Confronting guillain-barré syndrome.

摘要

I was visiting friends in Antigua, Guatemala, when it happened. Having just recovered from a mild sore throat, I went to bed feeling healthy and hearty. I awoke the next day with wobbly legs and weak arms, barely able to make it to the bedroom door. When help came a few minutes later, I was unable to get up. Within six hours I was almost completely paralyzed below my neck and in an ambulance that was transporting me back to my adopted home in El Salvador, where I had been teaching public health at the national university. Within hours of arriving in San Salvador, I was started on high-dose immune globulin therapy.