John Hutchinson
On the morning of April 30, 2016, I had difficulty getting out of bed. My legs were very heavy. The first time I tried, I fell. My wife had to help me up. I felt “weird” all day and later that day, I fell again but this time, I was knocked unconscious and was taken to the hospital. I was paralyzed from the nose down and spent the next 8 1/2 months in 4 different hospitals.
Almost 9 years later, I have regained more movement, not 100% in most areas though. I am still unable to walk and in a power wheelchair. I have regained most of my arm movement, although my right arm is stronger than the left. Oddly enough, my fingers cannot bend. I’ve gone through a lot of Occupational Therapy and have the therapists stumped because they just don’t want to bend. This makes it very difficult to grip so I’m forever dropping things. As frustrating as this “thing” is, I try to keep my humor and my optimism. As a former Marine, my modo has always been “Adapt and Overcome”!!!
One of the things I miss the most is not being able to take vacations. We were lifetime cruisers before I came down with GBS. I think that was one of the hardest things for me – not being able to do normal, enjoyable things. However, with much perseverance and a lot of “tweaking”, we took our first post-GBS cruise in 2019 and have been on several since then.
My wife started a blog recently explaining what we went through, how we’re trying to overcome this horrific disease and how we “adapt and overcome” (https://hutchsstory.blogspot.com/). I think it’s a good form of therapy for her too. Sharing our story and hopefully showing others, in similar situations, that life is worth living and enjoying the blessings that God has given us.
