Tag: thankfulinallthings

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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.

https://thankfulinallthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/moving-my-arms-video_Trim-1.mp4

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.

https://thankfulinallthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/walking-in-the-neighborhood.mp4

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.

one must look back to get a sense of how far they have come.
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What’s next?

Phillippians 3:13,14 “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.” As I lay in my bed day after day not being able to move, this verse took on new meaning for me. I can not explain why but as I have shared before, I did not focus on “why Guillain Barre had happened to me” but instead “what do I need to do to get better?” I also felt very strongly that I wanted to be obedient to God’s heavenly calling by showing my trust in Him to those that cared for me, came along side and supported us, or just came to visit. Dan Allender talks about making a chose when calamity occurs. “Will you allow it to break you or lift you up?” I chose to look at the positive by seeing how God could use it for good in my life as well as being an example for those who were watching how we would handle this ordeal. I read somewhere about the opportunity to turn “a mess into a message” I wanted that to be what people saw in me. In a Jon Gordon podcast, I heard that after the UVA basketball team lost to UMBC in the 1st round of the NCAA basketball tourney, head coach Tony Bennett’s wife encouraged him in the strangest way. She said, “God has given you the privilege to suffer and experience adversity so that you can show that your faith is real and what defines you whether things are good or bad”. I wanted to be a reflection of the passage in James, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” My goal became turning the mess called Guillain Barre Syndrome into a message. Therefore…..

Dottie and I made the conscious decision to stay in the moment choosing the attitude of let’s not get ahead of ourselves but instead focus on What’s Next? We did not google GBS because we didn’t want to have worst case scenarios in our mind. The Doctor asked us how much we wanted to know and we said, “just what we need to know now.” That way we could deal the current circumstance and then ask what needs to be done now to move us forward in recovery. Noone really told us but we just felt it best not to dwell on how long it would be before I could move or when I might be able to go home. This decision served us well whether we found ourselves discouraged or when we could see signs of improvement. It kept us in the moment. Grateful for the slightest movement, passing the regular respiratory tests, better sleep, uplifting visits from friends, etc. It also kept us focused on the tough days knowing that if we kept doing what the medical staff said was next, things were going to get better. This attitude is the reason for this blog’s title. We became Thankful in all Things because we believed God was with us, loved us, and that He was in control of what was next for us. We committed my health and recovery to God and clinged to the promises of Hebrews 13:5 and Romans 8:28, ” He will never leave us and will make good out of every situation.”

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An update on my road to recovery #180project :)

For those of you who have found this blog, you know it started with the encouragement of many who said I needed to write about what I have learned from having and now recovering from Guillain Barre Syndrome. I thought I would post this AM what I wrote the other day for those who have followed my journey via https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/michaelguthrie My hope is that I won’t post there any time in the near future but will share my “lessons learned” here instead. Here is what I wrote.

I am happy to write that this will hopefully be the last update here for quite a while.  No, I am not fully recovered but over the last six weeks, I have made significant progress.  The most recent pictures in the gallery tell the story.  1) my handicap parking permit expired yesterday and we see no need to renew it.  2) I recently accomplished a significant goal of running more than walking a 5K with my good friend Kaitlyn who participated with me after having a heart transplant in November of 2018.  (You can read more about this on my most recent blog post www.thankfulinallthings.com ) 3) I played 50 holes of golf this past Tuesday to help raise money for FCA/AIA and 4)  after 2 and 3, I was able to travel to Harrisonburg Wednesday to teach Realtors how to reach the full potential and the importance of surrounding yourself with the right people.  Many of you know my recovery has been renamed the 180 project.  I am happy to report that my weight is in the 180’s and I continue toward doing a complete 180 from not being able to move at all to being in the better physical shape than when I was struck with Guillain Barre Syndrome.  Dottie and I ask that you continue to pray for a complete (I am now at about 80%) recovery and hope you will follow my “lessons learned” by reading the blog I mentioned above.  We and our entire family are grateful, blessed, and so very thankful for your love and support.