Francesca Jarvis

West Nile devastates actress
Now recovering, she seeks to start a support group



By Carla McClain ARIZONA DAILY STAR Published: 11.26.2006

You have likely seen her many times over the years, in major motion pictures and popular TV shows. She played everything from a prostitute in "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean" to a spunky nun in the classic "Lilies of the Field," filmed here during the heyday of Tucson movie-making.
But today, the tall, charismatic actress, Francesca Jarvis, now 73, is battling the brain-affecting ravages of West Nile virus, the mosquito-borne scourge that struck her and 46 other Tucsonans in this record year of assault from the dangerous new infection.
It's been a harrowing three months since Jarvis slapped a mosquito on her arm, recoiling from the blood the bug took from her in that life-changing instant.
Within days, Jarvis was stricken by fever, paralysis in her arms, intense headaches and a stiff neck while she raved in and out of coherence — the classic symptoms of severe West Nile virus. That sent her on a miserable journey through emergency rooms, misdiagnoses and a long hospitalization.
Though she survived, the illness took a heavy toll, leaving her with memory loss, chronic weakness and fatigue, tremors, and even a struggle for words that sometimes fail her once-lively mind.
"Losing my short-term memory is the worst for me — it's awful," said Jarvis, whose memory was vital to her acting career. That career spanned nearly 40 years and included roles in movies such as "Junior Bonner," "Rage" and "White Line Fever," hit TV series such as "Gunsmoke," "Little House on the Prairie" and "Young Riders," as well as several Disney and Public Broadcasting productions.
"If I am reading a book, I have to go back and reread a lot of it when I pick it up again," Jarvis said. "I can't remember things I was told only two hours ago. And I lose words, even the simplest words, when I'm talking — it gets to be a guessing game."
And there is depression now, bouts of it that leave Jarvis wanting only seclusion, uncharacteristically shunning social activities she always enjoyed.
"All of this is so different from the way I was before. And I don't know if I will ever fully recover, but I am bound and determined to try," she said.
Facing an uncertain future in the wake of this devastating infection, Jarvis wants to connect with anyone else in Tucson or Arizona who has suffered the bad effects of West Nile, to find out how they're coping with this still-mysterious and unpredictable virus.
"Is there something people are doing to recover from this that would help us all? Are treatments for it being tested? What are the results? I think we could really help each other," she said.
Likely due to heavy monsoon rains, Pima County this year battled its worst West Nile outbreak — with 47 confirmed cases and three deaths — since the virus entered the state in 2003.
Nearly half of Arizona's total 143 victims suffered the most severe, neuroinvasive form of the disease, which damages the brain with encephalitis — inflammation of the brain — or meningitis — inflammation of the membrane around the brain.
Typically, less than 1 percent of known West Nile victims develop neuroinvasive disease. Most people suffer no symptoms at all and never know they have West Nile, while about 20 percent get the flulike form known as West Nile fever.
West Nile gave Jarvis a double-whammy on her brain, inflicting both encephalitis and meningitis, her doctors say.
"What's interesting with her is that when she left here, she was still having problems with speech, numbers and walking. But she has totally regained her ability to do math, anything with numbers," said Dr. Eskild Petersen, infectious disease specialist at University Medical Center, who was called in on Jarvis' case once West Nile was finally suspected.
"It's fascinating, because she comes from a musical family, and musical ability seems to correlate with the recovery of math abilities. But her ongoing difficulty finding words may indicate what part of the brain this virus affected. That can differ with each individual."
Scientists still don't know what percent of West Nile victims will end up with permanent disabilities. But it does appear that in severe, neuroinvasive cases, up to 40 percent recover fully after about a year, Petersen said.
"With Francesca, we still don't know. She has regained a lot already, but whether she will get back to base line, to where she was before the virus, I don't know," he said. "Her healing process is not finished."
Like so many fellow West Nile sufferers, Jarvis endured weeks of tests and treatment while doctors were fishing in the dark about what was wrong with her.
Twice she was sent home from emergency rooms, even though potentially lethal meningitis and encephalitis were worsening, forcing her to return after she vomited blood, fell several times and grew increasingly disoriented. During one of her visits, she waited six hours, virtually untended, as symptoms intensified.
After Jarvis was hospitalized, at UMC, she was pumped full of antibiotics and antivirals that had no effect on the West Nile virus. Doctors along the way had suspected migraines, stroke, spinal problems and brain inflammation from other causes, but never West Nile.
In late August, when Jarvis first became ill, the season's first West Nile case had not been reported yet in Pima County. No one knew it would hit so hard during the next two months.
"Even so, if someone has meningitis or encephalitis these days, really, West Nile should come to the front of your thinking," Petersen said.
In fact, Jarvis might never have been tested for the virus if her daughter hadn't suggested it to one of the emergency doctors.
"No one brought up West Nile, until I did — on her third trip to the emergency room," Christina Jarvis said. "There were a lot of mosquitoes around at that time, even in her house. I had been freaked out about it all summer. I just had a feeling this was West Nile."
Doctors at UMC responded to her suggestion, but it took two weeks to get the positive test results back. During that time, Jarvis remained hospitalized at UMC, then was transferred to a convalescent home before she finally was allowed to return home in late September.
Even though doctors didn't have a confirmed diagnosis of West Nile during most of Jarvis' emergency and medical treatment, it probably didn't hurt her chances of recovery. There simply is no effective treatment, much less a cure for West Nile.
"What it does (mean), to know it's West Nile, is to stop giving the patient unnecessary drugs for other types of meningitis, or for other suspected infections," Petersen said, "which is always better for the patient."
As Jarvis struggles on her own now to battle back from the ravages of this thing, she isn't alone in yearning for contact with others in the same plight. All are pioneers of West Nile, a virus still new to this country, and still baffling, even to experts.
After Maricopa County endured its hellacious West Nile epidemic of 355 cases in the summer of 2004, survivors demanded — and got — a support group organized by the county health department and Banner Health in Phoenix.
"These were people with pretty drastic effects — in wheelchairs, having a lot of trouble with balance and memory," said Caryn Staib, emergency preparedness and disaster recovery manager for Banner Health.
"There was a lot of grieving, in that you lose part of your vital, daily function. These survivors were looking for others who had the same problems, and they were so happy to find they weren't in this alone. They instantly bonded.
"It was tremendously beneficial. It helped the healing process."
As Francesca Jarvis put it, "Just to share our angst would be comforting, if nothing else."
West Nile Support Group: ● Anyone who has recovered from West Nile virus illness but continues to suffer disabling aftereffects can join the first Tucson-based West Nile support group by calling Francesca Jarvis at 624-6746.Film career of Tucson actress Francesca Jarvis:
●Jarvis broke into acting in the 1950s in New York City, performing in off-Broadway shows and summer stock in that area. After she married Clinton Jarvis, her husband of more than 50 years, the couple moved to Tucson in 1958.
During the next four decades, she built a thriving career as a character actress in many films, TV movies and series that were filmed here during that period.
Her first major full-length feature film, the classic "Lilies of the Field," was shot in Tucson's Tanque Verde area in 1962. Starring Sidney Poitier — who won the best actor Oscar for his role — the movie featured five German nuns trying to eke out a living in our harsh desert. Jarvis played one of those nuns, Sister Albertine.
Among Jarvis' most recent movies was "Skinwalkers," from the Tony Hillerman novel, filmed in Arizona for the PBS-TV "Mystery" series.
Her roles included:
1. "Skinwalkers" (2002) (TV) — Gloria
2. "My Son Is Innocent" (1996) (TV) — Mrs. Anderson
3. "Terminal" (1996) (TV) — Claire
4. "A Mother's Revenge" (1993) (TV) — Dr. Alston
5. "Living a Lie" (1991) (TV) — Miss Aimes
6. "Young Riders" (TV) — Mrs. Leeds, Helga (two episodes, 1990, 1992)
7 "Two Marriages" (1983) (TV) — ticket agent
8. "Father Murphy" (1982) (TV) — Mrs. Simmons (three episodes)
9. "High Noon, Part II: The Return of Will Kane" (1980) (TV) — Mrs. Garver
10. "To Find My Son" (1980) (TV) — Mrs. Benjamin
11. "Little House on the Prairie" (TV) — Hilda (one episode, 1979)
● Contact reporter Carla McClain at 806-7754 or at cmcclain@azstarnet.com.
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