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My mother (73 years) is 5 weeks post Herpes Encephalitis diagnosis. She has days (times) when she seems very with it...alert...and acts fairly normal.
Then other times she cannot remember what we talked about 5 minutes ago and seems like she is out of it. I am wondering what factors are causing her to progress or regress?
Has anyone else seen a pattern?
KOL
Hello KOL...
From experience (I am a survivor of HSE, 1999), I can tell you that your Mom will have good days, and some days not so good. She will take two steps forward... then one step back.
Encourage her when she steps forward... and go lightly when she struggles. She has months and months of progress ahead!
The other thing you may not have picked up on is that is likely she is much better in the morning than in the afternoon/evening. Her brain gets tired and needs rest (sleep).
I have patterns. I was surprised at what affects me. It's been something like 5 years & I still have days where I'm lucky if I remember anything from 5 minutes ago. Those tend to be when I have a ton going on. As time has gone on I can deal with more going on during 1 day.
Michelle
How lucky your Mother is to have you there noticing and helping her in recovery! Seven years after encephalitis, I still have days when my brain seems to have turned off and days when I feel clear and almost back to normal. Paying attention to how fatigued I feel and resting when my brain is tired has helped. Good luck and bless you for supporting your mother now when she needs it.
My Mother is 78 years old. She still has good days and bad ones. The progress is slow and you have to take one day at a time. My Mother's memory is not were it should be. She came down with HSE in May and was in the hospital until July 21. She can now feed herself, she knows the family and can help with some things. We are just thankful we still have her and the neurologist is starting to wean her off the Keppra which can cause some of the same symptoms of confusion, being tired. You will see that if your Mother tries to do things she will need to rest after it because the brain is trying to recovery and the only way it can is for it to make your Mother sleep. Please keep us up-to-date because elderly people do not always have good outcomes. Your Mother must be a fighter and believe me that along with family support is important.
thanks for your comments...It does seem like the elderly do not recuperate like younger people. My mother is not on any new medications since HPE. They must've caught it fairly early because she has no physical problems other than extreme lethargy. She just can't remember consistently.
Did you all have MRI's or EEG's after returning home from the hospital (at later doc appointments). I just wonder how long it takes the swelling to subside....
Kol says, "I just wonder how long it takes the swelling to subside...."
Hello Kol. It is my understanding that the inflammation subsides after roughly 10-14 days.
Once the swelling has subsided, recovery is measured at a point two years post-encephalitis.... though recovery continues past that time.
A very useful assessment of how a brain is functioning after encephalitis is called neuropsychological testing. This battery of tests is usually administered by a clinical psychologist and takes from four to eight hours. These tests are better at pinpointing how the brain is working than imaging tests such as MRIs or CTs which show how the brain looks. An EEG is good for describing seizure activity, but once again, does not give much information on how the brain is able (or not) to remember, process information, or recognize faces, as examples.
Thanks, from the case studies I have read there doesn't seem to be a lot of info on rehab for elderly patients with HVS. She's a little better just no where near her pre-encephalitis condition. I am still hopeful since she is a retired school teacher and was very active prior to her illness.
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