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Eilish Rose Jukes was a healthy 3 1/2 year old. She contracted chicken pox mid April 2005 and recovered unremarkably, although her attention span and behaviour were out of character afterward.
On 1 June 2005, Eilish was watching her father shave when she fell to the left. He sat her up and when he asked her to wipe the shaving cream off her hands, he noticed she took the towel in one hand and only wiped that hand, completely forgetting the other hand. She stood with a lopsided mouth and her arm hung by her side. She couldn't walk or talk, the words sounded like nonsense. We called an ambulance. About 4 minutes later she began to talk and walk again, and by the time the ambulance arrived she was back to normal. The ambulance transferred her to the local hospital and our GP examined her and found no residual symptoms, weakness or paralysis.
Eilish was transferred to the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) in Melbourne and, although she had no neurological symptoms or signs on arrival, she experienced another similar episode 5 hours later, which again resolved completely. Chicken pox was identified as a possible but unlikely cause - varicella vasculitis is very rare.
A number of tests were taken: MRI, EEG, ECG, echocardiography...