Plateaus-Then and Now

There has been so much written about the Mountaintop and Valley experiences of life. There are many devotionals and books written that talk about “the need for the mountain top exhilaration so that we are able to navigate the many valleys that come our way in our day to day lives” I found this to be especially true both at the outset of my Guillain Barre and now in my recovery from this crazy auto-immune system disorder. It was 16 days before I saw any significant movement anywhere on my otherwise motionless body. The doctors and nurses all said I was improving but there was not any clear signs of that progress. I certainly was glad the progression had stopped short of my diaphram as I had no interest in being incubated. Once the diagnosis was made, I started Plasmapheresis (plasma exchange) on March 3rd. I was told some parts of me would start moving a bit between the 3rd and 4th of 5 treatments which were every other day. The last one occured on March 11th with no such signs. I was discharged to a rehab facility from the hospital on March 13th. “How could this be happening”, we asked. The answer was you are getting better and there is nothing else we can do to help you at this point. Just like walking on a plateau, you travel a distance and feel like you have not really made much progress. This was certainly true for me. It is easy to get discouraged when you hit a stabilized point in recovery. In one sense, you are relieved that you are not getting worse but you find yourself fighting the advice to be patient, “you are and will get better”. Trusting and putting my hope in the Lord along with leaning on and appreciating those who were cheering me on got me through those days and kept me from the fear of thinking, “what if I don’t get better?” On March 17th (St Patrick’s Day), my arms moved over my head. I am not sure what made me think they would, all of a sudden, there they were. I even scratched my head as I lowered them.

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Things took off from there. My body started waking up and the recovery process was nothing short of miraculous. When I was admitted to the rehab facility, they noted in their records that they expected me to be there until the end of June and leave using a walker. Praise God. I went home on April 25 with the assistance of a cane. Within a couple of weeks I was walking in the neighborhood.

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I have continued to recover over these last 8 months. The doctors and physical therapists say I am at about 80%. Given that the data shows it takes 6 months to 2 years, this is pretty good progress 🙂 and yet, I feel like I have now reached a new plateau. My weight loss has slowed and I still need to rest in the middle of the day and call it a day early in the evening. I can get discouraged but thankfully my positive can do attitude, the support and encouragement of family and friends, the prayers of so many being answered and substantiating my faith in a healing God keeps me going. Like on any journey, I just need to look back to where I started to see how far I have come to be reminded that I am indeed blessed. It allows me to know that I will once again move upward toward the next plateau.