Les Maskell

Firstly, may I introduce myself, Les Maskell, from Nambour in Queensland, married to Jennifer, have three adult children as well as Guillain-Barre Syndrome!

Secondly, can I thank you for the latest literature, which I found waiting for me upon my return from a couple of weeks in Tasmania, and all the information regarding the Association, as well as 'sharing an interesting story' which I would now like to do.

Having read various versions and other peoples experiences who have suffered this most disabling disease, and how it has affected their lives, I can certainly speak from first hand experience the way it treated mine!

In most instances, it seems to come out of the blue, with very little warning, but with devastating result if not acted upon immediately, in fact, in my own case, I believe that because of the speed of my diagnosis and subsequent hospitalisation, I am able to use my computer once again to tell my story!

I had noticed that I was becoming unsteady on my feet, and especially when I stood in front of a mirror in my bathroom to shave, when I would actually gradually fall forward so that my nose would touch the mirror! I think I put this down to light headedness, or perhaps a slight case of Vertigo, however, a couple of days later, whilst waiting for the traffic lights to change at the pedestrian crossing, I felt decidedly 'wobbly' - and as the lights changed to green, and I proceeded across, when I reached the middle, the lights then changed to red once again, and because there was a line of traffic waiting to go, I tried to walk a bit faster, but instead of increasing my pace, both of my legs folded, ( just like if you are standing someplace, and somebody creeps up behind you and quickly hits you with their open hand at the rear of your knees) and down I went!

The poor guy who was in front of the cars actually thought he had hit me with his vehicle, and he jumped out to assist me in getting up, and although I was able to get to the other side of the road with his help, I knew there was something terribly wrong with me, and by the following day, I had difficulty getting out of bed, and had to ask my wife to drive me to the local Doctor, who suspected that I may have G.B.S. – or which sounded a whole lot better, a viral disease!

I was advised to seek specialist treatment, and immediately went to Brisbane (Aspley) to see the Neurologist who confirmed the Doctors diagnosis. Upon returning home, I firstly looked up on the internet, what exactly ‘G.B.S.’ was, and to my dismay found that not a lot was known by the medical profession, regarding the source of the disease, or, indeed the treatment required to get rid of it, and when I turned the computer off, I really wished I had not even turned it on in the first place.