Encephalitis and me...

Apologies for not posting much over the last 6 months.
The reason being, a stay in intensive care, unconsciousness, in an induced comma, waking up confused, dazed and scared, festooned with tubes everywhere and no recollection as to why.
Its been a  sereal journey. The time since has been hard.

One day I am Ram, the next moment, a shell of who I was... Gloomy yes but that's what it felt like.
From being free and able bodied to being dependent on many people, predominantly my wife Julie.
One day, I had influenza, next I'm waking up two weeks later in intensive care????
I'm slowly getting back to myself but there is still a way to go...

Life's been very busy with recovery and physio, memory issues and lots of tests, investigations and  reviews by all sorts of specialists. Then there has been all the exercise, 'strengthening my core' due to the vertebral fractures I have...

No idea when or how I got these but, they are there.

I don't think there's any orifice that's not been scoped or organ that has been radiologically checked out by xray or scan.... The barrage of blood tests I've had is also remarkable that I've not needed a unit or two of blood to replace the 'arm fulls' of claret extracted from my thrombosed veins!!

I've become a patient and it is truly eye opening to be in this position.
I'm in the process of chronicling it and maybe making an attempt at writing a true story about this all. The Encephalitis Society have been very helpful to Julie, my family and myself giving us support and direction. I am indebted to them all, especially Julie who has given me the love and support I have not always returned as well as the strength to carry on. Thank you xxx.
My boys and their wives as well as my sister in law Val and brother in law Tony, as well as my mother and father in law Claire and Henry, who have been there for me. Becks and Mo for their help as well as Ambe, for his help and guidance during the acute phase... My mum, dad, brother and sister who came over when I was ill and all my friends Alan and Helen, Douglas and Irene, Jim, Linda, Jill, Catriona..... The list goes on, Cheers!!
To all my fellow Dr's and nurses who got me over this rather unplanned and dark hump, I thank you all.

I know this may read like an acceptance speech at an award ceremony but in a way it is. It is in deed an award of thanks from me to you all.

As a family, all the help, encouragement and direction we have received from everyone has been humbling and fantastic. The hard work from community services, Louise and Magda as well as the GP services, Nuffield House and Debbs has been amazing to Julie and I. The NHS is a great institution and I have given so much for so many years to it but it has paid me back when I needed it. Thank you 😌 (I'm not very good at choosing the appropriate EMOGI).
Anyway, having this perspective of healthcare professional to patient may be worthwhile to undertake, especially for me!
I'm in a space I hope no one gets to experience... I appreciate the alternative is RIP but this is not a bed of roses either.
Despair, pain and anger need to be managed and I am not always good at it.
Society imposes on us to be strong as men and as professionals... This is not always easy but hayho, life goes on.

It's not been all bad: I got to see the world cup 2018 on TV even though the team I was backing came third... Though most important of all, I got to meet our fourth grandchild, the beautiful little lady Eliza, who joins Heath, Cass and Daisy as the new leaves in our ever expanding family tree.

I have been writing a little, reading even less but painting and drawing a lot... One of my friends helped me conjure up the word 'Encephalartist'... I don't think it's been used before and I'm going to take the bizzare honour of claiming it... 😁

In the meantime, I leave you with some of my art... And a promise to get some more posts in sooner than they have appeared lately.
In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the summer, reading and creating life.... I hope you consider reading one of the books available on Amazon
If you do, please leave a review and make sure you tell others that these books exist and are in the public domain to be read and enjoyed by everyone.

Peace and love 😘