Help with an analogy
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February 2, 2008 at 5:40 am
Well for sometime I’ve been trying to come up with a way to explain what is going on in a way that people can understand, and also so that I can understand better what’s going on.
Here is what I came up with and I’m looking for input on what makes sense and how to improve my analogy…
If my body is a country, the military would be the immune system. At some point one division of the military got confused about their target and started attacking my body’s communication lines, stripping them and distrupting communication in the country/my body. I think in GBS maybe they only got confused once but did a lot of damage, and in CIDP they are continually confused and in rebellion, attempting to sabotage normal communications, perhaps more subtly than in GBS. So, then you here comes the IVIg – are they like the United Nations? Foreign military who come in and quell the rebellion by various means (read that: we don’t know how IVIg works), do they provide temporary military assistance so that my confused division can take a break from the front lines and try to get back to normal?
Anyway, I’ve been mulling this over for awhile, I think it helps me put things in perspective and understand what is going on, not to mention it makes it easier to describe to people what is going on.
Let me know your thoughts on this…
Julie
P.S. Yea! Another round of IVIg starts today! I’m calling it my IV-I-go-go-go juice. 😉
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February 2, 2008 at 1:17 pm
This is how I explain it:
“For whatever reason the cells that attack germs decided to start attacking Emily’s nerves instead. The nerves are like an extension cord. The myelin is the plastic covering & the wires on the inside are the actual nerves. So far, Emily has only had her myelin attacked with minimal nerve damage.
IVIG goes in & sniffs out the bad cells. When that happens the cells start attacking the IVIG, thus leaving Emily’s extension cords alone so they can heal.”
Most people get it when I explain it that way.
I like your war analogy. It’s funny how we view this disease process in order to get through it. When Emily was in the hospital I made up a whole story about CIDP and IVIG to help her understand what was going on & why she needed medicine. Basically, CIDP was called “The icky’s” and the IVIG would go in through the IV line & hunt down “The icky’s” then gobble them up so Emily would feel better.
I hope the IV go-go-go juice infusion goes well!
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February 3, 2008 at 8:34 am
[FONT=”Comic Sans MS”][SIZE=”2″]Julie
Love your analogy, does that make plasmapherisiis the CIA?:p
Now drink all your go go juice like a good girl
Best wishes
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