Most of what I am writing is from the accounts of other people and assumptions.

Before I became unwell

In January 2019, my sister-in-law was visiting and staying for dinner. I can’t remember the dinner but at some stage, according to her, I said that I wasn’t feeling well. The next day I went to work but can’t remember it. But the day after that – Tuesday – I went to work which I do remember and at 1pm I left my workstation to go home (Tuesdays are a short day for me). I went passed the office and said good-bye to my fellow workers. The automatic doors opened and then nothing. I don’t remember anything after the doors opened.

Getting home without remembering

Evidently, I spoke with a workmate in the carpark and then drove home. This is the scary part, as I drive along a 3-lane highway and then another busy road, and I can’t remember any of it. When I got home, I opened the electronic gate and parked in the garage. I still can’t recall any of this. The next day (Wednesday), I usually go to the gym with my personal trainer. When my wife woke up, she found me sitting in the lounge in my pyjamas. She knew something was wrong. She asked me if I knew my name and I answered ‘Yes’. She then asked me what my name was and I answered ‘Yes’. She said we were going to the hospital, and I asked if I could go to the toilet first. I walked into the kitchen. She knew something was wrong.

Going to hospital

Being a general practitioner, my wife thought that I may have had a brain tumour or haemorrhaging in the brain. When we got to the hospital the emergency department doctor thought the same as my wife. The CT scan showed nothing but then my face started to twitch. The doctor called a neurologist to have a look. I was lucky that he had seen this condition once before. He immediately put my on an anti-viral medication. Later, an MRI confirmed I had encephalitis. For the next 5 days, I remember nothing. When I came to, I saw my wife on the end of the bed and I said can we go home now, we’ve been here for 2 hours. She said it’s been 5 days. I heard another voice say dad you’ve been here for 5 days. I told them to stop joking. They then showed me a board on the wall that said I had been there for 5 days (this scared me). For the next few days, I was in and out of consciousness.

Early recovery in hospital

I couldn’t move, so 2 nurses had to raise the bed, swing my legs over the side, then lift me up and sit me on a wheelchair. Then in the toilet, they had to lift me up to remove my shorts. Embarrassing. Slowly over time, I started to get strength in my body, going from 2 nurses helping, to 1 nurse helping me to walk by myself but with a nurse watching.

Occupational therapy

I had a occupational therapy visit and she gave me a few test to do and a crossword to complete. They were very difficult, plus I was putting the letters in the very left-hand side of the boxes in the crossword, not in the centre of the boxes as I usually did.

Life after leaving hospital

After a couple of weeks, I left the hospital as they needed beds. At home, I slowly started to walk longer distances gaining strength. I saw 2 different occupational therapists and one said I would never have the same cognitive ability as I had before. After 6 months, I went and saw my personal trainer, and he asked me to do some lunges and lift some waits. When I tried the first lunge, I fell sideway onto the floor. I couldn’t lift any weights except the 1Kg one, very different to what I could do beforehand.

Ongoing effects

I now have full physical ability back. However, mentally I have times when I cannot remember a word that I want to say when I am talking to someone. People say it is just age, but I know it’s different. Simple everyday words seem to escape me sometimes.

My advice to others

If you notice any change in the person, go and see a doctor straight way. If my wife had not noticed a change in me and did not take me to a doctor, then I may not be here. So if you suspect something is wrong, get it checked.

After recovery

Also after recovery, there may be a couple of consequences, like forgetting words or reading words in the wrong order or reading words that are not there or dyslexia with words. They don’t occur always and my advice is that you just have to live with it, even though sometimes it is annoying.

If you would like to speak to our support team about encephalitis, please contact our helpline.

Story published October 2026