Bucks
Guillain-Barre Syndrome – part Three
Dear Friends,
Good morning. Our daughter, Anne, told me that I should be wearing a “Sumo Suit.” That’s how she responded to my tale of bouncing into walls during physical therapy sessions for my Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS).
Years ago, Anne and her rock-star singer friend, k.d. lang, had fun while dressed in inflatable sumo wrestling costumes. They’d bang into each other until one tipped over. Anne warned that I should also wear a helmet. She added that a wig would be a nice touch.
I’ve been wrestling with GBS since the first of February when it suddenly struck. After short stays at Grand View and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) where I was medivacked, I am now in the physical therapy phase of my treatment. As I reported in two previous columns, the moral of this story is this: if you experience an unexplained physical or mental change, see your physician promptly.
In my case, I was fine when I went
to bed on January 31 but could not feel my feet when I awakened the next day.
Our family doctor, Dr. Joseph O’Neill, sent me to an excellent team of
neurologists at Penn Neurology Associates (next to
Grand View rushed me via helicopter (a 12 minute ride) to HUP. After five days of intervenes feeding to attack the monsters that had invaded my nervous system, HUP returned me to Grand View for occupational and physical therapy.
Back at Grand View, I was under the care of one of Penn Neurologists’ physicians, Dr. Richard Buckler. Dr. Buckler is a Penn grad too. He played basketball for Penn during the ‘70’s. There’s another example from the small world department.
Along the way, these kind people took very good care of me: Cheryl Hunsburger, Jamie Kolb, Chuck Tyson, Kevin Friel, Steve Dotterer, Judy Schafer, Linda Gehman, Mary Krimmel, Cathy Siatkowski, Rocky Pistilli, Dr. Ross Albert (who calls himself Grand View’s “hopitalist!”), Dale Buckler, Shelly Henning, Bob Yocum, Doug Rankin, and Trish Hoover.
One of the nurses was too shy to
let me identify her but she told me that her first job after graduating from
“Bowel Protocol encourages things along,” she observed sweetly.
David
Alderfer, Grand View’s Director of Development stopped in to see me. He told me
about Grand View’s “Room Service” system for meals. Patients can order anything
from an extensive menu at any time of the day. For example, I had a delicious
breakfast sandwich at
Dave saved the day for me when I tried unsuccessfully to send one of my columns from Grand View to the Herald. He sent a young man from the communication’s department who quickly solved the problem. Thank you again!!
One evening, I met Judy Ludwick Menszak, an RN who was in charge of my floor. She’s been at Grand View for 38 years. Judy’s a Pennridge grad (1962) and remembered the football games which my Quakertown and Pennridge friends played against each other ten years earlier.
I told her about my paternal grand parents who resided at 6th and Chestnut in Perkasie. Judy lived nearby. She talked about Perkasie’s landmarks, a generation ago…Steskal’s Grocery, Herstine’s Shoes, Groff’s Drug Store, the A and P, the movie theater, Renner Brothers Furniture, Miller-Moyer Jewelry, Bradburry’s penny candy, and Flexer’s News Agency.
Judy
reminisced about
Judy didn’t know my version of the headless engineer, a tragic accident at the Perkasie tunnel entrance in the 1940’s. In those days, two sets of tracks ran through the tunnel, one north and one south. So the tunnel was very narrow.
Coal burning locomotives powered the trains and the engineer sat next to the outside. An enormous boiler separated the engineer from the fireman. On the night of the fatal accident, the engineer leaned out of the cab just as the train entered the tunnel. He lost his head, as I remembered the story.
The train never slowed for the next stop, and roared right through Quakertown. The fireman on the opposite side of the cab discovered the gruesome accident and finally stopped the run-away train near Shelly, about three miles north of Quakertown.
That may be the reason why there is only one set of tracks going through the Perkasie Tunnel.
But I’ve strayed.
On one of the last nights that I spent at Grand View, a miniature collie paid a call. “Darla” is a certified therapy dog owned by Steve Homeyer from Sellersville. Twice each month, Steve and Darla visit Grand View and Rockhill Mennonite Home for 90 minutes. They’ve been bringing comfort and good cheer to patients for nearly two years. In addition to Darla, Steve told me that there are two Giant Schnauzers and a Golden Retriever that have similar assignments.
Getting a dog certified is like a job interview, Steve explained. The dog takes a series of tests to determine whether it has the right temperament. Some patients encourage the dog to snuggle with them in bed. As Darla left my room, Steve gave my hands a squirt of soap…a nice touch.
Last, in one of my physical therapy sessions, I met Trish Hoover. She’s tall (5 feet 11 inches) and good-looking. Trish accepted my offer to try sculling at Boathouse Row this spring. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, Mighty Betsy’s ordered a sumo suit for me.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith