| Medical experts now label West Nile neurological | | | | may never regain his former health and strength. His |
| disease an acquired brain injury. I label it "the pirates". | | | | fight to regain his health has become my fight, his |
| The virus boarded the little boat of our lives suddenly | | | | loss mine, though from a different angle. We're |
| on a summer day. It pillaged my husband, Rick, while | | | | making parallel journeys through West Nile. |
| he went about his normal business as a clergyman. | | | | From this day forward I could have said, on the day |
| One little mosquito bite, and he never even noticed. | | | | the mosquito bit my husband--if we remembered the |
| One little mosquito bite, and he'll never be the same. | | | | actual bite, and we don't--from this day forward our |
| After being institutionalized in hospital and rehab | | | | marriage will take on a different accent. |
| center for six months, he returned home. A walking | | | | For thirty-one years, he hefted most of our loads. |
| miracle, many call him, even if he does still rely on a | | | | From our first vacation together he lugged around |
| walker. We're grateful for the strength he has gained | | | | our luggage. Both his arms had carried our children, |
| after his three-limb paralysis. | | | | toted in our groceries, heavy bags of pet food and |
| But his former physical strength and mobility wasn't all | | | | cat litter, peat moss, topsoil, and softener salt. Not to |
| he lost to the pirates. | | | | mention our printer paper--over the years the likely |
| Though he looks perfectly normal to many, | | | | equivalent of mountain ranges of old growth forest. |
| encephalitis (a particularly wicked thrust on the | | | | Prior to the pirates, on every move back and forth |
| pirates' part) stole some of his short term memory, | | | | across the country, I packed the boxes, but he |
| including his once almost-perfect ability to recall | | | | transferred them--and everything else--to and fro |
| situations, comments, and details. "Gee, Honey, I miss | | | | from the moving truck, up and down stairs, in and |
| your marbles," I said to him one day. "Not half as | | | | out of our homes. |
| much as I do," he responded fervently. | | | | Once settled, he shoved around the heaviest |
| It also renders him prone to regular periods of what | | | | furniture whenever I decided it had made enough |
| he calls "shutdown', when he sits, motionless, eyes | | | | mileage that year. Shoveled our snow. Mowed our |
| wide. I call that place to which he retreats his | | | | lawn. Dug our gardens (few and feeble). Carried out |
| "encepha-cave". When it happens, he is unresponsive | | | | the garbage. Not exclusively, but he did a significant |
| except for monosyllables, and unable to make simple | | | | amount of all those things. |
| choices. Excess stimuli causes that. Too many small | | | | His paralysis--poliomyelitis--one of the complications |
| children nearby. Loud music. Too many people talking | | | | that can result from Neurological West Nile--changed |
| at once. | | | | all that. Though more mobile now, his strength is only |
| The results of the few studies that have been done | | | | a portion of what it was. He still topples easily, and |
| on North American West Nile sufferers indicate that | | | | his left arm remains paralyzed from the elbow to the |
| Post-West Nile fatigue and weakness is both | | | | shoulder. His therapists warned us that total function |
| recurring and ongoing. That's consistent with Rick's | | | | may never return. Almost three years later, it hasn't. |
| condition. Even after almost three years, our future is | | | | We've also read that the disease will likely shorten his |
| uncertain. (But is it certain any of us?) Though he still | | | | lifespan by about fifteen years. |
| speaks regularly to crowds, talking about his faith | | | | These are only some of the complications of a |
| journey down West Nile, and raising awareness of | | | | disease still new in North America--the first case was |
| the disease, he has not been able to return to | | | | diagnosed in New York in 1999. These are our |
| full-time ministry. | | | | pirates--they could be yours too. |
| We are immensely grateful that Rick escaped with | | | | If you live in areas of West Nile carrying |
| his life, but nothing could have prepared us for the | | | | mosquitoes...we beg you. Take precautions. Where |
| magnitude of WNND-generated losses. | | | | possible, eliminate standing water. And most |
| The scant studies that have been done on patients | | | | important...wear repellent. |
| affected with neurological West Nile indicate that he | | | | |