Hubby of GBS patient – New to Forums

First of all, welcome to the forum. Second, make sure you sign in on the main forum international page. They will help you with a lot of questions. We are all here to help and encourage. We will keep you both in our prayers. I just want to say that even the littlest event is just a baby step along the way to recovery. We know there is always hope, and also know that each of responds in their own way and their own time. Just provide her the love and support she so readily deserves.

Hey Bubb Hub

Welcome and sorry to be welcoming you.

I often think about what my wife has gone through in order to keep our house from falling apart. I am grateful that she has the reserve energy to keep it together.

Sounds like things are difficult. Can your parents watch your boy for you at all? That will give you both some quiet time that is much needed. Take help from anybody who offers. We have appreciated the food that people have dropped off.

I’m not sure that anybody here can tell you when she will walk, but there is no reason to think that she wont. It will take time and you will have to be satisfied with small steps. Measure each one on a small scale and celebrate when she shows improvement.

I wish you the best

So sorry your wife has GBS. Sounds like you need help. Take any help you can get, and don’t be afraid to ask family members or friends. You need to take care of yourself during this journey of your wife getting better.
No one can tell you when she will be able to walk again or stand on her own. You can read GBS forum postings of others that have gotten GBS and the majority of them have walked again.
Is she getting any physical therapy or more treatments?
With physical therapy, further needed treatments and plenty of rest she should make continued improvement.
I also had no control of the bowel and bladder. With the help of stool softeners and medication for the bladder, control did come back.
Don’t know of any medication that helps with regeneration of the myelin.
Good luck to you with continued improvement for your wife.
Ask all the questions you want and please keep us updated as your wife progresses

Shirley

If I read your post right, your wife started this 5/22/10 and you brought her home in June 2010. I was rapidly discharged after treatment for GBS and left the hospoital after three weeks. BUT, I went to rehab, not home. I think your wife belongs in rehab. Has anyone said that to you? She needs professional setting care.

[QUOTE=Hedley LaMarr]If I read your post right, your wife started this 5/22/10 and you brought her home in June 2010. I was rapidly discharged after treatment for GBS and left the hospoital after three weeks. BUT, I went to rehab, not home. I think your wife belongs in rehab. Has anyone said that to you? She needs professional setting care.[/QUOTE]

Agreed, a good rigorous physio program will be important to her returning to normal. When she’s ready and under proper care or intense supervision the pool is a wonderful place to start recovery.

Sorry to hear the news about you wife, but she will get better.
It seem that you need to question your doctors about more treatments and also the proper rehab exercises. Don’t wait for things to return on their own without medical help of some sort. More damage can be done here.
We welcome you with open arms and please keep responding with as many questions as you can think of. There are so many here who can help with good knowledge and experience.
Get back to your neuro as soon as possible..

Hi Harry

I wish GBS was a mental thing, I would have thought it away by now.

Your wife will be ready for the pool anytime she is ready. She will likely need help and may need a life-jacket if her legs are too weak. The water feels nice and the workout is effective.

GBS recovery is tricky, a balancing act between physio and rest. Too little or too much of either is not ideal. She might enjoy and benefit from some massage therapy, hottub

I’m sorry about the family probs, I hope you can make up. Take all the support offered by friends.

Be patient as well. Us GBS’ers can be a cantankerous bunch. We dont mean it, we just hurt a lot.

Above all else, the power of distraction and anything that eases pain is paramount.

Best

I just wanted to support what other people have said and to say that I did hydrotherapy in the pool too. I went to a small therapy pool in a hospital that was set up with a swivel chair that could take someone from a wheel chair into the water. At that time, I was standing on my own (barely), but not walking on my own. The great thing about the water is that it helps support you and takes away the fear of falling, so it is a nice way to begin to stand and walk again. I heard from my physio that for some people it was the only way to get them walking again. If your wife does have the shivers or shakes, this could be just the answer. If you don’t have such a facility, the logistics of this in a normal pool is more challenging and would require help by others to get in and out.

Good luck!

Hello Harry

I am dealing with the same issue for my boys. They have been recommended for menactra shots, but Lisa and I are not having it done. What is the likelihood of a meningitis outbreak anyway?

Hello Harry,

I’m glad to read that your wife is progressing. Being able to walk and take a few steps up stairs is huge! May this be the beginning of the end of her GBS. I wish her continued success……..remember to be patient, this will take time, and savor each small victory.

As regards your guery about getting a vaccination………..this is one of those times that you could use the wisdom of Soloman. I never received a flu vaccine, and contacted GBS by another avenue. My personal viewpoint would be to err on the side of caution, in other words, don’t get the vaccine. But I am not an expert……I know you must be going through a lot of mental and emotional feelings as you care for both your wife and son. I think you need to evaluate the pros and cons and make that best decision for you and your family. (The one that will allow you to sleep at night). There are many here to support you, please continue to take advantage of this website. Good Luck!

I know just where you an your wife are at only the roles were reversed I had GBS.
When I was released from the hospital I went to a nursing home, which was at frist very good because I had lot’s an lot’s of PT an OT.
I escaped from there after 2 months I was barley walking with a walker an I couldn’t use my arms well enough to eat. My wife had to feed me. She called me her little bird.
Be patience with her time is everything
I’m so much better now, an it’s been just over 2 years an I,m still inproving