Neuro Note 6: Miranda's Journey with GBS

    Guillain Barré Syndrome (GBS) is an autoimmune, yet temporary, disorder where the immune system attacks the nerves that carry signals to the brain which causes myelin sheath degeneration and also affects the Peripheral Nervous System. It is treated like a virus, yet there is a long road to recovery at the end. The cause is pretty much unknown but some might say it is related to a weak immune system and usually occurs once someone has a viral infection. I have never heard of this disorder until our Neuro Aspects class. It is a very unusual and rare disorder as the symptoms can be severe, yet there is a known recovery at the end. To further explore the understanding of GBS, I watched a YouTube video about Miranda's Journey with it.

    Miranda contracted an unknown virus during her finals week of freshman year of college and about five days later, she felt unusual symptoms such as fatigue, extreme back pain, and tingling in her hands, feet, and lips. With GBS, symptoms usually include weakness and tingling, usually in the lower extremities, as well as issues with speaking, respiration, and bladder incontinence. Once these symptoms start, weakness rapidly progresses, which is exactly what happened to Miranda. Over the next few days, her symptoms worsened to the point where she had no strength to walk and was admitted to the ICU. Within the YouTube video, we follow along in her journey to recovery. We see her go through the three phases of GBS starting with the Onset (Acute) Phase, the Plateau Phase (which was the worst phase for Miranda as her symptoms progressed in the hospital), and the Recovery Phase. Miraculously, Miranda had a very fast recovery of getting back to her normal self in three months of outpatient therapy where as normally, GBS recovery can take up to 2 years. Throughout the video, you can see her family and community being there for her and being her biggest supporters, which could be one of the reasons why she could have had a speedy recovery.

    I chose to watch this video to get a visual understanding of how GBS can really affect someone as well as seeing how each phase takes place. I highly recommend that others watch this video as well to fully grasp how GBS can take over and to see how the recovery journey can affect not only the person but also others involved in that person's life. Seeing the visual progress of how Miranda went from being bedridden with a ventilator to being able to walk with a walker in months is astonishing to see, and I appreciate her family putting this source out for people who are curious about GBS or know someone who has it or even has it themselves and needs that motivation to keep fighting for recovery. I also found a GBS Foundation Support Page that helps give many resources to people who have GBS all over the world. 

References:

Clash, K. (2015, December 23). Guillain-Barré syndrome - miranda’s journey. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Pu_upY2OhQ