Hi everyone,
I am writing this post because I have many concerns.... This is not an easy time for me at all and I suspect that my dearest hubby is not going to find what lies ahead very easy to deal with either after I have been reading many posts regarding the same situation of VM.
I AM SEEKING ADVISE as i need to deal with matters and being married for 34 years I suddenly seem to have a different husband.
I do not even know where to start as this seems to have been ongoing for a while before he ended up in ICU.
For approx 5 to 6 weeks he complained a little (he never complains) about bad sinus, common cold and just feeling miserable all the time....
For the record - Kenny and I are married 34 years and for the past 34 years Kenny has never been seriously ill or in hospital due to an illness - This means he does not have a medical record of sorts so to speak - he never visits the doctor and has not been in hospital for anything apart from a knee op.
I noticed Kenny getting very tired and wanting to take an afternoon nap which he never did before.|
He constantly had headaches (which he never really told me about) however he did say he has sinus and feel sickish all the time. I never thought anything of it as this 2016 winter in South Africa it has been common for people to be ill for as long as 7 weeks non stop before they feel better and the symptoms disappear.
2 weeks ago Sunday morning we wake up for church, Kenny's alarm goes off and he gets up for the loo. He looses balance and ignores the alarm after regaining his balance, flops back onto the bed- this was totally strange and i get up to give him his phone to switch off the alarm.
I immediately notice he is strange - he cannot focus, he had no clue as to where or how to put off the alarm. I speak to him but he cannot speak to me - he tries but all comes out gibberish.... OMW i almost freak.
He gets up again and goes to the loo - his off balance, he tries to flush the toilet but he cannot and does not know how - I am now frantic and suspect a stroke.
I let him sit on the bed, he must look at me but he cannot focus. I ask him stick out his tongue which he does and there is no sign of a limp tongue - but yet he cannot speak at all - all words comes out in total gibberish.
He want to fall over all the time and sleep. He coughs but holds his head as if in pain. I got him dressed and rushed him off to ER - this was a mission on it's own.
Fun and games at this stage - in the meantime he is vomiting as well -
Gosh i was frantic.
Brain CT scan - Negative - shows nothing
Blood tests - negative - only a very slight elevation of blood being to thick
LP - cannot be done - he is fighting it and does not allow the Doc to do the LP
They actually begin to suspect "drug abuse" - i suspected something with all the questions but found out later after all results was negative and showing he is squeaky clean !!!
Off to ICU
By this time he got some speech back however not knowing where he is or why he is there - he rips off all the drips, the oxygin and gives ICU such a hard time they had to tie him down - he was beyond himself and almost broke down the whole ICU - they refuse to totally sedate him and telling me this influences the bloods tests - me unsuspecting of what they are testing..... and why they make him suffer like that and i am beyond myself as he is screaming like a lunatic for being tied down and to the bed. His reactions are not uncommon they tell me.... goodness knows uncommon from what as they cannot tell me....
Following morning Monday
He is calmed and not tied to the bed anymore. He has little recollection of what happened in ER however he remembers that he could not speak at home before ER and he remembers being tied to the bed and is angry at me for leaving him without clothes and why should he be naked. He dislikes the catheter and does not understand why he must have it in.... It certainly took some explaining.
Off to have MRI the afternoon - he is still not himself and being rather difficult (he is the most calm and placid man i know... he is not a fighter and not someone who likes conflict)
He does not lie still and images has to be re-done every so often - eventually it's done. They find nothing - very little and extremely slight ischeamic changes but i am told that is nothing and there is no problem in the brain as he is 55 and it all looks good.
Tuesday transferred to High care Ward and no longer in ICU
He complains about severe headache and the sister calls his doctor a Physician Specialist who in turn gets a neurosurgeon to do the LP.
LP Shows severe pressure of fluid build up in the brain of 26 and should not be more than 14 measured in pressure. He taps the fluid to reduce the pressure which in turn reduces the headache as well.
Within hours the results of the fluid comes back - VIRAL MENINGITIS and possible ENCEPHALITIS
Oh goodness this was unexpected but a relief of being able to identify the condition. Little did I know what lies ahead.
Thursday goes well and by 5pm the doc discharges him.
We get home. Straight to bed.
He does not get up early on Friday morning and prefers to sleep in a little which is fine as i want him to rest. (he is on early pension so he can rest it's fine)
Friday goes well, Saturday and onward he shows many changes -
1. Short term memory loss from time to time
2. Child like actions and behavior
3. Irrational behavior
4. Not wanting to listen when i tell him to rest
5. One moment placid and the next a little aggravated-
6. Conversations are limited and at times he does not react when spoken to
7. Loss of concentration
8. Sometimes almost a Blasé type of reaction and other times the opposite and things must be done with urgency.
He refuses to listen when i tell him to stop and rest.
We bought a piece of ground approximately 100km from where we live and we got tenants to rent our house and Kenny wants to begin a small scale specialized chicken farming on the small holding meaning we need to move within the next month.
I try to convince him to re-organize and lets take it slow - he is stubborn and refuses to listen and tells me he is fine and the move will take place. Yesterday 2 weeks after him being admitted to ICU we drive to our other property and taking friends along with us.
On our way back home later in the early evening Kenny drives but drives off the road - we all get a major fright - eventually after a persuasion session he stops the vehicle. He gets out and loses balance - immediately i knew something was very wrong - he lost feeling in his left arm/hand, leg and foot- suddenly his speech was impaired as well - needless to say our friend takes over and we rush off to get Kenny back to ER.
45 minutes later he is back to normal and ER cannot find anything wrong.
Once again he is admitted to ICU and he is still there - doctors are baffled and have no clue as to why would that happen. His left arm was moving involuntary the other direction when he wanted it to move in another direction- his speech was not impaired all the time only for moments at a time. His hand had pins and needles -
he felt tired and was very very quiet - did not feel like talking at all.
The new search begins - Angiogram, EEG and many more blood tests. Doctor does reckon there must be some sort of inflammation but where they have no idea - it might be a minor/slight stroke which does not leave any visible damage however we doubt it.
IS THERE A POSSIBILITY OF THE VM CAUSING THIS?
2 Weeks Into Viral Meningitis
Viral Menigitis
Struggling with the slow recovery from Viral Meningitis.
Both my husband and I contracted Meningococcal septicemia, strain B, 4 weeks ago sadly they couldnt save him but they did save me. 
