Sarah Konoski

I had to take a year off and basically spent a year in bed and realised probably after about that year that,

That wasn't helping.

So just a return to regular life, but at half capacity.

Actually, at that time, I was probably slurring a little bit.

I didn't have nearly as much energy.

I lost a lot of muscle mass.

Kind of like I think of it as an acquired brain injury and I know people have some horrendous brain injuries, you know, not to underestimate that experience.

But I certainly spoke differently and lived differently after that.

And maybe one of the hardest moments was when one of my friends said, yeah, you know what, you used to be on fire and actually quite funny.

And so the thought of being changed at those sort of fundamental levels was difficult.

I mean, I was never that funny to start with.

So the fact that I was less funny now was deeply concerning.

It's ongoing for sure.

Yeah, there will be a relapse for me at least once a year.

But now I know just, well, yeah, have a little rest.

Don't stay in bed for weeks and months at a time.

But just listen to your body and...

And try not to get too stressed and also try not to get too hot because humidity seems to inflame whatever's going on in my head, whether it's scar tissue around the meninges.

The meninges is the outer lining of the brain.

And yeah, it's the lumbar puncture or the spinal tap that reveals that you have meningitis or not.