B次元官网网址淲hen I woke up, I was paralyzed from the waist down.B次元官网网址�
Fourteen year-old Langford resident Cassidy Scott, now 14, recalled swinging her legs off the bed and collapsing onto the floor. Uncertain why her limbs werenB次元官网网址檛 responding, she thought she was sick with mononucleosis, but knew immediately she needed to get to the hospital. B次元官网网址淚f I lived alone and I couldnB次元官网网址檛 get to my phone, I would have eventually went into a coma and stopped breathing.B次元官网网址�
What she didnB次元官网网址檛 know was she was afflicted with Guillain Barr茅 syndrome (GBS), a rare condition with symptoms ranging from weakness, tingling and numbness in the extremities, to complete paralysis. It was slowly robbing her body of its ability to function.
Starting from the top of her head, the symptoms began affecting her neck, shoulders and arms and slowly worked their way to the bottoms of her feet, hobbling her ability to walk. Her stomach stopped functioning, she stopped breathing and she eventually fell into a coma-like state. Machines syphoned food into her body and pushed air in and out of her lungs.
Dr. Allen Beck of Victoria General HospitalB次元官网网址檚 pediatric intensive care unit said the exact cause of the syndrome is unknown.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a fairly rare disorder and most people probably arenB次元官网网址檛 familiar with it,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚 would see it in intensive care settings maybe five to 10 times a year. Here on the Island, probably one or two a year in children. There are possibly more cases that donB次元官网网址檛 get to intensive care intervention.B次元官网网址�
GBS may be spurred by other illnesses, Beck said. In CassidyB次元官网网址檚 case, a bout with mononucleosis may have caused an immune reaction, he said.
B次元官网网址淪he wasnB次元官网网址檛 able to communicate at all with us. She couldnB次元官网网址檛 move or talk; she was just in a coma,B次元官网网址� said ScottB次元官网网址檚 mother, Lia Carle. B次元官网网址淭o see how much brain activity she had, they did a (scan) B次元官网网址� She was basically dreaming B次元官网网址� which is good, because it would be really difficult to not be able to move or talk, but know exactly what was happening.B次元官网网址�
Five months pregnant with her third child, Carle stayed by CassidyB次元官网网址檚 side at B.C. ChildrenB次元官网网址檚 Hospital in Vancouver, where Scott had been airlifted. Other potential causes of her condition were slowly ruled out using tests that included a spinal tap, until doctors landed on GBS. There is no known test for the syndrome, except to rule out all other possibilities.
B次元官网网址淓very time we went there she was just worse and worse. She could move her shoulder and arms and her eyes, and then the next day she couldnB次元官网网址檛 move, so it was extremely scary,B次元官网网址� Carle said. B次元官网网址淭hey said she will get better, we donB次元官网网址檛 know how (much) better sheB次元官网网址檒l get. It was really scary to see her declining and declining and then eventually in a coma.B次元官网网址�
Every day for three months Scott was given a plasma exchange. The procedure takes blood out of the patient to separate red and white blood cells from plasma, and reintroduces the blood cells into her body with donor plasma.
B次元官网网址淪he had a response right away; she began being able to move her eyes,B次元官网网址� Carle said. B次元官网网址淚t returns movement from the top back down. So she started being able to move her eyebrows and shrug her shoulders.B次元官网网址�
After two weeks being completely paralyzed and unresponsive, Scott slowly regained her strength. She eventually started physiotherapy, re-learning to walk and talk. She hadnB次元官网网址檛 taken in solid food in over a month, so eating was a challenge. After being intubated for so long, she needed to re-learn how to breath without the tubes surgically implanted into her throat. Months later, she returned to heal in Langford.
B次元官网网址淲hen she came back here she started school in a wheelchair B次元官网网址� Then she had a walker, and then she had the poles and now she has splints on her legs,B次元官网网址� Carle said, adding that the legs are last to repair themselves.
An ordeal that started in April 2015 continues, but Scott, now in Grade 8, is happy to have her health back and enjoys being active again. The words #Blessed are scribed on her hand with a marker, a personal note from one of her best friends. She admits there are still sometimes challenges, but she finds solace in a new passion: photography.
B次元官网网址�(With a camera) I can make the world look different then it actually is,B次元官网网址� Scott said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 like seeing something from a different perspective, a different set of eyes.B次元官网网址�
A year after facing the greatest challenge of her young life, Scott is looking at life in a completely new way.
alim@goldstreamgazette.com
