David's Fight against Guillain-Barre Syndrome

If you had asked me a couple weeks back what Guillain-Barre Syndrome was, I would tell you that I had no idea. Today I can tell you every detail and statistic about this mysterious disease.

About 2 and a half weeks ago David starting feeling ill and having strange sensations in his mouth. The following morning he went to his doctor, where he was told that he had a cold and was given the H1N1 vaccine. By the following evening, David had numbness in his feet and was starting to lose his balance. This progressively got worse. By the following evening his feet were completely numb, he could barely walk and he had a numb and burning sensation throughout all his limbs.

Saturday morning (11/7) we took a trip to the ER. Looking back, we cannot imagine what we would have thought if we had known what we were in for. We are so thankful that only God knows what tomorrow will hold. After 6 hours in the ER, David was admitted to Huntington Hospital. It was obvious at this point that David's symptoms were stumping all the doctors. On this evening, our hearts were full of fear. This marks the start of our journey through Miller Fisher variant, Guillain-Barre Syndrome.



Day 3- While David could still get into a wheelchair, they approved a visit with Zach on the patio!

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Enjoying family time! We had no idea at the time how long it would be before we had this again.



David hooked up to the plasmapheresis machine.



Still smiling! :) Day 12



Lifting his arm for the first time!! Too bad the picture can't show David's effort to accomplish this! He is such a stud!!



First time he could lift his leg off the bed.



Day 15- Special approved visit with Zach while intubated in ICU. While fighting the degeneration of GBS, David came down with aspiration strep/ pneumonia. A CODE intubation landed us in ICU on 11/20.



A memory our family will cherish forever.



Sitting up for the first time! Also a great shot of Patrick...our nurse in ICU who was truly a gift from God.



Respirator on STANDBY! The fuzzy print says "PASSED"!



Morning David was extubated!



"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Matthew 6:31

Throughout this journey we have come to understand the true meaning of clinging to God's word.

"Your sandals shall be iron and bronze; As your days, so shall your strength be." Deuteronomy 33"25.
"Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face evermore!" Psalm 105:4

When the pain has seemed unbearable or the fear beyond what we can handle, our mantra to each other has been: "God's got this...enough strength for TODAY!"

As we approach the road to recovery, we do not want to lose sight of all that God has done through David's battle with this disease.In order to track this, I have copied the brief updates sent to family and friends in another post titled "Daily Fight". I will update this frequently to follow David's progress.

Today marks day 19 of our journey. As I reflect on these pictures above, I am overwhelmed by all that my David has gone through. More than this, I am overwhelmed by his spirit and hope. He has endured pain and fear that most could never imagine (at least I know that I could not!). He has truly been a pillar of strength for all who are witnessing his fight. He is leaning on his Savior for every moment, knowing that He is only one who can sustain him. He is using every opportunity to give praise and glory to God. During the times he could speak, he has told everyone with his words about those praying and of God's goodness. During his days with the ventilator in his mouth, he raised his hands as high as he could (which is higher each day!) to tell his doctors and nurses "Praise God!" every time they delivered encouraging news.

The scripture from our devotional today, his first full day off the ventilator, was this:
"O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise". Psalm 51:15

During David's physical therapy session today, the therapist told him how much fun he is to work with. She said "even while you were intubated, you were smiling and people just wanted to hang out in here!" His nurse followed suit by telling David how his presence here in the ICU has blessed him in so many ways. He expressed that he is a better person for knowing David. As they praised David for his attitude and determination, he was able to explain where he found he strength. He shared that his comfort comes from knowing that God is doing this for some reason. Even though we can't understand it, we KNOW that HE has a plan for this.

To say that we have been "encouraged" by people's prayers and support is quite the understatement. The fervent prayers of our family and friends have enveloped us with peace and love. We can truly say that God has granted us His peace that passes all understanding.