Brandon's Encephalitis Treatment
Don protégé
My husband Brandon Verrill is the most patient and gentle soul I know. We celebrated his 27th birthday one month before he fell critically ill on August 29th.
The condition began with being unable to sleep for two nights with painful headaches and a fever. Despite having a high temperature, he was shivering.
We assumed it was a really bad fever or flu, but everything went downhill when he was confused and started talking gibberish. After consulting with a family doctor Brandon was rushed to the ER on the 31st. He was vomiting in the waiting room and the medical team rushed to do a spinal tap. Brandon was put into a medically induced coma to try and fight the inflammation. The doctors told us if we had come a day later it would have been fatal
Brandon's brain had become swollen and was causing him near-constant seizures. The nurses had a hard time giving him routine care since every touch was giving him a seizure. After a couple of days they were ordered to not touch him at all since each seizure was using the energy needed to decrease the swelling brain and was potentially causing more damage. It took them a week of trials and monitoring to confirm he was no longer in danger of suddenly passing. The medical staff informed us after CRT scans that Brandon had minimal brain damage and that he will likely suffer from epilepsy and short term memory problems for the rest of his life.
After extensive testing, the hospital confirmed he had HPV encephalitis due to contracting chickenpox as a child. Encephalitis is a rare inflammation of the brain and in this case, the chickenpox virus had laid dormant in his brain for two decades before suddenly activating. In the worst-case, some patients of encephalitis lose control of limbs or senses. The full extent of the damage couldn't be tested until the seizures stopped and he woke up. Every day was the scariest days of our lives and we were prepared for the worst.
Then two weeks after admission on September 13th he finally woke up. The ventilator had cut his tongue and damaged his vocal cords. He suffered from an infected mouth and was unable to speak. Once Brandon could speak he told us that he had nightmares the entire time he was asleep and was convinced years had passed. During that period Brandon was mentally unstable and he suffered from hallucinations often. We later learned his nightmares and scary hallucinations were due to severe side effects from the many medications he was taking. Since he was now awake and no longer suffering from seizures doctors could start the healing process. The first step besides medication was physical therapy. Brandon could not control his limbs due to muscle atrophy and had to relearn how to use his body. Breathing had become difficult due to pneumonia and his oxygen levels were so severe he was on a ventilator 24/7. After several days Brandon began to show improvement and was moved to non-intensive care.
On September 18th Brandon was moved to a separate rehabilitation center, but after being in a hospital for a month he was beginning to break down. We believed his physical therapy could now be done at home away from the stress of a hospital. Brandon finally arrived home on September 20th almost a month since being admitted. Insurance provided house visits from nurses and a physical therapist. Now two months later Brandon has regained most control of his body and learned to walk again. After seeing a neurologist we were reassured that there was no memory issues and chance of epilepsy was low.
Hospitalizing is unfortunately expensive especially with intensive care. The current total cost is $3,938.66 not counting medications and visits with doctors and specialists. Donations would aid us in our bills as he was unable to work in this period and I had to take an extended leave from work to watch over him in the hospital. Thanks to the push of loved ones I started a gofundme for Brandon’s medical bills and ongoing care.
We are forever grateful to the friends and family who stood with us during this trying time. We especially want to thank the medical staff of Saint Rose Hospital, the nurses, the doctors who saved his life.
The condition began with being unable to sleep for two nights with painful headaches and a fever. Despite having a high temperature, he was shivering.
We assumed it was a really bad fever or flu, but everything went downhill when he was confused and started talking gibberish. After consulting with a family doctor Brandon was rushed to the ER on the 31st. He was vomiting in the waiting room and the medical team rushed to do a spinal tap. Brandon was put into a medically induced coma to try and fight the inflammation. The doctors told us if we had come a day later it would have been fatal
Brandon's brain had become swollen and was causing him near-constant seizures. The nurses had a hard time giving him routine care since every touch was giving him a seizure. After a couple of days they were ordered to not touch him at all since each seizure was using the energy needed to decrease the swelling brain and was potentially causing more damage. It took them a week of trials and monitoring to confirm he was no longer in danger of suddenly passing. The medical staff informed us after CRT scans that Brandon had minimal brain damage and that he will likely suffer from epilepsy and short term memory problems for the rest of his life.
After extensive testing, the hospital confirmed he had HPV encephalitis due to contracting chickenpox as a child. Encephalitis is a rare inflammation of the brain and in this case, the chickenpox virus had laid dormant in his brain for two decades before suddenly activating. In the worst-case, some patients of encephalitis lose control of limbs or senses. The full extent of the damage couldn't be tested until the seizures stopped and he woke up. Every day was the scariest days of our lives and we were prepared for the worst.
Then two weeks after admission on September 13th he finally woke up. The ventilator had cut his tongue and damaged his vocal cords. He suffered from an infected mouth and was unable to speak. Once Brandon could speak he told us that he had nightmares the entire time he was asleep and was convinced years had passed. During that period Brandon was mentally unstable and he suffered from hallucinations often. We later learned his nightmares and scary hallucinations were due to severe side effects from the many medications he was taking. Since he was now awake and no longer suffering from seizures doctors could start the healing process. The first step besides medication was physical therapy. Brandon could not control his limbs due to muscle atrophy and had to relearn how to use his body. Breathing had become difficult due to pneumonia and his oxygen levels were so severe he was on a ventilator 24/7. After several days Brandon began to show improvement and was moved to non-intensive care.
On September 18th Brandon was moved to a separate rehabilitation center, but after being in a hospital for a month he was beginning to break down. We believed his physical therapy could now be done at home away from the stress of a hospital. Brandon finally arrived home on September 20th almost a month since being admitted. Insurance provided house visits from nurses and a physical therapist. Now two months later Brandon has regained most control of his body and learned to walk again. After seeing a neurologist we were reassured that there was no memory issues and chance of epilepsy was low.
Hospitalizing is unfortunately expensive especially with intensive care. The current total cost is $3,938.66 not counting medications and visits with doctors and specialists. Donations would aid us in our bills as he was unable to work in this period and I had to take an extended leave from work to watch over him in the hospital. Thanks to the push of loved ones I started a gofundme for Brandon’s medical bills and ongoing care.
We are forever grateful to the friends and family who stood with us during this trying time. We especially want to thank the medical staff of Saint Rose Hospital, the nurses, the doctors who saved his life.
Organisateur
Brandon Verrill
Organisateur
Las Vegas, NV