I have seen quite a few Guillain Barre patients over the years, in acute and
rehab stages. How was this man in his acute stage ? from the cardiac point
of view ? In my experience, you need to take more care with people who have
had cardiac arhythmias during the acute phase. These patients seem to have a
much reduced exercise tolerance in the rehab phase and their fatigue tends
to stop them from doing too much anyway - but I would certainly be cautious
with someone who is keen to push himself - perhaps you could arrange an
exercise tolerance test with ECG monitoring to give you both peace of mind.
Nikki Adams [log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: HandsOnPTA <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sunday, April 05, 1998 3:30 PM
Subject: Guillain-Barre
> Hi all. I am a PTA student on affiliation at an inpatient rehab facility.
My
>clinical instructor and I have recently started treating a man with
Guillain-
>Barre syndrome first hospitalized in November of '97. Neither one of us is
>very familiar with GB, except that fatigue is to be avoided to minimize the
>risk of relapse. One of the therapists in the dept. said that since he was
no
>longer acute, the issue was not quite as critical as it once was.
> My question is: how hard should we work the patient, and at what might
serve
>as fatigue "hallmarks" that should signal that it is time to stop? I am
>particularly concerned due to the patient's stated plan to go with his pre-
>morbid workout regimen of "busting my a**" Mon. and Tues., taking it easy
on
>Wed., then pushing the limits again on Thur. and Fri.
> He is very cooperative and obviously well motivated, but I am concerned
that
>his motivation might work to his detriment. Any ideas or suggestions?
>
>Robert Gable
>Allentown, PA
>[log in to unmask]
>
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