It was six months ago today that Matt woke up with tingly hands and feet. We had no clue it was
Guillain-Barré. Or that it would lead to near paralysis and eight long weeks in the hospital.
Now life's back to normal. A few minor residuals aside (numb & painful feet, tingly hands, and
occasional fatigue), Matt's as good as new.
That's good. Here's why:
Back in August, I wrote about how Matt's neurologists though he might have
CIDP, a chronic version of
Guillain-Barré. The docs wanted to get him on a lifelong steroids treatment asap, but Matt resisted. We weren't convinced their diagnosis was accurate, and Matt didn't want to take drugs needlessly for the rest of his life.
When he met with the docs to question their diagnosis, they re-evaluated his condition and said, "Well, you're doing pretty good. But there's still a chance you have
CIDP. So don't get your hopes up." (
Ok, maybe I just
interpreted that last part...)
They told us that, technically, if Matt didn't relapse within six months of onset, THEN they'd feel comfortable NOT calling it
CIDP.
So my point is:
- It's been six months since onset.
- Matt's doing better than ever.
- I think it's safe to say that Guillain-Barré is behind us.
- Anybody want to buy a barely-used wheelchair?
See that care bear pictured above? When you squeeze together its arms, it says, "Mmmmwa (how's a kissing noise spelled?), I love you! Mmmmwa, this hug's for you!"
