My Journey with GBS

Name your journey in one word - Go! Wow, isn’t that a question. There are so many words one could use to describe my journey with Guillian Barre Syndrome (GBS) - some are negatives that I feel on my tough days and then positives on my good days. I think it is important to acknowledge both feelings. So when I try to choose my word, I need to look “Big Picture” as I look at the past 2.5 years and what I have experienced. When I had this discussion with my mom - first word that came to me BLESSINGS. Caught me by surprise, but thought about it again; yup that’s the word. How can getting a devastating disease be a blessing? Yes, being diagnosed with Guillian Barre Syndrome has changed my life forever, giving me plenty of challenges to constantly to overcome but still when I get down to it, I am blessed.  When I first woke up 6 weeks later one of the first things you see is the window sills filled with Get Well cards. I felt the love of family, friends and coworkers, it actually ...

Where does the time go? The days seem to blur together. Thankful for a calendar to help me know the day. Hard to believe it’s been 9 months since arriving to my new home, AgeCare - Skypointe. Trying to accept this is my home until my body recovers from it paralysis. Admittedly has been difficult connecting here as majority of the time, I am 15 to 20 years + younger than the residents on my wing. For meals, I am with 3 other ladies and we try to share some laughs. They are 83, 81 and 67 with me being 48. Where we sit in the dining area, we have a good view of everyone. You can see the routines of the others; which table they sit at or what refreshments they like with their meals. It has come in handy knowing this when you have nursing staff working unfamiliar with our floor. I have tried a few group activities, but felt outside my comfort as some activities are focused on the majority of residents which are senior citizens. So I mainly keep to my room and join others at meals time. Of...