herpes encephalitis (please pray)

Please pray for Mickey R. He is the husband of a dear friend that I have worked with for 15 years. This is our first year not to work together.

Mickey, who is 50 and in great health, has had what he thought was a sinus infection for about three months and about a 10 days ago, what he and his wife thought was the flu.

One morning at work about 8 days ago, she received a call from a complete stranger at a convenience store in a town 20 miles away that said there was a man there who was disoriented, did not know his name, and thought he was dying. She asked him for his cell phone and started looking for numbers and this was the first.

My friend left work with the vice-principal and they raced to the store where Mickey was having what appeared to be a panic attack. He knew his wife, but did not know her name.

They got him to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a rare illness called herpes encephalitis. The first night, they told her that he had two weeks to live. That's been about 8 days ago.

I've been researching this and herpes encephalitis is a swelling of the brain due to the herpes simplex virus type 1 (the cold sore virus) getting into the sinus system and into the brain. It only affects 1 out of 1 million people and is usually fatal if not detected quickly.

They no longer think that he is going to die, but the prognosis for his mental state is questionable.

The first few nights, he would pull the IV's from his arm and try to escape from the room. They had only been able to give him the IV's at night after sedating him.

He cannot speak properly. He knows his wife and daughters but cannot tell their names. His wife may say, "Which one of us is 'Susie'?". He does not know. The girls are 20 and 25.

They have extended his antibiotic treatments for another 21 days. They are placing him on a floor in the hospital where he will get less attention, but will not cost as much. Mickey and his wife are very, very private people and neither are wishing too many visitors right now. His is frustrated beyond belief and those who have visited have told me that he loses attention and acts like an Alzheimer's patient.

He has a good job and so does she. I know that her insurance is good, but I don't know if she has him ON her insurance.

Please pray the Mickey will have a complete and 100% recovery. I know for a fact that he would NOT wish to linger and be combative and unable to work or communicate. This has been a shock for everyone and I am just about tired of deathly ill people and funerals in my community. It seems like it's coming in a wave the past month. I have another funeral Saturday. I've had 4 in the last 4 weeks and too many people critically ill.

Pray for Mickey R. Thanks.

 

Not as combative, but not much cognitive improvement. No communications improvement. His wife told a friend two days ago that the doctor said not to expect much improvement at all.

I'm praying quite expectantly, nonetheless, for a complete recovery. These things, from what I understand in my readings about them can take weeks or even a few months for complete brain swelling to go away.

Doctors have to tell you the worst. But I'm still praying for God to override that.

Thank you for asking.

 

Thank you. He has been taking speech therapy from the beginning and they have been wheeling him out to the courtyard area of the hospital just to get him outside to walk around.

UPDATE: Mickey is now able to read an entire paragraph, but still cannot connect the words with the meanings. He read a paragraph in speech therapy today about a clock, but when asked afterwards what a "clock" was, he just responded, "I'm not sure."

The doctors told his wife today that they are going to let him go home next week after the 21 days are up. (I thought it was another 21 days, but it's a total of 21 days of treatment.) They were more hopeful today than a couple of days ago.

They told her that it's now quite possible for him to make a full recovery, but it's going to take a lot of work and a long time, perhaps 6 to 18 months.

His parents have been telling everyone that his progress to date - even though he is still "getting out" of the hospital room and trying to get outside and even though his communications still are very hampered - that from where he initially was on the first day 16 days ago to where he is now could only be explained by a miracle from God that could only be explained by prayer.

The first night the doctors told them that he was going to die. Now they have said a full recovery is "possible" with a lot of therapy.

I believe it's prayer and thank those of you here who have prayed and ask that you continue to pray.

They have just built a new home and hadn't been in it but only a month when this happened. He hasn't mentioned home at all, she said, and she isn't sure that he even knows that they have a new house. There's so much that he has all mixed up or doesn't know at all.

Mickey and his family still have a long way to go and the amount of recovery is unknown, but I am still praying for a 100% recovery. He still has to be watched all of the time, but is no longer fighting anyone. She said that yesterday, he cried most of the day like she has never seen a man cry in her life.

This has really frightened him. I can't imagine not being in control and KNOWING that you are not in control.

Thanks so much for your prayers. There has been miraculous progress made and I am claiming more progress for the glory of God.

 

I got to see Mickey R. today! I saw Mickey and his wife at a school where I had an interview for a job. His wife works there and they were straightening up her room.

He looks awfully thin. But he did recognize me and knew me. I told him that so many people from around the world had been praying for him on a few different message boards. He had forgotten that since his wife had told him.

He said that he felt better, but had a long way to go. I asked him to tell me specifically what he needed prayer for now. He didn't answer me, but looked at his wife. He couldn't verbalize it.

She said to pray for less confusion and more word recognition.

She is as thin as a rail, too. But they seemed relaxed and calm. Please continue to pray and thank you for doing so.