Family Bond

It has been almost two months since I last posted.  Life can sure change quickly and without notice.

On November 5th my oldest brother got sick and I mean really sick.  He collapsed at work and was taken to the ER.  It took a couple days for word to reach my other brother and I, but once it did we jumped into action.

We arrived in Memphis and for the 10 days that he was in that first hospital we were in hell.  From the first moment we had doctors threatening to discharge him even though he was un-diagnosed and was getting sicker by the minute.

Finally on day 9 he had a diagnosis--Viral Encephalitis caused by the Herpes Simplex Virus (the virus that causes shingles/chicken pox).  Basically, he had shingles in his brain.  This disease is so rare that many doctors have never seen a case in person.  This undoubtedly contributed to the length of time for the diagnosis, but that was compounded by the incompetence of some of his physicians including his neurologist.  

At first they didn't know if if the disease was contagious so out of concern for ourselves it was suggested that my brother and I leave the room.  That lasted for about 30 minutes.  I finally decided I had been exposed for over a week and I wasn't leaving my brother alone now.  So we went back into the room to be with him while wearing protective gear.  We learned during those first 10 days in the hospital that it was important to be physically present in his room as much as possible because if a doctor happened to stop by when you weren't there, they weren't going to look you up to give you an update.

Along the way we had a lot of angels, mostly nurse aides and nurses.  One of them was Lionel, he showed up just when we needed him the most.  He and Bob clicked and he went above and beyond in his care of Bob.

On day 10 Bob was moved to an inpatient rehabilitation hospital.  Although it was only about 20 minutes away, the ambulance didn't show up until about 8:30 at night.  This was the most exhausting day.  It was about 11:00 before he was officially admitted to the hospital.  From there I had to drive the 45 minutes back to the house I had rented for the week, all the restaurants were closed and I was tired and famished.

 Things only got better from there.  When I got to the rehab hospital the next day, Bob was up and dressed which was a great sight.

Bob's friends and church family were awesome during his time in rehab.  Several of them even stopped by to celebrate his birthday.

The rehab hospital was right next to a series of walking paths so when Bob went to therapy I'd go get some outdoor therapy of my own.

That's the rehab hospital over there.

One day Bob said he'd really like to have a book.  I had given a couple books to him for his birthday and he immediately dug into one of them.  My brother is an avid reader so this was a good sign. 

Bob had been contemplating retirement before this episode happened.  Since he was at his full retirement age he agreed that maybe it was time to move to Tulsa.  His recovery is going to be lengthy.  On the outside he looks perfectly normal.  On the inside his brain has been through quite an ordeal and it needs time to recover.  His body also needs to recover.  Bob is a dedicated runner who has run 26 marathons in his life and had run an 11 mile race only three days before falling ill.  Currently he can only walk a few feet with assistance.  Hopefully the strength he has in his legs will help him recover fully.

My sweet hubby flew out to Memphis one weekend and we loaded up all Bob's belongings and he moved them to a storage unit in Tulsa. 

I also became reacquainted with laundromats while in Memphis.  The hospital doesn't do patient's laundry so a few times I had to either visit the hotel laundry if it had one, or go to an actual laundromat.  Talk about expensive!  I was shocked at how much it costs to do a load of laundry.

I became quite fond of the Memphis area while I was there.  The winter weather was fantastic and almost every night we were treated to a sunset like this from Bob's window.  The people were genuinely kind and friendly.

He spent 31 days in the rehab hospital.  His next destination was a skilled nursing facility in Tulsa.  Although it was a quick 6-7 hour drive from Memphis to Tulsa we knew the trip would be difficult for Bob.  Luckily, through the power of Google I was able to find a medical transport company that would get him there safely and in comfort.

It was raining cats and dogs the morning we left.  Although I pulled out a few minutes before the transport, it wasn't long until they passed me and left me in their dust.

After six weeks I too was going to be headed home.  During that time I stayed in five different hotels, two Air BnB's, was home for five days, and spent four days in Flagstaff for Thanksgiving.

It was an honor and privilege to be able to hang out with Bob during his stay in the hospitals.  This was a time that he was unable to speak for himself so I thought it was important to be with him.  He still needs your prayers.  This is an horrible disease.  My two brothers and I make up a small family, but this disaster has shown that we will always be there for each other.  Our spouses are fantastic too!  I am so thankful to those who checked on Bob and myself daily during this ordeal.  I will never forget your care and concern.

Also, if you're over 50 and your doctor has suggested that you get a shingles vaccine--go do it!  I had put it off for years, but after personally witnessing the devastation of this disease I dragged Irv to the pharmacy a few days ago to get the first dose.  I'm not going to lie, both of our arms hurt like hell for a couple days.  One in three adults will come down with shingles in their lifetime and the vaccine is over 90% effective.  Shingles doesn't normally occur as encephalitis, but you still need to protect yourself.

If you want to learn more about encephalitis, click here.