Guillain Barre

I guess it's about time I put something about this on my blog, since it sure has been talked about (at least in my family) enough to be blogworthy. My mother has been diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome. She has actually had it since just before the wedding, and nobody really knows what brought it on. But, it has become quite a debilitating force in her life.

I had the opportunity to go to Miami this weekend to visit her for the first time since she was formally diagnosed, and it wasn't really a pretty site. Overall, she's in good spirits, but she is unable to do many of the things that any person would take for granted...like walk! Fortunately, she has a milder version that has not caused the paralysis found in the more serious cases that results in reliance on artificial lungs, etc. She is just in extreme pain pretty much non-stop.

I find that so often it is easy to get frustrated in these situations, and to prod her along and hurry her. At one point over the weekend she asked me: "Have you ever walked on glass?" To which my obvious reply was "no." "Well, when you do, then you can rush me, cause that's what I've been walking on for the past 8 weeks!"

She has an appointment with a real neurological specialist this week, which we are all very thankful for, since the last guy was a real dufus. We are hoping that this guy will actually know something about the disorder and be able to answer her questions. Please pray for this situation as it has been very trying on the whole family and there are still lots of unanswered questions...like when the pain is going to stop!?

If any of you loyal readers have any type of experience with this syndrome or any words of encouragement that you would like to share, please post a comment, I'm sure my mom will see it on here.