Mum hospitalised after becoming paralysed while brushing teeth
A young Melbourne mother says she was shocked to learn she had a rare disease after she became paraylsed while brushing her teeth.
Chloe McMahon-Swift, a mother-of-one from Mernda Victoria, has said she is now unable to walk, talk and eat properly.
The 22-year-old woman said she first noticed symptoms of her paralysis early in December but she and her local GP assumed it was due to a cold.
Writing on her Go Fund Me, Ms McMahon-Swift said she first noticed something was wrong when she felt constant pins and needles in her feet, which soon travelled to her hands.
"I was absolutely exhausted doing the littlest things, like washing dishes, showering," she wrote.
"I couldn't even hold my son, or look after him as I just was too weak."
Ms McMahon-Swift wrote she became weaker as she tried to care for her son and work in disability support.
"I would cry to my partner (Josh) saying I just want to feel normal again," she said.
"I was also having horrible shooting pain in my neck and it would shoot up to my head. I couldn't move it much as it was too painful."
A few weeks later, Ms McMahon-Swift said she was brushing her teeth when she found herself unable to spit out the toothpaste or move her mouth.
She was rushed to hospital and tests later revealed she had Guillain-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that attacked healthy nerve cells and eventually caused paralysis.
The disease affected just one in 100,000 people worldwide and it said to be incurable.
Ms McMahon-Swift has been in hospital for two weeks and wrote she was receiving treatment daily.
The young mother said her speech was improving and she was able to walk short distances and eat again.
She wrote she still needed to go to rehab for treatment and wouldn't be able to work until she was back at full health.
The GoFund Me page was created to help the young mother and her partner with their living expenses while she's on the road to recovery.
"I just want to try my best to get better as soon as I can and look after my family," she said.
