Guillain-Barre Syndrome is an autoimmune disorder which attacks the myelin sheathing on nerves.  The most notable effects include weakness that progresses from fingers and toes all the way inward to the body's core.  The weakness is followed by paralysis as the myelin is further damaged and nerves disabled.

My best friend David's dad came down with GBS earlier this year.  At first, it was misdiagnosed as tendonitis, which wouldn't be unusual in a 50-year-old man who's been working 11-hours per day, 6-days per week, for the last 30 or so years.  The cure for tendonitis is rest & time.  Time makes GBS worse.  The hospital incorrectly diagnosed GBS, while commenting on how extraordinarily healthy Bob was otherwise.  He responded to treatment (plasmapheresis = specialized blood-filtering), but suffered a bad relapse a few weeks later. (A few weeks ago)  During the relapse, he worsened progressively, to the point where internal motor nerve damage made it difficult to breathe.  Earlier this week, he made the trip to U of M hospital, where his diagnosis was altered.  He had "Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy".  The effects are the same, but the treatment (immunoglobulin IV) is different.  Right now, he's on a cocktail of drugs which can slow/halt the problem until immunoglobulin can start.

Divine providence has also declared that Social Security and Medicaid will cover the bills for an otherwise uninsured jack-of-all-trades, and father of 6.  In a year or two of monthly immunoglobulin treatments, Bob should make a 90%+ recovery, with full use of his extremities and some possible strength loss.

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The correct diagnosis was CIDP, which is similar to GBS, but treated differently.  From what I understand, immunoglobulin is tailor-made for the patient, and rush-delivered so it can be administered in time to be useful.  The treatments are also astoundingly expensive since they are custom-made.

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It looks like my David has the same condition, in less advanced form.  Crap.  Triple crap.

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