I contracted WNV I’m pretty sure (but not positive) on the evening of July 4, 2005. My husband was doing a fireworks display for our family and neighbors. The mosquitoes were biting me, but no one else was complaining about them.

On July 15, I wasn’t feeling well, but we took my grandchildren out to eat anyway. I noticed some red spots on my neck. That night I could hardly sleep, feeling like I was about to climb the walls and my whole body was irritated from the inside.

After that, I really started going downhill. The aching, the headache, the just plain hurting all over my body and legs, like I’d never hurt before.

The rash was on the trunk of my body, neck and a few on my face and even my ears.
I remember just hurting so bad. Then the fever started, and when I did try to walk, one leg didn’t work, I literally had to drag it. My doctor did all kinds of tests and told me nothing was showing up, that I must just have some kind of virus. He said if I wasn’t better by the following Monday, he’s send me to an infectious disease Dr.

Monday, he did send me to an infectious disease doctor, who looked at me and said I either had Parvo or WNV. He did testing for those and I came back positive for WNV.

The local health department said the state of Texas would not accept the type of lab test that had been performed for my diagnosis, so they drew their sample of blood and had it retested. It also came back positive for WNV.

I thank God that my daughter and my grandchildren were here to stay with me through all of this, they took care of me.

It’s still hard to accept the fact that I had this disease, even thought I know it’s true. It’s kind of a lonely feeling, I guess, knowing that everyone else I know don’t have any idea what I’m talking about when WNV is brought up. I think reading about other folks who also had this disease helps.

I am feeling fine most of the time now. Every now and then I feel things in my body that I wonder if they are just effects of the WNV or not. I guess I’ll never know for sure.

I do know that I am truly blessed that I was very healthy before and that I was one of the very lucky ones who did not die or was left with seemingly permanent disabilities. Praise God.

God bless you all and you work through your days of recovery.

The car next to us left, so there was an empty parking space on my side of the car. At first,
I thought I was lucky, because I would have room to maneuver my walker and unload my purchases from it’s basket. But, no. An a-hole drove up and wanted the parking space immediately, because he inched up and honked his horn, even thought he could plainly see my walker and that I wasn’t in any condition to rush loading the groceries into the car.

He inched his car further into the parking space and honked his horn again. By this time, I
thought I could put the remaining items into a single bag, but as I was doing that, everything I place into the bag started to fall to the ground. At first, I thought I was misjudging where the bag opening was because everything that picked up off the floor kept falling back to the ground. And instead of asking me if I needed help, Mr. A-hole decides to inch his car even further into the parking space and honk his horn for the third time. Now, I’m real flustered, so I started to throw everything into the floorboard of the car and I could hear Linda telling him “Can’t you wait”.

After she helped me load my walker, I sat down hard into my seat and started to cry. She let me cry and rant on about the situation, until I got it out of my system. When we got home we discovered that the cashier had torn the bag with one of the corners of the calendar and that is why everything was spilling to the ground. But, the action of Mr. A-hole are beyond my comprehension. What if I had been his mother, sister, daughter, or wife?

Howdy:

This blog is on the Encephalitis Meningitis West Nile Virus I contacted in August 2005; how it affected me and my family.
Ben and I have a vegetable and herbal garden, and so every day when we get home, one of us would water while the other tended the garden. One night I forgot to use the Off Deep Woods spray before I went out to water the garden and I got bite all over the place.
The following day, I started to have flu-like symptoms, complete with body aches, chills, and a fever. I went to the doctor, who ran some tests, and told me “it was not bacterial and if I didn’t feel better the next day , I’d better go to the hospital for some tests.”
At the time, I was caring for my parents, who are in their late 70’s, so
that morning, I went to their house to make my father breakfast. But when I got there, I was shaking very badly, I was very tired, and I just wanted to go to bed. My parents, immediately, called Ben and dialed 911. The ambulance came and took me to the emergency room at Baylor Hospital. My fever was 105 and my blood pressure was 90/45. I remember arriving at the hospital, but after that the next ten days would be a complete blur.
Ben and my family came to see me very day. The doctors told them that I had contacted the West Nile Virus and even though I was doing great (I was talking, walking, and eating), they warned Ben that they were placing me under a neuro-watch, because little was known about the West Nile Virus and there was a chance that my nervous system might shut down. Well, overnight, I underwent a change in my nervous system much like you see in some Parkinson’s or stroke patients: I couldn’t use my right leg effectively, talk clearly, close my eyes and mouth, chew, but the good news was that I was alive and stable.

I was then, transferred to Presbyterian Medical where I stayed for the next 16 days. I had the best care in doctors, nurses, hospital staff, and therapists. I always have been an active person, so I was very pleased and excited with the upcoming therapy sessions. At this time, I was experiencing bouts of confusion, pains that started in my lower back and would creep up my shoulders to the top of my head, and digestion pains. The nights were very hard, but like I said before, I had the best people taking care of me: they were patience, caring, and very attentive.
By the time I was ready to go home, I could walk with a two-wheel walker, speak more clearly, and identify my limitations so I could work on my recovery. (more later)
Your friend in Christ, Rosalba (Latin for White Rose)