In regards to being in the coma after coming down with the GBS, it was a medical induced coma. They put me into the coma so they could insert the trache, and although I couldn’t move much at the time, they did it partly as pain medication. The way it was told to me , they gave me 5 IVIG’s and brought me partially out of the coma, which probably caused the nightmares,so when I showed no progress, they put me back into the coma for the twenty one day wait before starting the plasmapheresis.

I went thru the drug induced coma this time of year back in 2006. I still rehash what sort of went thru my mind then, and try to get it recorded straight in my mind. I would dream that I would be in the basement of the hospital, standing on these bags of cold blood, which now, I conclude that it was when they were giving me the plasma phersis treatment, it would make me cold, hence the cool basement, however not being able to even bat an eyelash, my brain had to process it. They had stuck pictures of my grandkids over my bed, so when I was in the ” basement ” I would see the pictures, so I figured they had the pictures all over the hospital. I dreamed of being wrapped around a round woodstove, then they built a fire in it, which after I started to come out of the coma, was told that I ran some high temps. I also had a strange location for the hospital I was in , completely underground and in a town that doesn’t have a hospital. My coma was about 8 weeks also. They tried the medicine treatment first and when that didn’t work, they had to keep me under for twenty one days until they were allowed to drag out the blood washing machine.
I’m still working on the dreams about South America taking over the US, and Clinton being shot and killed, although at that time it was the former President Bill, but now with his wife Hillary as secretary of state, it’s still unsettled.

In my case, I was unable to walk within 24 hours from onset. The ivig didn’t work for me either, so they had to do the 21 day wait to start the plasma phersis, course, during the wait, I was in a drug induced coma, completly paralized, and on a respirator, so the only thing I remember was the worst dreams of my life. It was from March 18 to the middle of may when my brain could finally add 2 plus 2. Now, 4 1/2 years later, the only problems still left are a messed up nerve system in the feet, both sense of touch and muscle control,incomplete sense of balance, ( due to the feet not talking to my brain ),
and flashbacks from the dreams.
Keep saying gbs is mostly cureable. I think the biggest problem is getting them to diagnose it as gbs, as it took them 3 days to figure out what I had, due to the fact that only 1 in 100,000 people get it.Hang in ther and keep cool.

I remember my speech therapist tried her best to get me to talk with the trache, but to no avail, as I would get so short of breath, that she would remove what ever apparatus it was that she inserted into the tubing, when I started crying. Eventually, they found out that one of the trache pieces was the wrong size, like too small, but by the time that it was discovered, I was far enough along that the trache was removed. I don’t know which was the greatest feeling, being able to breath on my own again or being able to speak again.

With me, I think the thoughts of not being able to breath will be with me till I die. There were lots of times that I thought I wasn’t getting enough oxygen when on the ventilator. There were a couple of times that I would hold my breath which would set off the alarm on the ventilator machine so that I would get help from a tech, like being turned, etc. I remember being completely parralized. so that by not being able to speak, or move any part of the body to activate the call button, that you try to come up with anything to get someones attention. I too was having a bout of pneumonia prior to getting GBS, however I wasn’t aware of it, and once the fluids were pumped out of one lung, it helped a lot. They wondered why I was using 80% oxygen & found the fluid in the lungs. I also had trouble getting in sync with the machine.

It was about 6 months from onset that I was able to walk unaided without a wheelchair, walker, or cane. On of my biggest moments was when the physical therapist came in one day, when I had movement only in my upper extremities, helped me sit up on the side of the bed, and was able to lift me up in a standing position, then have me lock both my knees, or at least try to lock them. He said it was a test to see how much the muscles were coming back.The hardest part was sitting back down and trying not to fall over backwards on the bed.
Another experience is the sling lift, which they slide this rope sling under you, then get this portable hoisting machine which lifts you out of bed and sets you in a chair, to get you in an upright position to aide you in recovery. Also, it enabled you to get a bath in the shower room instead of a sponge bath in bed.
Hopefully, your brother will get in-hospital therapy, rather than being sent home or put into a temp nursing home, as the therapy is more intense and recovery is faster.

When I was coming back to life in the hospital, I vaguely remember stomach pains, but I just figured that it was muscles getting reprogrammed with the nerves, like it was doing with other parts of my body. I now get cramps in places that I never realized that I have muscles. Now if I get any aches or pains, I grin and bear it for a week and they go away, then I chalk it up to either GBS, or getting older.