Local man falls victim to rare Guillain-Barré syndrome

One day, a local man was happy and healthy, and the next day, he was paralyzed and needed breathing and feeding tubes. That’s how fast Guillain-Barré syndrome can strike.

It’s not super rare, but a hospital might see a case every two to three years.

Guillain-Barré syndrome is something the Varacelli family never heard of before. Now, they are intimately familiar.

It is a rapid-onset weakness triggered by the immune system.

Two-thirds of patients have had an infection about a month before, which causes the body’s immune system to overreact.

Ross Varacelli is a husband, father of four, business owner and youth football coach, but in a matter of days, life as he knew it was taken away. It started with typical virus-like symptoms and quickly spiraled.

“They told me to take him to the nearest emergency room. That was Monday, Aug. 12; he was intubated by Friday,” said Carla Varacalli, his wife. “Tuesday, he couldn’t breathe, and then it was just full paralysis and intubation by Friday, so within a week, I saw my husband completely deteriorate after not even having a cold.”

After excluding other possibilities, doctors with NCH determined Ross was hit with Guillain-Barré syndrome. The number one cause is a post-viral response when antibodies go awry.

“Every year or two, we will get somebody who has Guillain-Barré syndrome, and in this case, the patient then required us to put a breathing tube in their mouth, and we are breathing for him,” said Dr. David Lindner, pulmonologist, NCH.

Carla added, “The neurologist that has seen him said his brain is perfect. Thank God. I’m so grateful for that, but he’s also living in this nightmare, knowing every step of the way what’s happening, and I almost would say it’s like he’s being trapped in his own body.”

The team at NCH sprang into action, even replacing Ross’ plasma, which was sending his body the signal to shut down.

After weeks in the ICU, he was transferred to a long-term recovery hospital.

“Because this is not going to be something like strep throat, where I give you antibiotics, and tomorrow you’re better,” Lindner said. “This is going to be a long haul, and he is going to be on the ventilator for a longer period of time. He’s going to be on the feeding tube. He’s going to need rehab.”

Ross’ care now is supportive. Damage to the nervous system, which controls movement, takes a long time to repair.

“I keep hearing a year; that’s very hard to digest.,” Carla said. “I know that that’s the prognosis. I’ve been down on my knees begging God like I can’t do life without my husband for a year, so we’re praying for a miracle, but I’m also counting my blessings that he’s here and that we do have hope that he will fully, fully recover.”

His chances are good but with a long road ahead, his family also needs supportive care.

The family is relying on friends and the community to help them through this crisis. Recovery can take anywhere from six months to years.

If you’d like to know more about this rare condition, click here. The family has also established a GoFundMe.