CIDP story in Guideposts Magazine

My daughter was 15 when she was diagnosed with Guillain Barre and later CIDP. She was wheelchair bound but through prayer, IVIG and physical therapy she was beginning to walk within 6 months. She is now almost 19 and recently wrote an essay about her battle with CIDP. She won 2nd place in Guidepost Magazine’s young writers contest and a nice scholarship for college from among 10,000 entries. Her story was published in the July 2006 issue. She has had over 14 ivig treatments over the years but has not received any treatment in 1 1/2 years. She is in remission and is able to lead a normal life. The only thing she had to eventually give up was competitive golf and playing college golf because of the heat in the south where we live. She still played high school golf after her CIDP but used a motorized cart and was named Golfer of the Year in our area for 2 years. She is now a freshman in college and is majoring in Musical Theatre – complete with dancing and singing.
I want to encourage you all to presevere through this horrible disease! There are those who recover enough to lead full productive lives – there is hope. Our family is looking back on the blessings of God and His faithfulness to our daughter and we remember the fear and anxiety we have experienced through the 4 years. If any of you would like to read her story it is entitled “Drop Your Cane and Run” and can be ordered through Guideposts 1-800-431-2344. I tried to post this back in July but could never get signed on. My daughter said one of the reasons she was so happy that her story was selected was to spread the news about CIDP and make people aware of the symptoms so they could get earlier treatment.:)