- B
Hi, my name is Marissa and I am 24 years old and have been wheelchair-bound since last May. Last May, my current health issues started. Around mid-may, I started having severe low back pain and down my left leg. Within a day’s time it went from pain to complete weakness in my leg and could not move it. That same night we went to Reading Hospital ER to get me checked out. They did a few tests and came to the conclusion that it was IT Band Syndrome, and suggested I go to physical therapy. I made the necessary appointments and began going to the PT. Everything was going fine for about a week and a half and then things started to deteriorate. The pain in my lower back started getting worse, and the pain was now in both legs. By May 28th, I could no longer even stand with my crutches, and could no longer move either of my legs. When this happened we decided to go back to Reading Hospital ER. All of these symptoms were enough for them to admit me. My symptoms included; bilateral leg weakness, numbness, tingling, severe low back pain.
Once admitted to Reading Hospital, they ran a multitude of tests to rule out every possible reason that could be causing these symptoms. The first diagnosis they thought it could be is something called Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS). To confirm their suspicions of GBS they had done an MRI of my brain, cervical and lumbar spine. They performed a spinal tap as well as many, many different blood tests. Before they got the test results back they started me on IVIG, which is the medicine used to treat GBS, to hopefully get me started on the road to recovery. I was about 3 days into the IVIG when they got all the tests done and got the results back. All of the tests came back completely clean. There was no sign of it being GBS. When they got results and realized it wasn’t GBS, they didn’t know what else it could possibly be. This is where my issues began. The neurologist that I had on my case was so sure that it was GBS, that when he got all the results and it showed it wasn’t that he gave up on my case. My mother and I tried to ask him what else could possibly be causing this. He would completely ignore our questions or just change the subject. We could not get any answers out of him, so we transferred to another hospital because the doctors gave up.
From there I was transferred to the Lehigh Valley Hospital for my second opinion. Once there I had recounted everything that happened at RH. After seeing nothing on the test results they sent me to a psychiatrist. They then decided there was nothing more they could do for me and suggested I be transferred to an inpatient therapy facility. Which I could not go to because they put in my chart that my diagnosis is Conversion Disorder. Conversion Disorder is any mental health issues like; trauma, anxiety, depression, DID, etc. when the brain can’t handle this type of stress and converts it into a physical symptom. Since that was my diagnosis, insurance would not cover for me to go to any type of rehab, so all Lehigh could do for me was to discharge me.
Once I was home, I visited my PCP to discuss with her who I could talk to next. She suggested I see a Neurologist from the University of Pennsylvania. Despite trying to get ahold of this doctor they never returned our calls, so we had to find another.
This is when we found Dr. Joe Schneider from the Hope Brain & Body Recovery Center. My mom emailed him letting him know of my situation, and he called her personally to talk to her about how he would like me to come in for a consultation to see if he could help me. After just the consultation appointment and the few little tests he did, he was able to determine he could help me. By the end of the appointment, I actually got some traction in my leg and was able to slightly move it. He figured out what was the cause of all of my symptoms. It’s from the 5 concussions I had back in high school. The concussions had caused some pretty bad damage to my brain and everything has just been deteriorating since then. The total costs for all of the appointments he would like to see me for is roughly $10,000. That includes all the appointments and equipment and tests he needs me to get in order to help me. My family is helping with the bills as much as they can, but we don’t have the funds to pay $10,000. We ask for any help possible so we can pay all the doctors’ bills. Out of the countless doctors that I have seen, this doctor and treatment are my only hope to get my mobility back. Any help would make us forever grateful and blessed.
Once admitted to Reading Hospital, they ran a multitude of tests to rule out every possible reason that could be causing these symptoms. The first diagnosis they thought it could be is something called Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS). To confirm their suspicions of GBS they had done an MRI of my brain, cervical and lumbar spine. They performed a spinal tap as well as many, many different blood tests. Before they got the test results back they started me on IVIG, which is the medicine used to treat GBS, to hopefully get me started on the road to recovery. I was about 3 days into the IVIG when they got all the tests done and got the results back. All of the tests came back completely clean. There was no sign of it being GBS. When they got results and realized it wasn’t GBS, they didn’t know what else it could possibly be. This is where my issues began. The neurologist that I had on my case was so sure that it was GBS, that when he got all the results and it showed it wasn’t that he gave up on my case. My mother and I tried to ask him what else could possibly be causing this. He would completely ignore our questions or just change the subject. We could not get any answers out of him, so we transferred to another hospital because the doctors gave up.
From there I was transferred to the Lehigh Valley Hospital for my second opinion. Once there I had recounted everything that happened at RH. After seeing nothing on the test results they sent me to a psychiatrist. They then decided there was nothing more they could do for me and suggested I be transferred to an inpatient therapy facility. Which I could not go to because they put in my chart that my diagnosis is Conversion Disorder. Conversion Disorder is any mental health issues like; trauma, anxiety, depression, DID, etc. when the brain can’t handle this type of stress and converts it into a physical symptom. Since that was my diagnosis, insurance would not cover for me to go to any type of rehab, so all Lehigh could do for me was to discharge me.
Once I was home, I visited my PCP to discuss with her who I could talk to next. She suggested I see a Neurologist from the University of Pennsylvania. Despite trying to get ahold of this doctor they never returned our calls, so we had to find another.
This is when we found Dr. Joe Schneider from the Hope Brain & Body Recovery Center. My mom emailed him letting him know of my situation, and he called her personally to talk to her about how he would like me to come in for a consultation to see if he could help me. After just the consultation appointment and the few little tests he did, he was able to determine he could help me. By the end of the appointment, I actually got some traction in my leg and was able to slightly move it. He figured out what was the cause of all of my symptoms. It’s from the 5 concussions I had back in high school. The concussions had caused some pretty bad damage to my brain and everything has just been deteriorating since then. The total costs for all of the appointments he would like to see me for is roughly $10,000. That includes all the appointments and equipment and tests he needs me to get in order to help me. My family is helping with the bills as much as they can, but we don’t have the funds to pay $10,000. We ask for any help possible so we can pay all the doctors’ bills. Out of the countless doctors that I have seen, this doctor and treatment are my only hope to get my mobility back. Any help would make us forever grateful and blessed.