Encephalitis recovery update

[Heavychunky1]

Good afternoon all hope your all well , Well today after a long chat with my partner she agreed to sit as passenger in the car with me to let me drive , first time behind the wheel since March and having hsv encephalitis , anyway I get into car and start right up to busy round about and various junctions , total of 7 miles , and I can honestly say my driving has does not seem to been affected much, had no issues with judgement and all that lane handling still as it was, memory of roads and such still good, not exactly 100% but very close to it , my concern was nerves getting to much coping with all other traffic , but very pleased at outcome not really had any issues and that included filling up with fuel and a walk around the loca park with a coffee with the missus , whom the the more I realise I am very lucky to have someone in life so caring , so hopefully onwards and upwards now with a. Look out at getting back to work at some point, the driving aspect was spoken about between myself and occupational health as a recovery aspect , UPDATE after being cleared to drive dvla now have me jumping through hoops as Iv now to attend a clinical medical requested by them , and a drivability assessment at a cost to myself , doesn’t help when they give a 2 week time limit and expect you to get a face to face with a doctor during the pandemic Covid thing, this is more so regarding my extra entitlements on my licence

[Gandalf2]

Sounds excellent, there's nothing like a positive result from a serious challenge for raising morale - well done and bravo! 🚘

[alpappy]

I use driving to test if I am having a bad day and don't drive if I feel moggy or memory loss but it's great to have the ability again ...well done

[GreenBamboo]

Loved reading your positive update. After such a tough time this is such a massive step forwards. I am really chuffed for you

[Wygella]

Oh well done. That’s a huge step forward both psychologically and for your morale. It made such a difference when I could drive. Although my first drive wasn’t as adventurous as yours! Also my husband has been incredibly supportive. I genuinely wouldn’t be where I am without him. Keep going as you say onwards and upwards.

[Heavychunky1 in reply to Wygella]

I totally agree with you on that about having support , I have no idea how I would have been able to cope without it for sure,

[Wygella]

We’re the lucky ones!

[Cmiller1971]

That’s great news !! Keep loving forward .

[OldGnome]

This is excellent news! It is quite a feeling of freedom knowing that you can still operate a motor vehicle! And I agree that it is great to have someone who cares so much about you, to stand by you and help you as you continue to improve.

Here, my illness proved to be too much for my then-fiancee to bear, so she left. No old friends or family here, so I go it alone. With nobody to dissuade me, I acquired a nice FIAT 500C Abarth, which I rewarded myself with when my driving skills were back to normal.

Would probably make a nice vehicle for you in the future due to its size and ease of parking! I would not recommend going 160 Km/h though, which is something I will never admit to doing!

😆

Here's hoping you continue to improve in more areas, a bit at a time!

Abarth

[Ocean96]

Wow! I am beaming with joy reading your post. That is such fantastic news. I'm so glad your partner is supportive and this is the first of many happy steps in your recovery!

[KDJR]

Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Successes like this and having someone who cares really makes all the difference. I wish all the best - and thank you for brightening my morning!

[NebraskaTexas]

Congratulations!!!!!!..I am very happy for you. I know will like the independence. I can't wait for my husband to start driving again. He is going this week to the eye doctor to see if can get clearance(as the encephalitis effected his eyesight) and then the neurologist needs to give him the ok. I have been the chauffeur for over a year now. Well done🚘

[Jensibel]

Yippee! You're similar to me. I first got behind the wheel of a car again about 3 months after E. I could remember exactly how to drive again. It was such a relief. I knew all the practicalities of driving - mirror, signal, manoeuvre, gear change etc etc. My dad was in the passenger seat to monitor how I was doing that first time. However, dad tells me I couldn't remember the name of anything in the car. I called the gears "the number stick" and I called pedals "foot pushy things".

It's now 16 years since my encephalitis and driving I something I do daily. I'm safe and confident behind the wheel.

[Fumz034]

You're very lucky to have occupational therapy. I got behind the wheel on the 31 December 2018, roughly a week since my hospital discharge. The car felt weird, I went out and had two glasses of wine and then drove back home after midnight. You see, I had no information whatsoever and did not understand why I was still not feeling well after being discharged. 3 days later I went back to work. Needless to say, 2019 was a very hard year for me.

We thank God for small victories, but this is huge. Congratulations.