Encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain tissue, is rare, affecting about one in 200,000 people each year in the U.S. Most cases are caused by viral infections or even by bacteria. The disease is very serious—severe cases can cause death. I’ve learned this from experience. It was the day of October 23, 2014. My Aunt named Sandra, also known as my legal guardian since I was four, had been dealing with being sick for five months now and Auntie Sandy had no idea what she had or what it was from.
“Why is Auntie acting so weird?” Asked my 12 yr. old brother Jerome.
“Yeah I think there’s something seriously wrong with her and she can’t get rid of that horrible cough, what do you think Olivia?” Asked my 16 yr. old sister Lilli.
“I have no idea…show more content… It began with a really bad cough that wouldn’t go away. Then it progressed to severe headaches and fevers. I had no idea how serious it was, I thought of it as another one of
Auntie’s colds because she always gets sick. Then more serious symptoms like confusion, silent seizures, muscle weakness, problems with speech, etc. started to happen and then I knew something was unquestionably wrong. I felt terrible. I had been so selfish, and I should’ve seen that something was happening to her sooner. I urged her to go see a doctor and figure out what was going on. Her symptoms then got worse and worse, but every time she would go see a doctor about it, all they did was give her medicine and send her home. On this day I had no idea that my mother would be admitted into the hospital for a month – diagnosed with encephalitis. She had no clue about who her family was, she couldn’t eat or talk. And that’s what shocked me the most.
It’s been a year since her diagnosis and she’s come a long way, she sees her neurologist regularly and follows a medical plan to keep her encephalitis from returning. She is no doubt getting better, for a while there I thought we were going to lose her or that she would have to live in an assisted living place, and that was devastating for my siblings and I because she is that only parent figure in our
