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Source: http://www.ack.net/news/20170703/cape-cod-teacher-talks-about-partners-powassan-death Cape Cod teacher talks about partner?s Powassan death
By Cynthia McCormick
Posted Jul 3, 2017 at 2:00 AM Updated Jul 3, 2017 at 6:32 AM
Tracey Hanna faced a series of unexpected goodbyes after her partner, Alan, was suddenly stricken with encephalitis in mid-December.
FORESTDALE ? Tracey Hanna faced a series of unexpected goodbyes after her partner, Alan, was suddenly stricken with encephalitis in mid-December.
There was the last time Alan smiled for her, and the ambulance ride from Cape Cod Hospital to Brigham and Women?s Hospital in Boston on Christmas Eve, when he was unconscious.
There was the time Brigham and Women?s physicians explained that the fit 63-year-old father of three had lost critical brain cells.
Finally, on Jan. 6, the family gathered around as Alan, who worked at a Cape public works department, was removed from the ventilator that had kept him breathing while physicians took test after test trying to discern the cause of his rapid decline.
?It only took about 15 minutes for him to pass, which was a blessing, and let us know it was the right decision,? Hanna, 53, said. ?It?s not something I ever imagined going through.?
It wasn?t until two months later, however, that Hanna learned the cause of Alan?s death was something she had never heard of ? Powassan virus, a tick-borne disease that officially has killed only about 10 people in the U.S., including at least two on Cape Cod, according to a Barnstable County official...
By Cynthia McCormick
Posted Jul 3, 2017 at 2:00 AM Updated Jul 3, 2017 at 6:32 AM
Tracey Hanna faced a series of unexpected goodbyes after her partner, Alan, was suddenly stricken with encephalitis in mid-December.
FORESTDALE ? Tracey Hanna faced a series of unexpected goodbyes after her partner, Alan, was suddenly stricken with encephalitis in mid-December.
There was the last time Alan smiled for her, and the ambulance ride from Cape Cod Hospital to Brigham and Women?s Hospital in Boston on Christmas Eve, when he was unconscious.
There was the time Brigham and Women?s physicians explained that the fit 63-year-old father of three had lost critical brain cells.
Finally, on Jan. 6, the family gathered around as Alan, who worked at a Cape public works department, was removed from the ventilator that had kept him breathing while physicians took test after test trying to discern the cause of his rapid decline.
?It only took about 15 minutes for him to pass, which was a blessing, and let us know it was the right decision,? Hanna, 53, said. ?It?s not something I ever imagined going through.?
It wasn?t until two months later, however, that Hanna learned the cause of Alan?s death was something she had never heard of ? Powassan virus, a tick-borne disease that officially has killed only about 10 people in the U.S., including at least two on Cape Cod, according to a Barnstable County official...