A Diagnosis And A New Life To Learn

When we got to Methodist they took me straight to the ER. My wife and mother in-law traveled separate from the ambulance during the transfer.

I met the neurologist about 10 minutes after I was checked into the hospital. He asked me some normal questions and several odd ones. After answering questions for about 10 minutes Dr. Bayne told me he was fairly certain he knew what my affliction was. He said 2 words I had never heard before, but I would become more familiar with than I ever wanted.

“I’m very sure you have something called Guillain Barre” he said with a patient tone to his voice. ***(note: this disease is so rare that Microsoft Word 2010 doesn’t even recognize it. I had to add it to the library.)***

From that moment everything started happening quickly. Before I knew it I was on my side having a spinal fluid test (SFT). The test came back positive for an increase in protein without the presence of an increase in white blood cells; a key attribute in Guillain Barre Syndrome.

From there the doctor had me sent to the ICU. They performed an Electromyogram (EMG) test to confirm the diagnosis. The test showed I had the beginning signs of nerve conduction blocks due to myelin damage. This all began around 6:45 am, and the diagnosis was confirmed around 7:30 PM. By the end of the EMG I had begun losing the feeling in my toes and my legs began to feel like I was running, and not stopping.

The doctors team were sure by the end of the night I would be on a breathing machine because of how aggressive the disease was. The night went by slowly. I had an IV in each arm. One supplied a slow drip of saline to ensure I wasn’t going to become dehydrated. The other was for injecting morphine to help with the increasing pain I was feeling in my legs. The morphine did not make my legs hurt any less; it only made me not care about the pain. By morning my legs felt like they were on fire, but I had enough pain killers in me that I did not care at all.

The doctors came in first thing in the morning. They explained the disease to Rose and me in more detail. They also explained that the pain in my legs was neurological, from the nerves being destroyed by my antibodies. They then explained they had a drug that could block the pain. I loved it, since it made the pain I was feeling stop hurting so much.

With that we began talking about treatment and just how this disease will be affecting us for the rest of our lives.