Recovering swiftly, i have a few questions

Hello Survivor17 and welcome to the forum!

It’s great to have you here, I’ve been following your story from your father’s posts. Congratulations for your fast recovery.
I had GBS/Miller Fisher in May 08 and I’ve been thinking of having a tatoo done on the anniversary day, so I’m also interested to know if it’s ok. I live in England, I will ask this question on the British GBS site and get back to you if I get any info.

Keep fighting

Hi Survivor!!

Welcome to the family……….yes, we have all heard your story through your loving parents…..Congrats on your recovery!!!

I don’t have answers to your questions, but I am sure someone will come along with all the answers you need. And, NO, those are NOT odd questions. They are very legitimate ones 🙂 You should be thinking ahead 😉
Hope to see more posts from you.

Per

Hi,
I guess a tatto could be a risk for anyone if it is not done at a reputable place regarding dirty needles and hepatitis or infection of another kind. I suppose if you are now extremeley sensitive to pain in certain areas, that might be a consideration as well. When people say you should not get shots, they mean live virus’s, such as menactra for spinal meinigitis when you go to college, or guardasil, for cervical cancer, or the flu shot, or pneumonia. There are some other immunizations you may be due for noticing your age. Those are what should be considered. About having children, I can only offer you aadvice from those who have shared their experiences on the site. My son is 12 with cidp, so I am not qualified to give a real life experience answer other than the basic medical issues. There is a liason on the site named Ali, check out her name on the members list. She had gbs around your age and has gone on to have two children. In closing, the thing to worry about shots is anything that is a live virus. In the end it is your personal choice, because at the symposium, there were doctors on the panel that suggested “shots” were ok unless that is how you got the gbs. Personally, I am not going to give my son or my healthy son any shots. Lucky them we will have to get them a condo for college as they cannot go in the dorm without the menactra shot for meningitis. See, there are some perks!!!! Good luck in your recovery and keep posting. I know at the symposium there were others your age that were going to start something on facebook for peers to communicate amongst themselves, check it out!
Dawn Kevies mom
PS there is a girl named Jessica Louise that is your age, try her on the members list too. Try her email, I have not seen her on the site lateley,

Hi Survivor 17,

I’ve asked the people on the UK forum about tatoos, they just said to be careful and go to a shop that uses clean needles so that to avoid infection. Some of them said that maybe it’s better to wait a couple of years because in a few years time you may not want the tatoo anymore, I think they assume the design is about GBS…. I was thinking of getting something simple like a tiger’s head, what design are you gonna choose? In my case, my GBS experience was so major that I will never forget it and I like the idea of having a tatoo to commemorate it, maybe just to remind myself that I got through it, hence the tiger, a very powerful animal.

Hello survivor17,

I’ve been following this thread for a while and I’ve just got to put in my 2 cents worth with no ill intent.

With all the needles I had to deal with when I had my bout with GBS I’ve got to admit that the last thing I would want to do is have anymore needles stuck into my body. After over 20 years I am still reminded every day that I had GBS. Guess I should change my handle to “Chickenbear”! To each his own….:D

CB

Hi Survivor17

I really like your idea for the tatoo, and I agree that the butterfly is a great symbol for the journey.

all the best

I too am in England (Cambridgeshire). For the record, I’m 18 months into recovery of GBS and I just had a few small (self-made) tattoos removed using red-laser burning technique. I told them about my GBS and they said it was fine. This laser removal treatment breaks down the ink, which in turn enables the body’s system to break it down and absorb it.

mdm, what is the url for the UK forum?

I don’t see why not! But make sure you go to a clean place that uses all new needles on their customers. Just make sure you always tell medical professionalls too what you want done so they can give you the best advice. They would be best to answer these questions since they know your case history and help you in the right path. Good luck and I think that tatoo is going to look nice! Hugs
LindaH

I had GBS in march 2008 when I was seventeen turning 18 and I think about the same questions. Here is my ideas, pay mind that I am no doctor, and you should ask them before you so anything. As for the tattoo, since it is only going into the first four layers of sking(if done properly) there shouldn’t be a problem. If it goes into your blood stream then problems could arise, but the likely hood of having a reoccurance is about 5 percent. The epideral i don’t really know. Here is a like to a website for doctors that talks all about that stuff.

[url]http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/792008-overview[/url]

BTW it says on that website there is a lower risk of getting GBS during pregnancy but a high the first few months after childbirth.