Lisa Whelchel, former “Facts Of Life” star and “Survivor” competitor, announced on Twitter earlier this week that she was recently diagnosed with West Nile Virus.
Whelchel had been suffering from fatigue for a while and went to have a blood test, and says she was surprised when the results came back positive for West Nile. The virus, which is commonly spread through mosquitos, is makes it extremely difficult to recover from and can take up to a year to completely leave the body. It’s unclear just yet whether she contracted the disease while in the Philippines for “Survivor”, but chances are good that’s where it happened.
Whelchel promised her fans she expects to make a full recovery and is under a doctor’s care, saying she just feels tired.
“I didn’t have one moment where I regretted being out there. In fact, the contrary. I was having an adventure; I was doing something that was a challenge, that was very hard,” she said.
Dr. just called with blood test results…I have West Nile. Ugh. I’m fine, just tired. Takes a year to recover. 🙁
I’ve been very touched by all the sweet tweets. Other than tired, I’m feeling fine & expecting a full recovery. So grateful for you. Thanks!