WHEN Danika McManus (26) – her mother works in BT call centre, Enniskillen – headed off to Sydney last year to take up a job in a bar, little did she think she would end up in the intensive care unit in the Prince of Wales hospital.
Twice she was discharged’ by its A & E Unit. No one realised she had fallen victim to Guillian Barre Syndrome, a condition that, literally, drains the energy from the system, and can be fatal if left unchecked.
Today, Danika is back with her parents near Ballyconnell.
Last week, she spoke to the Herald about her ordeal, her slow, slow ‘85 per cent’ recovery, and her anxiety that readers are made aware of the condition.
“I was just settling in in my job. I was living with my sister and she had just gone back to Ireland the week I got sick, so I was on my own.
“I started to feel weak and I thought I was coming down with a flu and asked to be let home early.”
Danika admitted herself to A & E. She was put on a drip and discharged. She went back the next day and, once more, a virus was suggested.
“I was getting weaker and weaker but, I said ‘I can’t go back’. I didn’t want to go back, but the next day I got that bad I had to ring the ambulance. I was that bad.”
Tests showed nothing untoward and, yet, her condition deteriorated the point where she was unable to breathe and she was admitted to the intensive care unit.
By chance, a friend of her mum, on hearing about her symptoms, guessed it was (Guillian Barre Syndrome) and her mum alerted the hospital.
“They realised it was GBS. I was in Intensive Care for three days before my family arrived.
“I was completely powerless, could not move anything and, to help with my breathing, they put me on a life support machine. If someone wanted to talk to me, I would move my head to the letters on a letter board. That went on for three months.”
As well as not being able to speak, Danika was unable to eat and, eventually, lost the ability to swallow.
After three months in ICU, she was moved to rehab and, bit by bit, her condition began to improve. But, she had come down a long way.
“It took four physios to help me stand up on my own and, it was a case of one step at a time until I was able to walk unaided before I was discharged.”
Danika will admit she as one of the lucky ones.
“Some people don’t make a full recovery, and the condition isn’t that rare. Two months before I went in, a fellow went in with the exact same symptoms as I had.
“I met him while I was in hospital and he came in to visit me. The hospital twice sent him home, saying there was nothing wrong with him before they diagnosed GBS, but in saying that, once we got diagnosed, the hospital knew exactly what to do.”
Today, Danika is receiving once a week physio from Ciaran Daly in the South West Acute Hospital, which she continues at home.
“It’s 100 per cent crucial. I am getting up to four hours a day. If I hadn’t that, I would still be back in Sydney. I can walk a short distance without having to sit down. The last thing the power comes back to is your toes.”
However, Danika intends going back to Sydney, and, when she does, it will be down to all the support, practical and spiritual she has got from the professionals, from her family, from friends and well wishers.
But, above all, she wants readers to be alert to Guillian Barre Syndrome, and she’s grateful there is a local support group of which Suzanne McCaffrey, Tempo (895 41 664) is an active member. She fell victim to GBS 19 years ago.
The last word had to left to Danika’s mum, Brid. She was with her daughter all the time she was in hospital, following diagnosis.
“She sure is brave and very positive. She kept us going, with her mischief positive eye contact at all times.
“Only twice in all of the six months did we see tears.
“Even when in rehab in a wheelchair, not able to move her body apart from her arms, she was “giving out” to her wheelchair comrades in rehab who were reluctant about going to the gym.”
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