Help Support Jacob’s Fight Against Guillain-Barré Syndrome

Hello, my name is Sarai and I'm fundraising for my dad, Jacob, who is currently in a long-term hospital stay due to Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

This month my dad started experiencing symptoms such as weakness and a tingling sensation in his right foot which slowly crept up to his ankle, calf and eventually he lost strength in his entire leg resulting in several falls.

At first, he fought and insisted he was alright in true dad-fashion “I’m strong mija , it’s no big deal.” Despite pain and decreasing mobility, he continued to work his full-time construction job, he was admitted to the hospital only after falling three times in one night. He had tests and scans done and the results showed nothing that the medical team deemed significant . He was released the next day. However, his strength continued to decline and now had affected his left leg and arms. Walking was no longer an option and he was unable to stand or sit up without assistance of two people. He was unable to leave the couch for two days.

On April 17th just three days after coming home, we called the paramedics and returned to the hospital. This time, the doctor came back to inform us that my dad would be treated for Guillain-Barré Syndrome-an autoimmune disorder in which the body’s antibodies attack the nerves and cause weakness in the body.

My dad has received intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment and the symptoms were not alleviated. Most recently, he has been receiving Plasmapheresis which is a treatment in which his blood is cleaned of the harmful plasma in his blood and is replaced with clean plasma. The good news: we have seen progress in movement of his toes and other gross motor movements. The bad news: the progress has been very slow. This means that my dad will need to continue his treatments and therapy for an extended amount of time ranging from six months to years.

It goes without question, he won’t be returning to construction any time soon as he has been essentially disabled by this. He is currently still hospitalized and as it stands, it will be a long road to recovery.

My dad has been the family’s breadwinner and provider. In order to be by his bedside and nurture my dad back to help as best she can, my mother has taken most of her time off work as well. My family and I are creating this account and reaching out to our community in order to help alleviate the cost of mounting medical bills, physical and occupational therapy and rehabilitation expenses as well as living expenses that we will undertake.

We are so grateful for any help that we receive and thank you all for your prayers. Life is precious and our good health is a beautiful gift, don’t take it for granted and live life intentionally. ❤️

God bless you all.