One step at a time

Therese Smith
Daily Mail health reporter 

Tuesday March 16, 2004 


In less than a day last April 14, Wayne Perdue of Alum Creek went from a muscled, able-bodied railroad man to a paralyzed person on a ventilator, fighting for his very life.

Just like that, his body failed him without an advance hint -- except for a common sinus infection for which he was taking an antibiotic.

By midnight of that day, Dr. Glenn Goldfarb understood what suddenly had numbed Perdue's body and robbed him of even the slightest movement.

A spinal tap and an electrical test of his nerves pointed to Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a condition that affects one to two people in every 100,000, according to the syndrome's international foundation. 

It is the most common contributor to paralysis, Goldfarb said. 

Unfortunately for Perdue, his case was the worst Goldfarb ever had treated.

"Your body just attacks you," said Susie Perdue, Wayne's wife and constant companion through the nearly yearlong saga.

Photo: Chip Ellis 
Trainer
Thompson encourages Perdue as he removes his braces and clothing for a dip in the pool. 

Photo: Chip Ellis 
Wayne Perdue
Nearly a year after being stricken with Guillian-Barre Syndrome, Wayne Perdue slowly is regaining the use of his body. Occupational therapist Jason Thompson encourages Perdue as he steps off a lift into the West Virginia Rehabilitation Center pool. 
While Guillain-Barre (pronounced ghee-yan bah-ray) knocked the Perdue family flat, the emotional support and prayers of countless friends and acquaintances have propped them up, even now that Perdue is back home from about 11 months in hospitals, Susie Perdue said. 

He continues daily physical and occupational therapy, often in the warm pool at the West Virginia Rehab Center in Institute.

He has received more than 500 get-well cards. Ten to 20 visitors a day came to his rooms at Select Specialty Hospital located in General Hospital and to HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital in Morgantown, where he was a patient from Nov. 12 to March 1.

And Susie Perdue's company, Little General Stores, held her supervisor's job for her for 10 months.

Physicians don't know exactly what causes Guillain-Barre. But about half of cases occur two or three weeks after a viral or bacterial infection such as a sore throat, diarrhea or upper respiratory illness.

Goldfarb said the syndrome results from a mistaken immune response. The body attacks its own myelin, or coating around the nerves. With a second type, the body destroys the nerves themselves. This describes what happened to Perdue.

"A lot of disease is due to the immune system in the body working in error, doing the wrong thing," he said. "In trying to respond to a bacterial or viral infection, the body makes a mistake."

The result may be Guillain-Barre, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, myasthenia gravis or some other immune disease.


While most patients recover completely from Guillain-Barre, a worst-case scenario can take years to heal. Nerves regenerate only one millimeter a day and some nerves need to grow three to four feet.
"You want to keep muscles in tone as much as possible while waiting for the nerves to come back," Goldfarb said.

Patients also need to eat healthfully and get enough rest.

When Boone County native Perdue, a gang leader for Norfolk Southern Railway, woke up last April 14, his legs felt numb, he said.

"By 1 p.m. I had trouble breathing and swallowing. I couldn't hold my head up."

Before the day ended, doctors had put him on a respirator. Five days later, he suffered a heart attack, then a massive nosebleed prompted by the blood thinners for the heart problem. 

"I had pneumonia three times," Perdue said. "Only my heart, kidneys and brain were working."

The Perdues were told that week three would be the worst, and then things would improve.

As it happened, he spent 33 days unable even to open his eyes. After they opened, he couldn't shut them for another 60 days. Nurses had to tape his lids down during sleep.

"I think, ‘How did I make it? How did he make it?'" Susie Perdue said. "He's had a great attitude, not ‘why me,' but ‘why not me?'"

Now that the Perdues are home, he sleeps on a hospital bed in the living room; she on a nearby couch. In an emotional and joyful homecoming, he returned to the Bible Center Church March 7 for the first time since his illness.

"On April 12, it will be one year behind us," Susie Perdue said. "He can eat and drink by himself. He keeps improving. We take it as it comes. Though his nerves are regenerating day by day, it's slow.

"We lost faith and gained faith."