TOWIE star Jordan Brook has issued a health update following his recent battle with viral meningitis and encephalitis.
The TV personality, 31, took to Instagram on Monday to inform his fans that a ‘miracle’ has happened amid his recovery as he counts down to the arrival of his first child with girlfriend Sophie Kasaei, 36.
Jordan was discharged from hospital after 22 days last month after being left unable to walk and with scar tissue on his brain following the ‘worst possible’ bout of meningitis.
And in a cheerful video, set to the tune of The Beatles‘ 1969 classic Here Comes The Sun, Jordan delightfully informed his followers that his liver count was now back to a normal level after he came worrying close to having liver failure.
Strolling along the beach, he told the camera: ‘Miracle number one has happened – the results are in. After two months of not being very well, my liver count going all the way up to 800 nearly in liver failure territory, my liver results are in!
‘I got this amazing message from doctors yesterday and I have a normal liver again! My liver count LFTs are down to the normal rate – get in there! That is miracle number one.’
TOWIE star Jordan Brook has issued a health update following his recent battle with viral meningitis and encephalitis
He continued: ‘Miracle number two is now waiting for the MRI to say that my brain is fully healed. I have an MRI in a few weeks hopefully that is going to tell us that finally hopefully everything is healed on this brain. I really really want my brain to be healed fully and I want to be fully discharged from hospital before my baby boy gets here.
‘That is the goal. It’s an achievable goal. I hope I’m doing everything I can possible to make that happen. Trying to stay positive for that. This little step in the right direction really really has made it all feel better, it’s unreal.
‘Just a little bit of positive news you know gives you that oomph to get to the next step. Onwards and upwards, this recovery is getting better and better. We stay positive, come on!’
Jordan was then joined by girlfriend Sophie in the clip, with the Geordie Shore favourite telling the camera: ‘Hearing that news was just, oh the relief! I know for you you get a relief but I just think for me, a relief also and it’s just we know you’re getting better.
After ticking off his achievements so far, Sophie then added: ‘It’s going to be alright. We are praying and then miracle number three – the baby!’
Captioning his triumphant post, Jordan penned: ‘I got a text! – One that’s always anxiously awaited! Finally, one part of my body that was majorly affected during my illness has returned to normal!
‘I really feel I’m slowly getting there and back to being JB! Now we continue to march on and get this brain back fully healed, and hopefully reach my goal of full discharge before my special delivery. Thank you for all your continued support! Never Give Up.’
His post was met with a plethora of supportive messages from his pals and fans, with many sharing their joy at the good news.
Just weeks ago, Jordan opened up about his recent battle with meningitis during an appearance on Good Morning Britain.
‘Meningitis is inflammation of the membranes that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord,’ according to Meningitis Now, while ‘encephalitis is an uncommon but serious condition in which the brain becomes inflamed,’ the NHS states.
The TV star, 31, took to Instagram on Monday to inform his fans that a ‘miracle’ has happened amid his recovery as he counts down to the arrival of his first child with Sophie Kasaei , 36
Jordan delightfully informed his followers that his liver count was now back to a normal level after he came worrying close to having liver failure
Jordan was discharged from hospital after 22 days last month after being left unable to walk and with scar tissue on his brain following the ‘worst possible’ bout of meningitis
Speaking to hosts Ranvir Singh, 48, and Kate Garraway, 59, Jordan recalled: ‘On the 3rd of March, life was great. We’re expecting our baby, and then by the 6th March I was struck with what I thought was the usual illness for myself, which was extreme fever, extreme headache.
‘That’s how I normally get ill, I don’t really get colds and flus.
‘I get a bit of a fever, it lasts a couple of days and I go back to work. We had the usual “Jordan’s got man flu” to all of the friends.
‘A couple of days after this, it got really bad, me and Sophie rang 111, the only way to describe it to people is I felt like I had a hot cork screw out of a fire and was screwing it into my temple. I was in agony.
‘To the point of where it was making me sick.
‘I was projectile vomiting all over the house, I did it in the bed. It was bright yellow, because I wasn’t eating, because I had a fever…’
Jordan, who first appeared on TOWIE in 2017 and rejoined the cast in 2022, was visited by paramedics who told him it was a migraine and that he ‘would be fine’.
However, later another ambulance arrived at their home and he was rushed to hospital.
After a CT scan and blood tests, everything came back clear, so he was sent home and told he was suffering from a migraine.
Jordan told the presenters: ‘I’ve never trusted the saying, “trust your gut” more. I knew something was wrong.
‘So Sophie booked me a GP appointment, walked into the GP with my dad, he had to take me because I was in so much pain and the GP said “You don’t need to be here, you need to be in hospital right now.”‘
He explained that his scans were clear because the infection had not developed enough, and he also didn’t have the typical symptoms of meningitis – a rash, and he could also touch his chest with his chin.
Jordan’s dad drove him to the hospital had a lumbar puncture and CT scan done.
‘This is when we realised something was wrong,’ Jordan confessed.
The dad-to-be explained that the ‘real turning point was’ when he had the lumbar puncture, which he told the hosts had to be ‘curated for X amount of days’.
‘A lumbar puncture involves a needle being inserted into your lower back, between the bones in your spine,’ according to the NHS.
He continued: ‘Sophie was then told “You can’t come to the hospital because we don’t know what it is”.
‘If it was the bacterial meningitis, it would have been detrimental to the baby, to Sophie, so for four days, unfortunately the doctors had to tell us every worst case scenario, this makes me so emotional, this is when I was sat in room, with my dad, Soph, my mum, and the doctors said we cant rule out brain cancer.
‘Now because they have to tell you every worse case.
‘They said “This is what we think it could be”, “We can’t rule out this”, and brain cancer was one of them, and to hear that, for my family to hear that, for Soph to hear that, it makes me…’
Despite being told it wasn’t cancer, Jordan didn’t understand how serious the illness was.
Jordan explained: ‘I was uneducated at the time, compared to now, on what meningitis and encephalitis are.
‘Like you said, I thought that was worst case scenario [brain cancer], then I read what I had and severity, actually look up on that…
‘One of them affects the inside of brain, one affects the outside, I had them both at the same time living at the top of my spinal cord.
‘So my brain swelled at such a rate, I could see on my doctor’s faces, they so wanted to help me. They were so frustrated, and so like “This is bad”.
Sophie pointed out: ‘They said that he will be scarred.’
‘At the minute, I’ve got scar tissue in my brain, I’ve got a really bad right leg at the minute, I’m not in pain, but I can’t walk properly.
‘So the rehab is a long way. Obviously it’s lovely to be home, I’ve got 8 weeks till our baby boy comes. I want to be a fit dad!’
After spending 22 days in hospital, Jordan – who alongside Sophie announced they were having a baby boy during an extravagant gender party back in January -was finally discharged in April to reunite with his pregnant girlfriend in time for Easter.
WHAT IS MENINGITIS?
Meningitis is inflammation of the membranes that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord.
Anyone can be affected but at-risk people include those aged under five, 15-to-24 and over 45.
People exposed to passive smoking or with suppressed immune systems, such as patients undergoing chemotherapy, are also more at risk.
The most common forms of meningitis are bacterial and viral.
Symptoms for both include:
- Pale, blotchy skin with a rash that does not fade when compressed with a glass
- Stiff neck
- Dislike of bright lights
- Fever, and cold hands and feet
- Vomiting
- Drowsiness
- Severe headache
Headache is one of the main symptoms
Bacterial meningitis
Bacterial meningitis requires urgent treatment at hospital with antibiotics.
Some 10 per cent of bacterial cases are fatal.
Of those who survive, one in three suffer complications, including brain damage and hearing loss.
Limb amputation is a potential side effect if septicaemia (blood poisoning) occurs.
Vaccines are available against certain strains of bacteria that cause meningitis, such as tuberculosis.
Viral meningitis
Viral is rarely life-threatening but can cause long-lasting effects, such as headaches, fatigue and memory problems.
Thousands of people suffer from viral meningitis every year in the UK.
Treatment focuses on hydration, painkillers and rest.
Although ineffective, antibiotics may be given when patients arrive at hospital just in case they are suffering from the bacterial form of the disease.
Source: Meningitis Now
