A New Day A New Challenge

I would like to start by stating I have not, and I will not Google™ or go to WebMD.com or MayoClinic.com to look-up all the nitty-gritty details about Guillain Barre Syndrome. With all the wonderful information these sites can provide, ultimately the end up terrifying me into believing I have an alien disease attached to a part of my body that has more vowels than consonants in it. 

What I have been diagnosed with is a disease called Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS). What the medical professionals of Methodist Hospital of Indianapolis have taught me about the disease is as follows:

1. It is rare - affecting only 1 out of every 100,000 people every year (so rare that I had to add it to my dictionary so it would stop telling me I have spelled it incorrectly.)
2. It is different for every person that develops the disease (meaning recovery cannot be predicted for every person based on treatment)
3. It is unknown what exactly causes this disease
4. It is thought that the disease is triggered when your bodies immune system fights off a virus. After fighting the virus a chemical change occurs causing your antibodies to misinterpret your nerve cells as foreign bodies.
5. It is at this point your antibodies begin attacking and destroying the myelin sheath around your nerve cells.
6. The myelin sheath is what insulates your nerves, allowing them to carry a signal from the brain to whatever part of your body you want to move.

What does this mean for someone suffering from GBS? 
In short you lose the ability to move first your toes, feet, legs, and so on moving up the body. This disease can make it impossible to breath on your own, requiring the use of a breathing tube if it progresses that far.

Now I know what you are thinking at this point. "Holy cheese sticks Mr. William! That is scary!"
My response is yes, it is scary. But, when facing a challenge like this, I was not given an option to say "It's too difficult, too scary. I don't want to accept this challenge."
To that end, I have been, and will continue to fight as hard as I can. I will continue to love all the good things in my life, to learn from all of the stumbles and failures I have. This is my life, and it has been built by not only myself, but all of those who have chosen to help.

I remain in Methodist ICU under strict observation until they are certain that the disease is in remission and will not interrupt my ability to breath.


Please stay tuned to find out more and thank you for the support you have given.