Kill the Demon?: My Guillain-Barré Experience

by Paul Schäublin, Desmarchelier Armèle (Translator)

Overview

Paul Schäublin was affected by Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) in 2006, whilst working in Africa. This book is a personal account of his experience with this mysterious disease which significantly impacted the rest of his life. Initially a form of auto-therapy, this story gradually became a book for all those who have inexplicably contracted some such obscure disease. This is a story of sickness, struggle, endurance and ultimately hope with a positive outcome. 

Paul Schäublin was born in Vevey, Switzerland (1949). Having studied at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), he graduated as civil engineer. Paul has worked for most of his life as project manager for a major oil company. As part of his work, he has lived in a large number of countries from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan, Australia to Papua New Guinea and almost all the countries of the African continent. Paul currently lives in Amsterdam where he co-directs an art gallery devoted to photography.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789083004020
Publisher:	Gallery WM
Publication date:	06/21/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	112
File size:	7 MB

Table of Contents

1. Cameroon - Mount Cameroon ascension - Lagos - practically paralyzed within 24 hours

"Lagos Airport, Tuesday November 28, 2006. The ambulance taking me to my emergency evacuation has been held up in front of the gate to the tarmac. The engine is ticking over. Outside, I can hear my doctor and the ambulance driver arguing with the security guards. They are speaking in dialect and I can’t understand a word. The discussion becomes heated, they are having a row. I am lying in the ambulance unable to move. I am not in pain; I am paralysed."

2. Geneva - La Tour Hospital - 4 weeks including 2 weeks incentive care - dignity

"There was a somewhat peculiar nursing assistant, a little man in his forties with a Near Eastern or Eastern accent (I have forgotten his nationality), who once commented on the size of my mini droppings when he emptied the pot. One day he was taking me to the toilet, supporting me by the buttocks, when he “accidentally” slipped a finger into my anus when lifting me. I was so surprised that I did not say anything. I will never know if he had done it on purpose or ifit was an accident. I strongly suspected the first option, but what could I have done? Accused him? Called the head nurse and told him that the guy “fingered my ass”? After that, I was on my guard whenever he came near me, but there were no more incidents of this kind. This episode serves to illustrate the state of total dependence and vulnerability inherent to my situation."

3. Valmont Clinic (Montreux - Switzerland) Revalidation Centre - 5 months - physiotherapy - Dr Bogousslavsky - Rainer Maria Rilke

"During her first visit my sister-in-law asked me if I had seen the famous neurologist, Dr. Julien Bogousslavsky. She explained that he had been head of the neurology department at the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) but had been forced to leave his post last year in the wake of a scandal.I made a few inquiries and discovered that not only was this neurologist in Valmont but that he was in charge of me. He was the doctor who had stressed the seriousness of my condition and urged me to consider moving to a house with fewer stairs. I was surprised to learn that he was an internationally renowned neurologist.... When he was head of the neurology department at the CHUV he had managed to embezzle more than 5 million Swiss francs...  Under arrest, Dr. Bogousslavsky confessed to his crime and apologized. He declared that he had embezzled the money to satisfy his all-consuming passion: collecting valuable art books. He managed to auction off his collection for a good price and repay the misappropriated funds in full. After 8 weeks he was released on bail. While awaiting trial he was hired by the Valmont Clinic.

4. Amsterdam - 5 months - walking without stick; bicycle - driving car - back to work 

5. New life - Paris; Chad; Angola

 "I am here to Kill the Demon"

"The demon of stress"

6. 12 Years Later

"You need to tame this handicap, this alien which has entered us"

Epilogue 

"The demon hasn’t been totally banished, he is still here, albeit in a severely diminished form. I have learnt to co-exist with him. He lives in a small cage in a corner of the house, but the door is not padlocked. He is free to leave whenever he likes, but thankfully he does not appear often."

“I am 100% of what I can be”

Post Scriptum

The Mount Cameroon demon: "Should I heal completely in order to climb (the mountain) or must I make the climb
in order to heal completely? It’s a diabolical dilemma. Is this not proof that the demon exists?"

Editorial Reviews

"The book is not a tough read about illness, it is smoothly written with nice anecdotes, including a small part played by a world famous neurologist with criminal aspirations. Paul writes with humor and power of observation about the medics, nurses and therapists - usuallly gentle but in some cases grumpy - taking care of him and he at the same time discloses the daily life of expats in Africa." VGEM Nieuws, Netherlands, September 2019 (translated from Dutch)

“Very well written, I think the book can be helpful to many” Anna Christina Gawronska, Mallorca, Spain (July 2019)

From the Publisher