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I asked him if he wanted to go to the doctor and he said, “No I will be fine.” He then went to the kitchen to take his allergy medicine. I noticed him getting very agitated at his medicine pack and he said, “I can't get this medicine out!” Then I asked him, “Everett, do you want me to take you to the hospital?” I thought maybe he would agree if he was feeling ill enough because he doesn't like going to the doctor AT ALL unless he is very sick.

He turned and looked at me with a worried face and said, “Maybe we should.” I wanted to keep asking him questions to see how he would respond. So I asked him, “Are you able to get your shoes on?” He told me he could, but when he sat down on the floor beside his shoes he started to pull hard and twist his sock. I asked him, “Everett, what are you doing?” His extremely worried reply was, “I can't get my sock on.” I told him, “Honey you already have your socks on. Let me put your shoes on.”

So I put his shoes on and he started grabbing at his knees. Again, I asked him what he was doing. He said to me with a scared look on his face, “I can't tie my shoes.” I tried to comfort him by calmly saying, “I already put your shoes on, honey.”

He then told me, “I can't grab anything!” He was grasping at the wall and couldn't reach it. I asked him if he was able to get his coat, so he then tried to walk to the balcony door in our dining area. Our coats are downstairs in the hall by the garage. He was headed in the complete wrong direction, meandering. He laid down on the floor rubbing his head and I knew time was ticking fast and we had to get him to the hospital. Not knowing if it was seizures or a stroke or something else, we moved quickly. Our daughter helped me get him to the car quickly because I knew the ambulance would take too long. I had called my friend to find out which hospital I should take him too. At this point, I was lost in a city of a quarter million people I thought I was familiar with... I was not remembering how to get to the hospital just from the escalating situation. She told me to head to the East branch of St. Joseph Hospital only about 10 minutes away. She met us there and stayed with our daughter which I will be forever grateful. Upon arrival at the ER around 4:45 pm, we found ourselves only waiting a few minutes. They got Everett right in; he was aware at that point where he was. But his awareness began to deteriorate in a matter of minutes.

His headache became so excruciatingly painful that he was grasping at his eyes and pulling on his face. He was writhing in pain and shaking so badly. Clearly he did not understand what was going on because he was pulling the cords off they had put on him to measure his vital signs. He was literally hanging off the end of the bed when I went and asked them to do something for his pain. They told me that they could not give him anything because it would alter his conscientiousness and possibly hurt the test results. He kept yelling out, which anyone who knows Everett is completely against his nature. He repeatedly asked for help, knowing many times who I was at least but other times he was lost in all aspects of the people and events going on around him.

I can not describe how it felt to see someone I loved so fully and completely become helpless and in so much pain. It broke my heart in a million pieces. All I could do was pray. I knew that the ER doctor was baffled and that it was in God's hands. No one here could do a thing for him except run the necessary tests to figure out the cause – hopefully. He became so combative that they had to tie him down with soft restraints. The ER doctor told me, “He is a medical mystery.”

He kept crying out, “Please, please, help me.” He said things like, “I feel so fad!” (yes “fad” not “bad”), and “My ankle is killing me!”, and “I need out of here. I will feel better if I can get out of here.” All of these things were indicative of certain illnesses and brain diseases the doctor informed me. There were so many they had to test for but they moved so quickly. We prayed that God would lead them in the right direction.

I wanted so badly to pick him up and hold him - and make it all go away. But all I knew to do was pray. In a situation so desperate as that, I knew that I could lose the man I love at any moment. I knew when the ER doctor came to me and told me that he was getting progressively worse that things must be very bad.

But I refused to believe the facts of that situation; I was going to believe the Truth. The facts showed a deteriorating person but the Truth was that God was with him. I knew that my husband trusted God and at that moment I began to think of the many times I have heard of people going through situations like this, and how we don't truly understand what they feel until we go through it ourselves.

He was screaming out terribly and fighting the doctor and nurses even when he had been restrained for his own safety. At first they thought they may have to transport him to a Cincinnati or Louisville hospital for a neurologist as their was a shortage in Lexington. I had called people who had called people who had called people – so the prayers were intense that night in three states. I was feeling that prayer and I knew that Everett was as well. I prayed that their would be a place for him in this city with a staff of doctors that could help us through, all led by the hands of God.

The news came in a few short hours (they moved fast!) that they had to do a spinal tap. The bladder scan had showed no problems (even though a catheter was needed as that function had stopped), kidney failure had been ruled out, a ct-scan showed no abnormalities except for a sinus infection, and the blood work to that point had shown no problems except for a slightly elevated white cell count. The doctor told me that could be a sign of meningitis, brain hemorrhage, or complex seizures. So the spinal tap was the last resort.

My heart sunk as deep as you can imagine. I had heard the horror stories of these procedures making people disabled or even causing death. The doctor told me that she had no other choice, and the ER staff assured me they did a lot of spinal taps and had experience. The doctor had given Everett a medicine to calm him down and they started him on antibiotics in case it turned out to be bacterial meningitis. As combative as he had been she was unsure if she would be able to perform the spinal tap but she told me she would try because they didn't want to waste time waiting for it to be done somewhere else. He told me later he remembered only a couple of things about the entire event and one of those things was that he was trying to bite the restraints off to get out of there.

Before the procedure was performed, I went into his ER room and I prayed for him. I read Scripture as I sat beside him trying not to cry. I leaned over to kiss him and he was in and out of sleep - which was a blessing after hours of pain.

I told him, “I love you, Everett.” He opened his eyes and said, “I love you too. I am sorry.”

The pieces of my heart that were broken were suddenly coming together! He knew me! I told him, “Oh, honey, don't be sorry. I am here. God is with you. Lean on him.” Then he fell asleep again.

Our beautiful friend, Adrea, waiting with our daughter had been praying and called others to pray. She called our pastor's wife to get the message to him. He called me and came right to the hospital to pray for Everett and give us guidance as Jesus would have him to do. Another wonderful new found friend, came as well to help us a little later. All of these people who were praying and there to help we will be forever thankful for God knew we need not be alone.

The spinal tap was quick and successful as the doctor came to tell me within 15 minutes or so. She said he had been calmed enough to get it done and the results would be back soon. In the mean time they had called for an ambulance transfer to the main hospital to have other neurology tests done. She did tell me that in spite of that she thought if it turned out to be meningitis that it looked like the viral kind. I heard her say, “If you have to choose between the two you would choose viral over bacterial.”

I found out later that although both can be deadly, bacterial meningitis kills over three-fourths of those who don't catch it in time and around 25% of those who get to the hospital on time for some treatment. The doctor said that once he arrived at the main hospital that he would get an MRI in a more controlled environment and an EEG to determine if it is complex partial seizure or a stroke, also other brain problems could be ruled out.

I thought of when she had told me earlier how this was a medical mystery.

Wow, hearing that made me know that God was the only one to turn to and to put all our faith and trust in Him. Give it all to him. That was all I could do.

The transfer took place around 1:30am which in the scheme of things was incredibly fast and we thanked God for that. Everett was slightly coherent by the time some of the medicine was in him and he was arriving at the ICU. In fact he was sitting up on the bed as they wheeled him off the ambulance into ICU. He was still “out of it” and confused but at least he was alive and slowly becoming more aware of what was going on.

The MRI and EEG showed no signs of seizures, stoke, brain tumor or hemorrhage; all was absolutely normal. The spinal tap cultures and tests revealed high white cell count and therefore, viral meningitis – no bacteria had grown! At this point I began to understand what it fully means to be thankful for all things. We were all thankful at that moment it was only viral meningitis and not bacterial. We knew the chances of a full recovery with no lasting effects or brain damage were much higher.

So all day and night went by that Wednesday and the next morning, as I was allowed in, I found him was up moving around the furniture in the ICU to be more comfortable! The infectious disease doctor came into the room and she said to me as she checked him, “I am amazed! No one recovers this quickly from meningitis.”

We learned that viral meningitis can be caused by many viruses, because rarely they infect the spinal fluids and brain. Brain swelling was a concern but they saw no sign of it in the MRI or other tests. So as far as she was concerned, she would allow him to be taken off the I.V. medications, give him oral medications, and he could go home as long as the neurologist agreed.

We were thrilled when they said, “No one leaves ICU the next day!” We knew how he was leaving so quickly full of life – the prayers. God is faithful and when you call on the name of Jesus... He always answers.

Thank you all for your prayers – they were heard.

God, you are amazing, and loving, and caring... and we don't know what we would do without your love... your undying Agape Love.

Heather

November 2008

Co-Founder 7Cubed.org, 7Cubed™ LLC