It’s crazy to think a year ago from today I finally was able to speak after 38 days after becoming ill with GBS. I can’t begin to tell you how hard and frustrating it was not being able to communicate with the nurses, the doctors and my family. I sit here today remembering this exact day that I spoke for the first time after 38 days a year ago. The day I got the speaking valve put in was a great day and Dr. Brideau and I had it all planned out to surprise my mother. She came in and I spoke.
I remember slowly but surely, step by step I was gradually getting things back. Dr. Leblanc always told us it’s a very long journey ahead in the recovery from Guillain Barre Syndrome. That it was indeed…. A journey that is still ongoing a year plus later.
One of the hardest things about going through Guillain Barre is not being able to communicate. Let’s put it this way lip reading wasn’t for everyone, lol 🙂. Some nurses I remember were better then others. Some were great at it but that was one of the hardest things for them not being able to understand me. For me it was just frustrating not being able to speak.
I remember my father, he was down right horrible at lip reading, lol 😆. I sit here and laugh about it now but that was down right hell…. lol Frustrating for us both. Then he brought out the dam letter board, lol . Man did I hate that thing. 😆 Spelling out each word by letters, let alone sentences took forever….. I just wanted to throw that dam letter board but wait I can’t move my arms or hands, lol so that’s out of the question… 😄
I can sit here and laugh about it today but each and everything you go through with GBS had it’s own challenges and frustrations. Nothing was easy! No matter how strong you are, you need to be even stronger going through something like Guillain Barre Syndrome.
During my recovery from GBS there are certain things that stand out more then others. This here is speaking for the first time or like eating for the first time. Moving my legs and arms slightly for the first time etc… I do know one thing, no matter how hard of a situation I was going through at the time, the nurses, doctors and all other staff that cared for me at the Georges L. Dumont Hospital made it that much easier. We had some good laughs no matter what the difficult situation I was facing with GBS.
In the future I will visit them sometime, just not sure when with this Covid 19 pandemic going on. I would like to see them all again. They helped get me to where I am today. I also did make a promise to one guy in particular, Rheal, that I would walk through those doors and I’ll have a ball in my hand. In time I’m hoping that day will come. For now I just sit here and think of where I am now to where I was a year ago. A look back in the past on my recovery from GBS.