‘I’ve really had a miracle case’

Blair Mask had always been healthy. But earlier this fall she was hit with a syndrome that sent her to the Intensive Care Unit for three weeks.

Blair during her time in the ICU

What started out as tingling and numbness in her feet, pinky fingers and the roof of her mouth quickly escalated. She visited two other hospitals before coming to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford. By the time she arrived at Texas Health HEB Mask says she could hardly hold herself up. It was doctors on the medical staff at Texas Health HEB who diagnosed Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which is a disorder where the body’s immune system basically attacks the nervous system.

Mask became paralyzed from the neck down and for 10 of her 21 days in the ICU was intubated, with a tube helping her breathe. She will tell her story at tonight’s Frostival, an event that is raising money for a renovation of Texas Health HEB’s ICU.

Despite the harrowing experience, the 28-year-old Azle resident said she was impressed by the teamwork of the physicians and nurses. The team of physicians working in the ICU collaborated well to determine the best treatments for her, she said. “It was amazing to watch the doctors work together.”

Blair and her family

She recalled the nurses staying with her and talking through the night when her sense of day and night got mixed up. And others helped her brush her teeth after the 10 days breathing through the tube or washed her hair for the first time.

“They went above and beyond,” she said. “Each day can change by the nurse you get and I had a wonderful experience the whole time.”

Mansk, the mother of a five-year-old boy, says these days she’s able to walk around and occasionally run on the treadmill. One of the few lingering effects of the disorder has been a little numbness in her fingers.

“I’ve really had a miracle case,” she said. “Thank God for the nurses and doctors.”

For more information on the Frostival or to snag one of a very few remaining tickets to tonight’s event, please visit www.texashealth.org/frostival