After the Orange Belt

I received my orange belt in Kung Fu on March 9, 1997. This was the most physically challenging experience that I had ever had in my life, and I was thrilled to make it through the 3-hour test still standing on my own two feet. Finding out that I had passed was one of the highlights of my year!

Two weeks later, I caught bronchitis on the return trip from a vacation in St. Croix. The weather on the island was in the high 80's and sunny but when we landed in NYC, it was a cold snowy blizzard. I contracted viral bronchitis which held on for 2 weeks, but I pushed through it and continued to work.

The last week in March, I started feeling really strange. My face was constantly flushed, and I was hot all the time. One day, food started tasting really bad, like metal, and I started wondering if I had been poisoned or had touched something toxic and gotten it in my mouth. Then on Wednesday, we had a really brutal Kung Fu practice and by the next morning, my feet felt numb and my back hurt - really hurt. By Sunday, I was still feeling bad so I went to see a General Practitioner who diagnosed sciatica and flu, and sent me home with antibiotics and muscle relaxants. I took the medication as diagnosed, but I was so weak and tired that I couldn't go to work, so I spent the days sleeping. By Thursday, I was very weak, had no control of my hands, was unable to sit up properly, and my face had gone numb. The only things that I could eat that tasted even slightly normal were watermelon and baked potatoes. I called the G.P. and he recommended that I see a neurologist immediately.

I was able to get an appointment that morning. The neurologist asked me about 200 questions including whether I had had a flu shot, been in the woods, ever had mono, and many, many more. He performed several strength tests and after about 25 minutes, diagnosed Guillian-Barre Syndrome. The neurologist suggested that we wait it out through the weekend and then decide about beginning treatment on Monday. He also warned that if there was any change in my breathing, we were to go to the emergency room immediately.

The neurologist prepared me with detailed information about Guillian-Barre. Guillian-Barre is very rare, 1 in 100,000 people are affected. The mortality rate is 4%, even with treatment. Most die from respiratory failure. Some people never recover from the paralysis and live on life support indefinitely. No-one knows exactly what causes it, but it follows viral infections and flu shots consisting of live virus. Up until 6 years ago, there was no treatment. My prognosis was not good.

We went home. I had no way of contacting Rama directly, but sent a fax describing my situation in the calmest terms that I could manage. Given the fact that I had just been diagnosed with a life-threatening, extremely rare illness, I'm sure that my letter to Rama was less than the factual account that I intended. The severity of my illness was related to Rama, and I received a phone call assuring me that my message had indeed been delivered appropriately.

I spent a very tense weekend, terrified, in tremendous pain, and worrying about my breathing and watching my strength continue to fade away. The pain and paralysis increased and by Monday, I was not able to speak clearly, was too weak to walk, and I could not get myself in and out of bed, let alone up and down the stairs.

I was hospitalized, began plasmapheresis immediately. This is an extremely invasive treatment, and very frightening. The catheter was surgically inserted under my collarbone and after x-rays one hour later, I was hooked up to the dialysis machine to begin the first treatment. (Plasmapheresis is a process similar to kidney dialysis, that removes the blood from the body, separates the plasma from the red blood cells with a centrifuge, replaces the old nasty plasma with new plasma and returns the blood to the body.) I asked the doctor what I could expect to feel, and he said "nothing, unless you feel light-headed." The dialysis machine was turned on, and I had an immediate sensation that reminded me of when Luke Skywalker turns on his light saber for the first time. My limbs began to tingle immediately, the feeling of being in a seminar with Rama - and the doctor seemed very surprised that I experienced such a drastic sensation. It is difficult to describe the physical sensation of this experience, but it was clear from the doctor's reaction, that what I was experiencing was not normal. He checked my blood pressure and the controls of the machine constantly, but was unable to account for the tingling, light-saber-esque buzzing feeling that was surging through my body.

The surprises continued. By the next morning when my neurologist came in to see me, my strength had begun to return - enough for the doctor to remark "Wow!" after doing the leg and arm strength tests. My appetite returned immediately and I ate something other than watermelon and potatoes for the first time in two weeks. This was a relief, because I had lost 15 lbs. By the second day and second treatment, I was walking with crutches by myself. After the 5th treatment, I was walking unassisted, managing stairs and able to shower alone. I returned to work the following week and was driving again two weeks later. My neurologist called my recovery "miraculous." 5 weeks after the fact, I was proclaimed "cured."

I had the opportunity to speak with Rama in person several weeks after my final check up with my neurologist. I approached him after a humid evening of dancing in the Caribbean, full of emotion and fully understanding the great gift I had received - I thanked him for his intervention and told him that my doctor had proclaimed my recovery a miracle. His reply: "Let's just keep that our secret, shall we?"

-- T. V. A.