Mokena Man Walks Out of Silver Cross Hospital Following Treatment for Guillain-Barre Syndrome at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab

As he usually does, Bo Boll woke up early one morning in April of this year to catch the news. A little while later, he found he couldn’t open a bottle of Gatorade, so his wife Sandra helped him before she went off to her job as a schoolteacher. 

“All of a sudden, I felt really weak, like all the energy was being drained out of me,” said Boll, 74, of Mokena. “I was weak like I was getting the flu. 

“I called my doctor, and he told me to call an ambulance right away. I was on my way to open the garage door for them when I collapsed. I couldn’t move my arms or legs. I had to give the security code to the 911 dispatcher so they could open the garage door.” 

When he arrived at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, Boll was put into isolation until medical personnel could figure out what caused his sudden paralysis. After a battery of tests, they found evidence of Guillain-Barre – a rare disorder in which the body's immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system – in his spinal fluid. Then he was rushed to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit. 

“I was pretty fuzzy, and I couldn’t move my arms much or my legs. I was breathing and swallowing OK. But they had to have several people carry me to the bed. I was thinking, ‘If I’m not able to move my arms and legs, I don’t want my wife to have to take care of me. Just let me go.’” 

‘You’re Going to Walk Out of Here’

Not long after, he was being wheeled into the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab’s 28-bed inpatient rehabilitation unit at Silver Cross Hospital, where therapists are experienced in treating a broad range of conditions. 

Physical Therapist Jada Green and Occupational Therapist Lindsay Sloan got to work on Boll right away.

Admittedly, Green said his situation looked dire. 

“He couldn’t move his arms or legs, and his core was very weak, meaning he couldn’t get up or down without help.” 

Since he couldn’t use his arms, Boll had to blow into a device from his bed to call a nurse. His wife or a nurse spoon-fed him his meals. 

Therapists at the AbilityLab quickly began putting Boll’s recovery plan in place. 

“We work with the patient on overcoming the doubts they have about their abilities so they can make a good recovery,” Sloan said. She and Green said it’s about building trust with the patient. 

“As they see they’re getting a little better each day, they begin to trust us that they can do even more.” 

Initially, Boll said, he absolutely did not believe he could do any of what Green and Sloan were insisting he could. 

“They had to use a patient lift and four people just to get me out of bed and to simulate walking,” he said. “Then, they put rubber grips on my spoon and fork so I could begin trying to feed myself. It was brutal. I had to use two hands.” 

Every day for two hours, Green and Sloan and others would urge, cajole, and use humor; whatever they needed to do to convince Boll he could do more. 

“They kept saying, ‘You’re going to do it. You’re going to walk out of here,’” added Boll. 

“Three or four therapists would be helping me down the hall while I was in the lift. From the side, I would hear some others telling me to fix my position. My therapy wasn’t just one-on-one, it was everyone with me.” 

Beginning to Believe

As he saw the small improvements they did, Boll began trusting them enough to trust himself. 

“Every day became a challenge to see how far I could push myself. I started getting out of the wheelchair on my own. I started using the walker with one of them holding a band on me to make sure I didn’t fall. Then, I started using a cane. If they would say, ‘Take 30 steps,’ I would take 50.” 

Dr. Ross Coolidge, who specializes in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation for Shirley Ryan AbilityLab at Silver Cross Hospital, was overseeing Boll’s case. 

“Dr. Coolidge would come into my room and say, ‘What did you do yesterday that will amaze me even more?’” Boll said. 

Dr. Coolidge said Boll’s recovery in such a short time was amazing, “especially considering he was basically a quadriplegic when he came in. This is the outcome we would have hoped for months or years down the road. We will release Guillain-Barre patients knowing there still is a lot of work to do until the nerve coverings repair themselves. But he was able to walk out on his own.” 

No Cause; No Cure

No one is sure what causes Guillain-Barre Syndrome, although Dr. Coolidge said it often begins following some type of virus. Sometimes, it gets better after a few months of medical treatment and therapy; in its most serious form, when it affects the respiratory system, he said, it can be fatal. 

Since Guillain-Barre causes a person’s body to attack its own immune system, Dr. Coolidge said

Boll also was given intravenous immunoglobulin, new antibodies to help fight his renegade antibodies. 

Boll said the week prior to his attack, he called his doctor when he felt a bad respiratory issue coming on. He was prescribed some antibiotics and told his potassium was a bit low, hence the early morning Gatorade the day he fell ill. 

Sloan and Green said they had never seen someone arrive in such critical shape and turnaround that quickly. And as wonderful as that was, they made sure he never overdid it. 

“A lot of it was his determination to get better,” Green said, “and his trusting in us. His wife also provided so much support.” 

“I truly believe as I go throughout my career, he will be one of the top five patients I will never forget,” Sloan said. 

Boll most definitely feels the same way. 

“Jada and Lindsay, everybody at Silver Cross was just great,” said Boll, who continues therapy three days a week, two hours each time. Sloan’s husband even built a small step so he could move easier from the house to the garage. 

But the parting gift when he was released in May, he said, that was something very special. 

“As I was starting to get motivated, I began using a line from an old Clint Eastwood movie: ‘Adapt and Overcome.’ 

“At my farewell party at the hospital, they gave me a T-Shirt with ‘Adapt and Overcome’ on it, signed by the whole staff. That was very special. They wheeled me to the front, I got up from the wheelchair and walked the 12 steps to my wife’s car. They were right, I did walk out of there.” 

For more information about the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab at Silver Cross Hospital, visit www.silvercross.org