Pamela Dunn
Camera IconPamela Dunn Credit: Supplied/Martin Kennealey d442344

Recovering doctor sees the light

Staff WriterJoondalup Times

After returning home from a workshop in Sydney, she felt something was not right.

"I thought I was just tired or a bit jet-lagged perhaps, thinking I had caught a very bad flu but I came to realise that it was much worse than that," she said.

Dr Dunn was diagnosed with a severe case of the autoimmune disease Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) " a rapid-onset muscle weakness because of damage to the peripheral nervous system " that was complicated by respiratory failure, pneumonia and paralysis from the neck down.

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"I was physically unable to do anything on my own including talking; all I could do was blink and think," she said.

She spent two months on life support in intensive care at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital before being transferred to the neurological ward where she had to re-learn how to eat and drink and start rehabilitating her muscles.

"As the nerves were slowly coming back, I was left with two frozen shoulders and contracted hands and feet that were numb and painful for a long time," she said.

"One millimetre at a time was the rate of recovery that was referred to with GBS.

"Each nerve had to be restored in order to recover and supply the muscles that were non-functional since the diagnosis in August 2013 " one millimetre at a time."

In October 2013, she was transferred to Shenton Park Rehabilitation Hospital where she spent three weeks before being allowed to return home in a wheelchair where her treatment continued.

By Christmas she was able to walk without the wheelchair in ankle support splints.

"During the course of my long, challenging, arduous road to recovery, I researched and utilised any natural therapy I could get access to," Dr Dunn said.

"One I found that treated the myriad conditions I was faced with on my recovery from GBS was photomedicine, or laser light therapy.

"I can honestly say now that I am actually grateful for the experience of GBS and what I have learned from it.

"I have been inspired to read, research and learn as much as I could on this very exciting technology therapy.

"As a continually recovering patient of GBS, I contemplated what I would do with my life when I regained the majority of my strength."

Dr Dunn's experience with laser light therapy inspired her to open Perth Photo-Medical Centre in Hillarys where the technology is used to provide pain-free treatments for a range of common medical conditions.

For more, go to www.perthphotomedicalcentre.com.au.