Monday again, August 29th 2016. I now can hardly stand up anymore, even with help. This is seriously going the wrong way so I need medical help as soon as possible. And now I'm also starting to talk funny! It's like one side of my mouth doesn't fully function. For a minute I'm scared I might have the slowest stroke in history, but I look in the mirror and my mouth still looks straight, so that calms me down.
My girlfriend calls the doctor, since I can't verbalize well. His assistant tells us to come by, but I clearly tell my girlfriend that I am in no way capable to get to and from the car. She passes the message. The assistant tells us the doctor will come by our house, around noon. It was 9 AM when she called and those were very long hours.
Finally Dr. Freeze rings the doorbell at 1 PM. My girlfriend opens the door and he finds me sitting on the couch. He asks me what is wrong, and I tell him that everything I have already told him last Thursday has progressed. I also tell him about my eyes and my mouth. He does instantly see there is something wrong with my face and immediately tells me I have to go to the ER. He starts calling the ER to tell them I'm coming in and hands me a paper with my medical history, or well ... his version of it. It was like getting handed the personal notes about you of your psychiatrist, but fine.
I ask him if he has any idea what I could be suffering from. He says 'Oh hmm well I don't know, maybe a TIA or something.' I say "Doesn't a TIA only affect one side of the body, in stead of both?" I immediately add: "Could it be Guillain-Barré Syndrome?". He says "Nahhh I don't think so!" and right there and then I realize that he has no idea what GBS is. He wishes me well and leaves instantly.
Worth noting if you wonder why I'm so sarcastic about the man, this is the last time I have heard from him, even in everything that followed. I do not judge the wrong (non) diagnose due to the rareness of the disease, but I do mind that he never followed up. He retired shortly after this story (unrelated by the way).
In September 2016 I was struck by Guillain-Barré Syndrome. This is the story about how my life changed forever, in just one week.
Thursday, December 28, 2017
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