My name is Eddie, Eddie Owen, and I have had encephalitis now for 5 years.
It started off as limbic encephalitis, but a couple years
afterwards, I developed another type of encephalitis - because I had shingles
and I developed - what's it called, the encephalitis - limbic and... viral, viral encephalitis.
So I really was very greedy, and decided to have 2 types
rather than just stick with the 1. And the result of that of course is I can't tell
you what I did yesterday, but I can remember my childhood. I remember up to, probably
my early 20s, but I struggle after that - and certainly if you ask me
what I did yesterday, I really will struggle. And also,
people's conversations are usually retrospective - talking about what's
happened, and so forth, and of course I can't talk about yesterday or what's
happened and the conversation - I just have to stay quiet I listen to people.
I can't enter the conversation about what happened recently, because I have no
memory of it. I can talk about the future, and what's happening now, but I can't talk
about yesterday. So that's how its impacted, and I've tried my best to make
life as ordinary as possible - I enjoy the day - I've got a tattoo saying 'carpe diem'
which is 'seize the day,' and that's what I do now I seize the day, and make the most
of what I've got. And I still get involved with society, I used to do a lot
as a county councillor, and so on, but now I'm restricted to what I do, but I stay
involved with schools. I'm governor still, at one of the schools, and you know that
keeps me involved with things, I feel as though I'm being useful in society -
I haven't lost everything - and I have a wonderful wife who looks after me. I'm just so
delighted with the way people have supported me, it's marvellous to see so
many people who are helpful, and considerate, and help you - and this is one
of the things I've realised is a huge thing that I'm, you know I'm, really
pleased with, and grateful for. And I have to say that coming
here, it's also marvellous to meet other people who suffer similarly - although
interestingly, everybody has a different type - it seems be caused by
many different things. And it depends on what part of
the brain is affected. I mean mine, basically, is a lack of place,
and a lack of occasions: so I can't tell you what I've been doing, and I'm not quite
sure where I am. For example I've been here - here 3, this is
my third, yeah third time here - but I don't remember it, you know - I can't, can't say that
I recall. Anyway, I don't worry about it, I just enjoy being here, and love meeting
the people, and love the care that the Encephalitis Society give to me.
Encephalitis is just making a different poem of life - it doesn't take the importance of
life away, or the happiness that goes with life. And that's important, and
that's why I'm still here, enjoying life. Well, it's made my family, I don't know a
lot more - I suppose - caring. They now look after me a lot, they look after my wife a
lot, because my wife is the one that needed a lot of support because of me,
because I wasn't there - you know - I was out of it. But my wife had to take the
you know, take up the problems that I was giving her, and helping me to get on
with life when I couldn't really - my early days - I couldn't respond to anything,
I was, I was out of it completely. I'm not going backwards at all, I'm going
forwards. And that's very important to know, that you are, you know
going forwards and getting better. All right, it takes a long time, but you
should have seen me last year, and the year before - I was completely different.
I am now much more aware and and active about things, and I can enter
conversations - except if you tried to ask me something about yesterday - but never mind!
We certainly can talk about now and what's happening.
Have faith - really faith -
because there is a future. Your - whatever is wrong with you - it may not go
away, but you learn to adapt to deal with it, and that's important, and it's
positive, it's not negative. Look at the good sides of life - the physical aspect, for my
situation, of course I'm physically okay - so everyone says "Oh Eddie, you look well!" but
I'm, I am well - I'm really well. My brain may be damaged but I'm, it's compensated -
there's compensation there - and I'm now able to do the things that
my part of the brain that is damaged did for me. But I'm adjusting, my brain seems to
be adjusting slowly, which is great. I have some memory of things that happened
yesterday - whereas I had no memory before, but I can, I can pick up on things that
have happened. Which again, had never happened to me before. So they said always be
positive, if there's an improvement, I think everybody will gradually improve.