Encephalitis survivor - Lynn

Today, I had the joy of meeting a friend of a friend named Lynn who suffered from encephalitis (likely misquito transmitted) at 6 years of age. She is now in her late 50's and appears to be doing GREAT! She was in a coma at the age of six for six weeks, and when she came out of it, she was unable to walk and unable to talk. She said her recovery took years - though it seemed to me her speech came back in a quicker timeframe than Julia's.....but she wasn't exactly sure how long it took and is going to speak with her mother about those things.

Anyway, we had a nice discussion, and she gave me a dose of "hope" that I have been needing for quite some time. She said her doctors told her mom that she would never graduate from high school - and she did! She said school was difficult for her always, but she studied very hard and graduated - not only from high school, but from college, and even got her masters!

It was interesting to talk to someone who has been where Julia is. She said that Julia probably knows much more than we think she does and to try as hard as possible to treat her like a normal kid, and to talk to her just like I would have spoken to Jack when he was little - even though she is unable to verbally respond. She told me to NEVER give up hope on the communication thing - and gave me some ideas on communicating with her now.

Anyway, it was a very eye opening conversation we had, and I hope the relationship continues. What a nice lady.

Susan