Loss of memory

My wife became ill with rapidset GBS while on a trip to England in early July, 2006. She was never on a respirator although did experience some difficulty with breathing and was therefore placed in CCU. She, too, suffered from severe memory loss and confusion. I, her husband and caregiver, had to repeat information many times during the course of a conversation and had to keep discussions at a simple level, since her mental process were not then on a high level, though she is a university English professor. These problems with mental acuity persisted for at least five months, during which she improved as time passed. She has now recovered full mental acuity, although occasionally she has difficulty with even simple words that for some reason she cannot at the moment recall. From my readings about GBS, I am inclined to think that her problem developed from slight oxygen deprivation to the brain during the time she was in CCU. Dr. David Parry, a very well acknowdedged expert on GBS from the University of Minnesota, discusses the problem with loss of mental acuity in his book on GBS that was published in the last few years and can be ordered from Amazon.com. I recommend that you get a copy of that book ASAP. By the way, Dr. Parry will most likely be at the big GBS conference that will be taking place in the suburbs of Chicago this fall. You would very likely profit from attending that conference if possible. Check for more information about the conference at other places on this GBS website.

—Don