Tom and Julie Kyllo haven’t been able to pinpoint why their only daughter — a standout student who is headed to Princeton in the fall — had a seizure in the middle of her first-period math class that February day, suffering a concussion in the process; they know only that she has some sort of brain virus — something her doctors at one point thought might be encephalitis. Now, they’re not so sure.
“The only definite thing is that she has seizures,” said Taeun Chang, the director of neonatal neurology at Children’s National Medical Center, and one of many neurologists to treat Kyllo. “We’re still working on the diagnosis. And in many cases, we don’t always get the answers.”
When Kyllo had her first seizure, she was treated for the concussion and released the next day. Yet that night, while she was in the shower, Kyllo had another seizure and was rushed back to the hospital, where she stayed for the next three weeks.
There, Kyllo was tested for Rocky Mountain spotted fever and cat scratch fever. Doctors even checked for a California-based fungal disease after learning that she had played in a softball tournament out West.
Nothing stuck.
Full story: Madison softball player Khristin Kyllo faces seizures, memory loss from unknown brain virus