Wahpeton women overcome West Nile virus

WAHPETON, N.D. (AP) — Two Wahpeton women have a personal perspective on living through a West Nile diagnosis, and both Meredith Mitskog and Kathy Diekman feel lucky to have survived.

Three years ago, Mitskog was in a coma for 10 days and her family was worried that she wouldn't pull through as the result of a mosquito bite. Diekman still struggles at times with her speech and blames her brush with the virus last year as the cause, the Wahpeton Daily News (http://bit.ly/1JoNp2Y ) reported.

North Dakota health officials are beginning to see positive testing for West Nile in mosquito samples.

The city of Wahpeton reported that one pool of mosquitoes collected a few weeks ago has been identified as having West Nile; and public health officials said the first human cases of the virus have been confirmed, one individual in Bottineau and the other in McLean County. The North Dakota Department of Health said one female between the age of 10-19 and a male between the age of 20-29 have tested positive for West Nile, but neither individual was hospitalized. Dunn County has identified the first horse case. Two mosquito pools from Grand Forks County tested positive for West Nile, along with an additional pool in Cass County.

The Culex Tarsalis mosquito is most common for causing West Nile. It typically migrates as the virus builds in the local bird population and spreads throughout the state. With the Department of Health confirming the cases of West Nile, people need to take precautions when going outside.

Hearing of others being diagnosed with the virus reminds Mitskog of the nightmare she underwent three years ago. She can even tell you what she was doing when she was bit. Mitskog was helping her contractor around the house with a landscaping project that summer. She doesn't remember getting bit, but she found three mosquito bites on her ankle and knows one of them carried the virus.

A few days after getting bit, she suffered from severe flu-like symptoms. She was running a fever and vomiting, but the symptoms progressed and her husband, the late Curtis Mitskog, brought her to the doctor in Wahpeton, who was quick to send her on to Fargo.

"By the time I got to Fargo I didn't know my own name," she said.

Mitskog's fever rose to 106 degrees and she slipped into a coma. For 10 days, she was packed in ice as her medical team worked to get her fever under control. She doesn't remember any of those 10 days, but the following months are vivid as she underwent physical, occupational and speech therapy to regain the use of her body and speech.

Her fighting spirit came out, Mitskog said, that to this day battles continuing symptoms. She spent six weeks at Sanford Health in Fargo once she regained consciousness. She couldn't walk and was forced to eat thickened liquids as she couldn't swallow either. When she was finally released to return home, she sat in her chair next to her ailing husband who was battling kidney disease. Mitskog developed a blood clot and had to fight that off as well.

"It was a nightmare," she exclaimed.

At 74 years old, this Wahpeton woman knows how to battle. She said she isn't a quitter and refuses to give up on herself. Even three years after her initial diagnosis of West Nile, Mitskog still has to fight off symptoms that can be directly linked to her battle with the virus. She can't walk like she used to, all the while confessing she isn't doing her exercises like she should be either.

"I'm not a quitter, I'm going to win this battle," she said. "At times my balance is not very good so I have to hang on to things. But I do travel, so I'm not letting this keep me down."

Mitskog thinks about her ordeal when she swats those pesky mosquitoes. She and her little dog, Mimi, get some exercise outside and she takes whatever precautions she can.

"I was lucky," she said. "My family didn't think I was going to make it. My sister was actually writing my funeral."

She and Kathy Diekman share a common bond with their diagnosis and recovery from West Nile, but their friendship started well before that. Mitskog was on the Wahpeton Park Board for about 30 years, which oversees Chahinkapa Zoo and as zoo director, Diekman and Mitskog spent a lot of time together. As they talked about their continuing West Nile symptoms, each was shocked to hear some of them are the same.

"Sometimes my speech isn't very good and I stutter," Diekman said with a laugh. For a woman who speaks in public, not having control of her speech is difficult to admit.

"Sometimes I have trouble swallowing," Mitskog shared.

"Me, too," Diekman exclaimed.

When the two women got together, it was obvious they have something else in common: an indomitable spirit to regain control of their lives.

___

Information from: Wahpeton Daily News, http://www.wahpetondailynews.com

This is an AP Member Exchange shared by the Wahpeton Daily News

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Related topics