Ryan's Guillain Barré Syndrome

Ryan is a very lovable high school teacher in Santa Monica California. Ryan has spent years teaching hundreds of students in Southern California. Ryan has a life long love of golf and has spent time teaching the womens golf team at his high school. He always puts every one before him and there is never a dull moment when Ryan is around. Currently Ryan is in the hospital. While on vacation Ryan started to feel numbness in his toes and within days the numbness had rapidly spread all the way up to his waist. While he was out of town the numbness and tingling sensation he was experiancing in his lower body made him go to the hospital where he found out he has Guillain Barré syndrome. Guillain Barré syndrome is a disorder in which the body's immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system. The first symptoms of the disorder include varying degrees of weakness or tingling sensations in the legs. In many instances the sensations will spread to the upper body. The symptoms can continue to increase until certain muscles cannot be used or until the person is almost paralyzed. In the most severe cases the syndrome can be life threatening - potentially interferring with breathing and at times blood pressure or heart rate. Ryan is currently in a hospital in Nevada. He has already started one treatment, immunoglobulin, but his body has not responded to the treatment. Tomorrow, 12/28, Ryan will start an IV treatment which takes 5 hours to complete. Since there is no known cure for Guillain Barre Syndrome Ryan will have to go through trial and error to figure out what will help him best. As of now Ryan will be away from home until he can walk out of the hospital on his own. After he regains the strength to do so he will have to follow up with many months of therapy and continue to live with the syndrome.