Fighting Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS)

Hi, my name is Phillippe (you can call me Phil) and I have been recently diagnosed with GBS. I've been a self-employed barber majority of my life. I have enjoyed the luxury of being able to move around freely - whether it's biking, traveling, or going to fencing tournaments with my son nation-wide. I love to be involved in sports activities from basketball, bike riding, pickle ball, and the like. On August 8th, my life changed in an unexpected way. My health challenges, started in my lower extremities -restraining my legs and numbing the nerves of my feet. I feel like I have "sasquatch" feet to date. Then my hands tingled with enormous pain, that shot up my arms to my neck and back. The convulsions of "lightning like pain" in my back, were uncontrollable. Sleep was impossible with my back spasms. The medical professionals scrambled, to identify the source of my deteriorating health condition. Bell's Palsy developed as test after test were conducted, from CT Scans, MRIs, Spinal Taps, and biopsies, you name it, it was done. It wasn't until two weeks later, that an EMG determined that I had Guillain Barre Syndrome. I had never heard of GBS. I quickly discovered, I am faced with an autoimmune disease where my own immune system attacks my nervous system. Statistics show, 2 out of 100,000 people contract GBS per year. I'm "lucky" they say, because it was caught at the onset and hadn't traveled to my lungs. Unfortunately there's no guaranteed cure for GBS, just treatments and physical therapy for the weakness it creates. I have an 18 year old son, whom just started his freshman year of college out-of-state (with a partial scholarship for Fencing). As many parents know, college educational expenses add up quickly each semester! My partner's career is on a writer's strike, which is good and bad. I'm sure you can get the bad aspect ... is financially. However, the "good" aspect is her availability to assist me - I'm labeled a "moderate fall risk". Of course, I can't drive to therapy or my various doctor appointments. Oh, I would be remiss if I didn't mention, just how much she loves "pushing me around these days" (haha) in the wheelchair. All jokes aside, all of our living expenses plus, the accumulation of medical bills has created a need for my gofundme platform. I am highlighting an awareness to this condition for others that are suffering from this syndrome, also. Please consider donating to my fundraiser, as each day is a new day of learning how to navigate life with Guillian Barre Syndrome.