Win the Day

By Vicki Raymond

Never could I imagine what three words would mean to my family in my lifetime. These three small words appear as the largest and brightest words scrolled in the blue heavenly sky, meaning strength, courage and always having the will to fight. The will to fight for yourself, your husband, your children, your grandchildren, your life, and for all that you are as a person.

Do away with negativity and pessimism, only focusing on positive thoughts for what your challenges are for the day and doing whatever you can possibly do, knowing that no matter what happens, you always Win the Day. The best advice was given to our family by a complete stranger during a very tragic accident involving our youngest son. We lived by these three words during his miraculous recovery and throughout our challenging days of life.

Then Guillain-Barre’ hit fast and hard, and I was thrown into an illness of paralysis and being placed on a ventilator. From the very beginning, my husband and sons were the most supportive and encouraging, reminding me to fight and never give up. A sign was placed on the wall in each hospital room reading, “Win the Day,” and nothing else needed to be said. I knew that there was a long road ahead of me, not knowing what I was battling. What was confusing was the lack of encouragement and compassion that came from the medical staff in the intensive care unit that was trusted with my care.

When my family and own physician was denied staying with me because of the restrictions of COVID, the three options were repeatedly mentioned while I was lying there paralyzed, on a ventilator, and could not speak to respond to what they were saying. Option number three was the end of life. Not knowing what the communication had been with my family, I prayed to God and trusted in Him. I focused on the meaning of our small three words, “Win the Day.” I was reminded by my husband before they were forced to leave to Walk with God.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685177706

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Win the Day

Vicki Raymond

Copyright © 2022 by Vicki Raymond

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

What Is Guillain-Barre’ Syndrome?

Win the Day

Diagnosed with Type A Flu and Bilateral 

Pneumonia

The 911 Call

My Life Before GBS

Medical Intensive Care Unit

Acute-Care Hospital Stay

Rehabilitation Hospital / One Step Closer

Hope/Faith and My Personal Residuals of GBS

From This Day Forward

I would like to dedicate this book to my husband, Dean, who stood beside me during this mysterious battle with ongoing love, support, and encouragement. To my three sons, Jett, Jordy, and Joby, who not only were there for me every step of the way, but also did hours of research on the illness that changed my life. Their love and support got me where I am today along with my husband always being by my side when allowable and never missing one day of being there for me. I always kept my precious seven grandchildren in mind and in my heart praying that I would get through this strange illness to see and love them again. This book is an awareness of symptoms and what to expect during the long road to recovery. My journey of Guillain-Barre’ that I endured is ongoing, and each day is different. Thank you to all my family and friends for their prayers, calls, cards, and to so many others that I didn’t know were praying for me and my family. I will forever be grateful to all of you. Knowing that I had all your prayers made this experience one that I was determined to fight and defeat with all that my body would allow. I would like to share my experience in hopes of helping others in the future. I knew that everything was in God’s hands, and I accepted that completely. I would end each day with our family’s favorite words of encouragement: Win the Day!

What Is Guillain-Barre’ Syndrome?

Guillain-Barre’ is a rare illness that can strike quickly at any time without notice to all ages. Signs and/or symptoms might or might not be present or recognizable. It is an illness where your entire world and life can change instantly. GBS is a rare but serious autoimmune disorder where the immune system attacks healthy nerve cells in your peripheral nervous system. This can cause weakness, numbness, tingling, excruciating pain, and paralysis. The cause of GBS is unknown but can be brought on as a side effect from a vaccination, respiratory illness, influenza or the vaccine, gastrointestinal illness, and anesthesia given for surgery. It could possibly be triggered by an acute bacterial or viral infection. The result is damage to the myelin sheaths, which are sleeves of insulating layers of fatty tissue that form around the nerves, including those in the brain and spinal cord to protect the nerve cells. The cells are part of the central nervous system that carries messages back and forth between your brain and the rest of your body. Each case is different in symptoms, severity, and recovery.

One day you are active, working, making plans for the next day, and all the things that you do in a normal day of your life. Then it hits with a vengeance, and there is not one thing that you can do about it. Your life changes, you have no job to return to, your loved ones have been deeply affected, and you are separated from those that you love if it happens during the COVID-19 pandemic, which my illness of GBS happened during the onset. Imagine your spinal cord covering being damaged suddenly, and all the nerves are frayed and exposed because the covering has been damaged or destroyed. My nerves were open and exposed, resulting in excruciating pain. At the same time, you are paralyzed from the shoulders down, not being able to have any movement whatsoever, which was my case with Guillain-Barre’. This all happens so fast that you have no time to realize or adjust to what is taking over your body. GBS often goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed because of its rarity, still being unfamiliar to the majority of the medical field to this day. The population of the United States is three hundred and thirty-three million, and only approximately three to six thousand are affected each year. Awareness of this illness is the key to the diagnosis upon the onset, severity, and recovery.

Win the Day

Win the Day has been a special saying with heartfelt meaning to our family for many years. Our youngest of three sons was involved in a vehicle accident with many challenges in the months ahead for him. He was sixteen years old at the time and was paralyzed from the waist down. The diagnosis from the doctors was that he would never walk again. How do you even begin to tell a sixteen-year-old that he will never walk again? Within a few days after his accident, a very caring and Christian gentleman came to visit with us about the accident and the future. To this day we know that he was placed in our lives at that time by our Heavenly Father. We did not know him personally, but he had heard about the accident and injuries and decided to come and visit with us to offer encouraging words. At the time, I was employed at a Christian university, and he was a leader for the missionary work. Little did we all know that these three words would be a part of our lives for the years to follow. He gave us some of the most important advice to remember for the rest of our lives. He told us no matter what happens from that day forward to always remember at the end of the day that you Won the Day. He said to always repeat this at the end of the day no matter what, to always remain positive and not ever allow others with negative thoughts voice those to you and to our son and most of all to never believe them. Always Win the Day! By the grace of God following months of care and in-hospital rehabilitation in Dallas, Texas, our son walked out of rehab with the aid of crutches and continued to improve in outpatient therapy.

What a miracle and blessing and we continue to live by the best advice ever in all circumstances. Little did I know how much I would think about this during my days and nights paralyzed with Guillain-Barre’. All three of my sons and my husband reminded me to always remember this at the end of each day as I lay there on a ventilator, not being able to move or speak. In the darkness, I prayed to our Heavenly Father and knew that I had Won the Day because God had blessed me with another day. My husband made a sign for me that he posted in each hospital room that I could see and never forget it. That sign was with me at the three hospitals for three months and was always taped on the wall in front of my bed. My three sons also reminded me to practice what I had always preached to them and that is Win the Day and Don’t Quit, no matter what the circumstances are. I wanted to smile when I thought about the ways that my husband and sons were encouraging me to fight the fight and not give up. They knew to use my words in reverse that I had always preached to them when times were difficult for different reasons. You must always be positive and be thankful to God for the blessings we do have, and most of all, you do not have to look far to realize how fortunate we all are and have been even with many misfortunes in our family over the years.

My favorite poem has always been Don’t Quit. It is so meaningful, and the words are filled with encouragement. One day, many years ago, while going through my husband’s family Bible, I found a printout of the same poem in the Bible, and it was his mother’s favorite poem also. I knew her from when I was a child, but she passed away the year before we married. She was an awesome person, and I really missed out on not having her as my mother-in-law. I always thought that when I found this poem in her Bible, it was my way of having her approval for marrying her youngest son. Another sign from God that has never been forgotten. The other poem that is a favorite of mine is Footprints. I have always reflected back on this poem when things seemed exceedingly difficult, whether it was from losing a family member, going through financial hardships, or trying to make the right decisions as a mother and wife, but most of all trying to live the type of life that God would want me to live with no regrets. I found out during this time that He was always with me, and I was not afraid if it was His will to take me home. It is really hard to describe this time of the unknown, but I do have those memories of thinking that my time was limited. Was I prepared? This happened so fast, and there was so much talk about the end of life from people that I didn’t even know. They were in the medical field, and they weren’t my family. I wasn’t certain what was happening, but I was ready if and when the time came. As each day turned to darkness, I would lie there and remember the special words and repeat them over and over in my mind because I had lived one more day and Won the Day!

Don’t Quit

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,

When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit,

Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is strange with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many a failure comes about,

When he might have won had he stuck it out.

Don’t give up though the pace seems slow—

You may succeed with another blow:

Success is failure turned inside out—

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell just how close you are,

It may be near when it seems so far.

So, stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit—

It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit,

For all the sad words of tongue or pen,

The saddest are these, It might have been!

—John Greenleaf Whittier

1807–1892

Footprints

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he

was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across

the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene,

he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one

belonging to him, and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of his life flashed before

him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand.

He noticed that many times along the path of his

life there was only one set of footprints. He also

noticed that it happened at the very lowest and

saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him, and he questioned the

Lord about it. "Lord, you said that once I decided

to follow you, you’d walk with me all the way.

But I have noticed that during the most troublesome

times in my life, there is only one set of footprints.

I don’t understand why when I needed you most

you would leave me."

The Lord replied, "My child, My precious child, I

love you and I would never leave you. During your

times of trial and suffering when you see only one

set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

Anonymous

Diagnosed with Type A Flu and Bilateral Pneumonia

The sixth day of March was a Friday, and like every day at work, I was addressing the issues of the home office and staff, caring for the residents, and visiting with family members. E-mails were starting to come in from Texas Health and Human Services regarding COVID-19, and we were to start implementing changes right away. This was all very new, and no one understood the true meaning of COVID-19 and the changes that would occur almost instantaneously. During that weekend on Sunday, my throat started feeling scratchy but did not think much of it. I had taken my husband to the airport on Saturday for a quick trip to Colorado to drive a vehicle back for our oldest son. On Monday, I had started