I did not know that. Thanks for the link.
Some interesting tidbits about GBS..
Other notables who have contracted this terrible disease:
Andy Griffith - actor
Joseph Heller - author of Catch 22
Bud Palmer - basketball star and sportscaster
GBS and its cousin, CIDP (Chronic Ideopathic Demyelinating Polyneuropathy) are auto-immune illnesses. After the immune system fights off a virus or vaccine it then turns around and attacks the nervous system. In the case of GBS it attacks the myelin sheath around the axons. This can be likened to the insulation around a wire. The body can regrow the myelin but if there are repeated attacks, as in CIDP, then the axon is damaged or destroyed.
My son contracted this illness in 1986. First diagnosed as GBS and then changed to CIDP by doctors at Duke Medical Center. In 1990 we took him to Duke and he was placed in a study of children with CIDP. From that study the preferred course of treatment for GBS and CIDP has become IVIG or intravenous gamma globulin. This is an extremely expensive medication made even more so by the so called “Affordable” Care Act.
He has been left with permanent disabilities, weakness in the hands and drop foot. In addition this has taken an emotional toll on him. However, unable to work, he has learned to play the game of Scrabble. He’s gotten so good that he now plays Scrabble professionally!!
All that to say: GBS is a bad boy! No two cases are alike. Some people recover with no residuals. Some get the ultimate residual, death.