Posted on 04/22/2009 9:13:37 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
AIKEN, S.C. Former Chicago Bears defensive lineman William “The Refrigerator” Perry remains hospitalized in South Carolina.
Aiken Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Melissa Summer said Wednesday that Perry is in serious condition. The 46-year-old Perry has been hospitalized to deal with complications from Guillain-Barre (gee-LAN’ bah-RAY’) Syndrome, a chronic inflammation disorder of the peripheral nerves.
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The good thing with Guillain Barre is that almost everybody recovers within a year - something like 80% full recovery, another 10% with a few residual difficulties with weakness in the feet primarily, with a few not getting much back. He’s got a year or so of rehab ahead of him though, carefully walking the line not to overdo it, as that can cause relapse.
Too bad but you can’t expect to live very long weighing as much as he does.
I’m 49, weigh 360, and feel fine.
Get well soon, Fridge.
“Too bad but you can’t expect to live very long weighing as much as he does.”
Guillain-Barre is an immune response to a viral infection, you body’s immune system attacks the nerves. It’s similar in effect to polio, but most of the ill effects are not permanent for the majority of folks who come down with it. In my case I had an upper respiratory infection and a couple of weeks later came down with GBS. I was in good health otherwise and not overweight by any means.
GBS got a lot of attention in the late 70s some people who received the swine flu shots came down with it in reaction to the vaccine. Inspite of the fact the resulting paralysis is often described as temporary, it’s a very serious illness. I was quadraplegic for about 3 months and had to undergo months of physical therapy to get back to a near normal state.
Feeling fine is good but if you aren't already doing so, I would get regular physicals and pay attention to the results.
Many times, a person feels fine but internal organs are operating under stress and constantly complaining about being overworked. These internal complaints manifest themselves in the form of elevated and even abnormal levels on a variety of blood tests. Unchecked, one or more organs will suddenly go into failure and that is when you suddenly stop feeling fine but it's usually to late to fully recover at that point.
It's while you feel fine that you can make necessary changes to prevent a future breakdown.
Fascinating. Lots of stuff coming out about how our own immune system is the cause of ailments.
I seem to recall reading recently about how they think common colds are a result of an over-reactive immune system.
I had what I thought was a bout of food poisioning last Tuesday, felt fine the next day and Thursday evening was at a doctor's office and later the ER downtown for being in a great deal of abdominal pain.
My gall bladder blew out on me and it was kind of scary.
I was later operated on and released just yesterday to take it easy for a week. As tender as my midsection is, that is not a problem.
For the past few years I have been trying to watch the diet, cut out the sodas (can't stand them much anyway), do something about the weight, and try to be better. However for the longest time I never felt 100% no matter what I did. I may have had a trace leak or malfunctiong bladder for a long time and something finally sent it on auto destruct. After being away from the hospital for less than 24 hours, I don't have that nagging run down feeling. I hope it stays that way.
Amazingly enough, I am not diabetic though as I reflect over my decades long bad diet habits should be. This latest adventure has made me even more aware. FWIW 6'3 260-ish, late 30's.
My brother-in-law did not recover. He lost all ability to move, breathe on his own, talk, eat, etc. and eventually died.
I feel fine. 6’, 275 lbs. I have been taking diabetic meds for a while, and looks like I’ll be going on insulin soon, as sugers remain in the 300’s. Not a good prospect. If I went on feelings alone, I’d never had gone to a doctor in the first place and found out my condition...
I think Andy Griffith had that several years ago, and he couldn’t walk for about a year, but it went away.
try adding longevinex (available at longevinex.com) and alpha lipoic acid (available at any drugstore) to your diet.
it should rather dramatically lower your blood sugar.
Maybe things haven’t declined too far for you yet. I didn’t like where my health was going in the summer of ‘05. I’m about the same height and weigh more. I went on a paleo-ish diet and started skipping the occasional meal. The technique is called “intermittent fasting”.
My sugar numbers are all much lower, and my fasting insulin is under 2. Somewhere under 2; the test can’t measure below 2.
I cranked up the paleo-ness up last May and my body feels better than it has in about 12 years. I’ll drop 40-45 pounds by Labor Day. The problem is keeping that up once the weather gets cold.
Seriously. Drop the grains and potatoes and skip a meal 3 or 4 times a week. Once a month skip a dinner. It’ll do wonders for you.
It is such a hard thing and sorry to hear about your high sugar's.....take care...
It's nasty.
I’m sorry to hear that. Unfortunately a small percentage don’t recover - also there’s even the possibility that it was misdiagnosed as Guillain Barre - there are a lot of neurologic disorders out there that aren’t fully understood or recognized.
My wife had symptoms of GB a year ago. All tests, however, came back negative. Shortly after a co-workers wife had the same symptoms and negative test results. Another co-workers daughter soon had the same. No one knows what in the hell is going on.
All three women are starting to recover but I’d like to know what the cause is and if it is going to recur.
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