Once more with feeling – more feeling!

Thanks to all my faithful readers and friends for the kind messages and wishes for my return to health. All seems to be going well with the immunoglobulin (Ig) treatment. The return of sensation to my extremities seems to have stabilised for the moment, although there is no guarantee that won’t decline again.

I saw my specialist this week and she was pleased with the results of the first Ig infusions but cautioned about too much optimism saying it was early days. She stuck pins into me and was pleased that I felt more pain than before (!) but all my reflexes were still absent, as the doctors say. She has now scheduled me for another eight Ig sessions, once a month, starting September 12.

We discussed the mechanism of the Ig infusions. In Guillain Barre, a person’s peripheral nerves are attacked by the body’s own immune defence system. The simplified version of her preferred theory is that the addition of good antibodies to my body tells the immune system that there are loads of antibodies and it need not produce so many of the dodgy ones itself. More complex theories can be found here – and here’s a sample.

For ages I’ve been worried about the state of my pathogenic cytokines! Anyway, fingers crossed that the Ig actually fixes the problem.

The pains in my hands and feet are fading a bit, so I’m coming off the nerve painkiller Lyrica. I will talk to my doctor about getting my aviation medical back. This will allow me to resume flying power planes – and so I can fly the glider tow planes again.

I should also be able to resume my progress towards being a proper gliding instructor. That’ll be fun.