Walking through the halls of high school you see the typical: teenagers socializing, living life, stressing, studying, working hard and hardly working. You see the popular ones, the athletes, the smart ones. However, you don’t see the challenges each student struggles with each and every day: depression, anxiety, insecurities, high expectations and more importantly, brain injuries and disorders. That’s where my story begins. Seven years ago I lost all control of the left side of my body and an infection caused by the H1N1 flu was rapidly spreading throughout my brain. Right before losing consciousness, my only memory was a handsome, blonde-haired doctor carrying me into an examination room. I was a very sick kid.
After many tests, being transported to another hospital and hundreds of wires sticking out of my head, doctors diagnosed my condition as encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain. This rare condition has many types, and affects each patient in a different way. Doctors told my parents I had a 50 percent chance of survival once I came out of the coma. I had to go through many cognitive tests to determine how the disease had affected my body and brain. Physical therapy was needed to regain movement in my left leg after the seizure. Outwardly, today, encephalitis just affects me through frequent fatigue. However, inwardly, encephalitis is so difficult because of its many psychological and cognitive impacts.
For me these include: frequent headaches, migraines, ADD, frequent anxiety, slow processing and memory loss. I don’t remember much about that first year, but according to my mom, I couldn’t play sports or play outside for a long time and I slept all day. I still sleep a lot now, especially on the way to sports games. This is so difficult because I don’t want to seem antisocial, I just need more sleep than most people my age. In school, mainly in math class, I struggle with processing lots of information, following specific steps in an equation and working in a limited amount of time. Each day is different. Some days I feel like a normal teenager, while other days I become overwhelmed by everything going on in my brain.
Walking through the halls of high school, you wouldn’t see the lingering effects of encephalitis on my brain. You don’t see how personality changes have affected my social skills, coping skills and self-concept. In the classroom, you don’t see the work my brain has to do to process information, focus and remember certain information. Sometimes I wish others could understand these challenges and not always rely on how I look on the outside.
On the bright side, because of these obstacles I’ve become more understanding and empathetic towards other people. In my faith, I’ve learned that the Lord has a bigger purpose for me and is preparing me for the future. As teenagers, we get so caught up in ourselves that we don’t consider the opinions, beliefs and talents that others have to offer. It’s so frustrating to see gifted individuals, with challenges or not, become discouraged because they’re different or judged by insecure and inconsiderate people.
– By Natalie Womble
