I was diagnosed with a mild stroke because my right eye drooped and my right arm became useless, like 1/2 the power of the day before, i lived on the side of a mountain and noticed that walking up the hill to my truck was like i was having an heart attack, walk 3steps, and stop and two shots of albutorol, i thought i had pnumonia. So i went to emergency in Willits where they took ct's , mri's but found nothing to do with a stroke. By now my double vision was out of control and my left eye had totaly shut down. While lying on the bed in the emergency room , both eyes shut, (to see i wouldhave to use my fingers to hold my eye open) one of the Dr.'s a doctor Betts kept starring at me, she told the nurse to put a ice pack on my eyes and wait ten or so minutes, whenshe lifted the ice pack both my eyes opened, if only for a brief time. She said i didnt have a stroke but i had myasthenia gravis. that diagnostic came in late janurary early feb.2011
They sent me to Palm drive hospital in Sebastopol where a leading neurologist who specialized in myasthenia practiced. they sent me to ICU where they began treating me with mestinon only. close to a thousand mg daily, left arm was starting to get weak, right arm was completly atrophied, then i went into crisis mode and stopped breathing,they over dosed me with 700mg mestinon within 10 minutes and i came out of crisis, started to get my left arm back a bit, but did a total of 13 days in ICU and a total of 19 days altogether when they released me.

5 days after my release, i felt really bad not breathing, still eating around 900mg mestinon daily eyes getting worse and now the diareah and drool, plus choking when i swallowed.
this time i went to UCSF, by the time i got there i couldnt get my chin off my chest, my waist had felt like it snapped in half and i couldnt stand up. i was in emergency 10 minutes when they sent me to ICU.
then i totaly stopped breathing, so they shoved the breathing tube in me , afeeding tube in my nose, catheters in both places, pick lines in my neck and under my arm. 2000mg cellcept to start, no mestinon.

5 days of IVIG, a day after they finished with the IVIG, they started 5days of plasama p. Then the 60mg of predinisone and and a host of related drugs . I specifically requested attivan to help me cope
they also had me on duloton for the pain the breathing apparatus was causing around my throat. there was a time when the supervising nurse told me i might want to call my closest relatives... my doctor said i had one of the most aggressive attacksof myasthenia gravis they had experienced.
About 4 days after my treatments, my eyes opened, 6 days latter, they removed the breathing tube. i weighed 235 lbs when i entered the hospital, when i was discharged i weighed 164. All this in less than 5months.

I am happy to say that i am now 200 lbs and holding, still taking 2000mg cellcept, 60mg predinisone, 60mg mestinon 4xdaily, rubinol and septra.... i use a nebulizer probably twice a day, have gone a day without using it. oh and i forgot to mention that the hospital gave me a parting gift of Ecoli, of which i did a 12 day treatment at home.

There are times i feel realy good, and there are times iknow i have myasthenia, I thank the Lord and UCSF for giving me a second chance, i look at things differently, i am so glad to have found this group,, it means all the difference in a day. We are all different, in our trearment and the severity of the illness. people and doctors say that we will get better. i believe in them and myself. I believe in all of you in this group. stay strong