Just an FYI on the positive side of things. I was talking to our IT guy at work about my Uncle Pete and he told me that a very similar circumstance had occurred with his brother-law last year. Same initial diagnosis which turned out to be false. His brother in-law was in a coma for over a month and just woke up one day with the docs completely at a loss for cause but with the basic assumption that it was some bizarre parasite. His brother in law recovered fully but was somewhat pissed at having missed a months worth of ale.