Here is an inspirational story from Beverly Copeland,
who lives in Livermore, CA:
My first encounter with a relatively unknown illness, Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), occurred in 1962 at the age of 26. The chilling part is that I experienced the very same trauma again in 2002 at the age of 66. There is no known cause and very little treatment for GBS. And while it is very rare to have this illness once, it is even rarer to experience it twice. Each individual's experience is different relative to onset and severity. For me, within 36 hours it meant complete paralysis, breathing through a tracheotomy, unable to speak or swallow and being fed through a feeding tube. Both times I spent many days in the ICU and many hours being rehabilitated. This is a harrowing time in one's life and you are left to wonder more than once, "Why me??" The first time I was very busy with 3 small children, with 2 more to arrive later, so it was pretty much life as usual upon recovering. But this last time, 40 years later, there was a new wrinkle. My family found the GBS Foundation headquartered in Pennsylvania and found a great deal of support and information from that source. Now, six years down the road from that second episode, I think I have found out "Why me??" Four years ago I became the chapter liaison to the Foundation for the East and South Bay areas of California. My "job" is to respond to newly diagnosed patients in hospitals within this area, hopefully providing encouragement, as well as information and support to them and their families. I am told by my patients and their families that there is no substitute for talking to someone who has "been there, done that". And, when I am there with them, I absolutely "know" I am in the right place.
This is Beverly's success story, “click
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“Shining Inspiration of the Month” story.
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