Sharing my story.

Greetings-

Hopefully some can relate to my story, and perhaps even provide some hope for others. My Guillain-Barre story began in May of this year (2013). I am a 40 year old male. I was experiencing numbness in both big toes, and knew something wasn’t right when at one point my legs felt slightly rubbery when I tried to jog across a street. I thought this could be a hamstring sports injury, or even sciatica. I went to an urgent care clinic where doc treated it as such and gave me 10-day taper packs of steroids, muscle relaxers, and a pain medication. After only 1 day I felt no improvement; in fact, even felt more numbness and weaker. I went back to urgent care clinic the following day, I actually tripped over the curb on my way in because I hadn’t lifted my foot high enough, which it is highly unusual for me to fall. The staff person had to bring a wheelchair out to transport me into the office. During this second visit the doctor did not like what she was hearing in terms of what I felt, did not like that I had fallen and she soon informed me that I would be on my way to ER. By this time, nerves, anxiety, and of course GBS had rendered me barely able to walk. When in ER, the emergency room doctor requested a urine sample. I quickly replied that the last time I had tried to walk, I had fallen. He requested assistance for me to walk to the restroom and I could barely walk, stumbling over my own feet. The ER doctor witnessed my trouble walking (which I think was a blessing) and suggested I may have had a stroke. He ordered the CAT scan which came back negative, but I think this is what got me assigned a neurologist, thankfully. Once admitted into the hospital, I had a series of MRIs which showed two herniated discs. This lead to a day of IV steroids and muscle relaxers, etc. Each day I was only getting weaker. Finally the neurologist ordered the lumbar puncture and made the diagnosis of Guillain Barre. He started me on five days of IVIG the following day. By this time I was showing some strength improvements during the manual muscle testing. After 9 days in the hospital I was released to in-patient physical therapy. I made dramatic strength and balance/coordination improvements there during my 7 day stay; I was admitted in a wheelchair and was discharged on a cane. I then had 4 weeks of out-patient physical therapy and was walking on a zero-gravity treadmill after 2 visits. I was soon walking unassisted; granted not with complete confidence, coordination and balance…but walking unassisted. Since September, I am able to run and play sports once again. I do still have residual numbness in my fingertips, which was the extent of my numbness in my hands/arms. I also still have some residual numbness in my toes and the tops of my feet, which the numbness had progressed to mid quads. On a rare occasion I will feel a little uncoordinated, but I feel blessed and fortunate to be close to 100% five months after my onset. At the same time, I pray that I don’t have a relapse. Hopefully my experience will provide a positive outlook for someone that may need it. Thank you for reading, ask me any questions you might have.