Trula's Road to Recovery-Guillain-Barre Syndrome

To begin with, we cannot express how grateful we are to all of you who have called, texted, visited and prayed for Trula Soliman and continue to do so.

Trula's life has been unexpectedly and completely upended. On February 8th, she had a scheduled standard routine surgery. All was fine until a few days later when she began running a low fever. She went to the ER and received an antibiotic. She began taking the antibiotic and returned to work the following week though she still did not feel right. She began having a tingling sensation in her fingers and hands. On Feb. 18th, she had to return to the ER due to the severe pain and cramps she began experiencing and was admitted to the HCA Houston West Medical Center that evening. At the hospital Trula's condition continued to rapidly deteriorate, the pain in her back was excruciating, she was beginning to lose the feeling and sensation in her legs, and by Tuesday, she was no longer able to stand. A spinal tap was performed on Tuesday, Feb. 21st which confirmed she had Guillain-Barre Syndrome "GBS". GBS is an autoimunne response of the body which begins attacking the peripheral nervous system resulting in paralysis of the entire body.

They immediately began a treatment of IV immunoglobulin drip, administered every day for six days. The GBS continued to move through her body, eventually losing the use of all her limbs and she is unable to hold her head up. During the middle of the night Saturday, Feb. 25th, Trula began hallucinating. Omar had the nurse get the doctor and they ran a test to discover even though her oxygen levels were good, her body was not expelling the carbon dioxide. They immediately put her on a ventilator and installed a feeding tube.

Sunday, Feb 26th, after many requests, approval came for Trula to be transferred to Methodist Neurological ICU at the medical center, she was successfully transferred and now has an entire team to deal with the GBS. The head neurologist came by to see Trula and let her know they were going to begin a plasmaphersis treatment which removes the blood through a catheter and separates the red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma. Her plasma will be discarded and replaced with a substitute as the blood is replaced. She has five treatments to be performed every other day. The first was done on Monday. She currently is still on the ventilator and feeding tube and will be until she can gain enough strength for removal.

This has been a devastating development for Trula and her family. The road to recovery from GBS is a very slow and long recovery. The nerve sheaths will have to repair themselves which takes considerable time. Once Trula is showing the improvement the doctors anticipate will come, she will have extensive physical therapy for several months as her body begins to repair the damage to her nerves. The medical bills they are facing will be in the tens of thousands even with the medical coverage. Omar has a reduced ability to work as his focus has been on caring for and sheltering their son from the severity of Trula's condition, all the while spending countless hours at the hospital at Trula's bedside. The support for this loving family will be needed for several months to come even after Trula is finally able to leave the hospital. She will travel the road of re-learning all the basic movements we use daily without a thought as well as overcoming the mental scars of having to travel through this debilitating illness. Her journey back to health is a tough long one to once again be able to play with her son, take a walk with her husband, volunteer for Isaac's school field trips, work at the law firm, and helping others as she so often does.

We all will continue to pray for Trula and want to support the family through this financial burden. Trula is a tough, independent, and resilient person. She doesn't ask for help unless she absolutely needs it - and we believe that she absolutely needs it now. Let's all show our love and support for Trula and do what we can to relieve some of the financial pressures they will be facing. Any amount you can donate will be greatly appreciated.

Please keep the prayers coming for Trula and share the news of this fundraising campaign on her behalf. Blessings to you and yours.