Wishing all a wonderful Holiday Season!

Happy holidays to you. It is great that you are feeling stronger and better. It is great when people look forward in life.

This thread has made me think of two things. First, the forum and how we are family to each other–to support and, when possible, to share experiences that have helped each individual. I am glad that you are staying, for you do help people to think and to think in a different manner.

The second is about collateral damage. The virus starts the reaction in pericarditis, but it is the body’s over exuberant inflammatory response that causes the damage. This is the same with GBS and CIDP. Something initiated the reaction, but it is the autoimmume process that causes the damage. Some people say that we are predisposed to autoimmune or inflammatory diseases because those that get GBS/CIDP have a very reactive immune system. At the GBS/CIDP symposium, they were talking about potential treatments to help turn down the immune system (such as a drug that acts on complement–an essential part of response to infection but also non-specific. It acts like a battery of bombs directed toward the target non-specifically and so there is a lot of collateral damage on surrounding “normal” structures. The problem in GBS and pericarditis is that some immune response is required to stop the virus and no one knows what is the proper time or amount of regulation required. But, despite its challenges, I think we will.

WithHope for a better way to deal with these problems so we all can move forward in life.

The new grandson has a name: Sawyer Beckett
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