Guillain-Barre

Finally, back on the Internet, which means I can catch you up on how things are here.  But before I forget, happy New Year, everyone!  Hope 2006 is treating you right so far.

When I left off last time, I was going to our Sunday School New Year’s party that evening.  I almost didn’t go, because I fell at least three times trying to get out of the house.  I knew that didn’t bode well, especially trying to get up the couple of steps into Joe and Kaye’s house.  And I was right—even though Joe helped me to the door, I still fell getting into the house, so I drug myself in and used their couch to help myself up.

The party was a lot of fun, though.  We played Scene It? and Catchphrase and just generally had a great time.  I didn’t move much, obviously, but thankfully that wasn’t necessary.

When I left, Jon, Ben and Ken all helped me out of the house and into the car, and Jon, Jennifer and Ken met us at the house to help me inside.  Which was good, because I don’t know what I would have done to get to the car otherwise.  My legs really seemed to stop working very well on Saturday.

Sunday morning, I stayed home from church while Meron and Benjamin went.  They returned with Jon and Jennifer, who had found a rolling walker at the church.  That has been a lifesaver, let me tell you.  I’ve not done much besides going to the bathroom, but I’m not sure how I’d have made it from bed to there and back without it.

Monday, of course, was still a holiday, so there wasn’t much going on.  I stayed in bed and caught up on some of Alias Season 4 which I have on DVD.  Watched 8 or 9 episodes, which tells you about how much movement I did that day.

Yesterday, I heard back from the neurologist in North Little Rock.  Thankfully, they confirmed that the spinal tap results also indicated Guillain-Barre due to elevated protein levels.  That was a load off of my mind, as you can imagine!  I had to go into the doctor yesterday to give a blood sample before they could start the treatment.

Treatment, from what I can tell, is an IV given for a couple of hours each day for five straight days.  They actually come to the house, so I’ll not have to go anywhere.  The treatments will most likely start on Thursday, though I’m waiting still for a call from them to set it up.  (EDIT:  I heard back—won’t be tomorrow, but hopefully Friday.)

The neurologist says that I should recover in 2-3 weeks instead of 2-3 months, but I don’t know if that counts any physical therapy that might be required.  I mean, all I’ve done the last few days is basically sit in bed, so my legs may be pretty weak by the end of all this.

Anyway, that’s what I know so far.  Now I need to go catch up on the Clubhouse and my e-mail to make sure I’ve not missed anything interesting the last few days!