, but were not being paid enough to deal with the situation.
What did I have?
Again, it is a question that plagues me at every turn I make. Meningoencephalitis is the swelling of the brain due to meningitis. The viral describes how antibiotics cannot help me in any way, and antiviral medication has only a sliver of a chance to work. I got that diagnosis from Western Hospital in Toronto, but it is a bandage: A name to put on my chart. Though a large number of symptoms could be related to me in some ways, that was not a clear depiction of what ailed me, and definitely would not have destroyed me in this way. However, it has become my rallying call. My research has exposed a disease that is fairly unknown in this country. I am trying to educate where I can, but I only know how I responded to everything; I am unaware how the disease responds to everything. My only hope is that, with time, everything will become clearer and a version of easier. For both me, and everyone involved.
plain text. 