Meet Miracle Kid Joshua Guest

Posted at: 05/30/2011 10:27 AM | Updated at: 05/30/2011 6:35 PM
By: Christine VanTimmeren | WHEC.com

The expertise of doctors and nurses is put to the test everyday at Golisano Children's Hospital. It’s that expertise that helped save the life of a young boy.

Joshua Guest was only three years old when a potentially deadly disease hit him out of nowhere.

Josh’s mother, Christine said, “I thought he was having a stroke. He was having trouble speaking. He wasn't able to walk, he couldn't hold himself up very well.”

Joshua was a normal, healthy three-year-old boy but something had gone terribly wrong. Guest said, “Here he is unable to move and unable to hold himself up and do a lot of things. His eyes were all weird.”

The Guests live in Dryden, near Ithaca. Josh was rushed to the hospital in Elmira but it soon became clear he needed to get to Golisano Children's Hospital. Guest said, “The neurologist there said that if it was his child that's where he would send them.”

But even in the hands of the experts, things got worse. Guest said, “Your child stops breathing and you need people to help you and they do but you know you're at the mercy of other people and as a parent that's the hardest thing.”

Josh spent his fourth birthday in the hospital hooked up to a ventilator. His big sister opened his presents. Guest said, “It's horrible to watch. He’s hooked up to a machine and we're singing happy birthday.”

Josh was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis -- a rare autoimmune disorder where the body starts attacking the nerve receptors.

It's something Dr. Emma Ciafaoni has seen before. “The good news is it's a very highly treatable disease.”

The cure -- removing a gland called the thymus that's found in the chest. Guest said, “He woke up in the middle of the night crying. I went over to him and he says, ‘Why does everybody hate me?’”
 
But the removal of that gland was all Josh needed.

Josh’s father, Gordon said, “When he got done with the surgery his eyes came back to normal.”

Dr. Ciafaloni said, “I think it's very satisfying when you can actually you know do your job and do it well and make patients better.”

Josh’s mom says the hospital is amazing. “I just feel that without them we wouldn't have our son.”

Josh will be six years old in August. He is now in compete remission from his disease and has not had any symptoms of Myasthenia Gravis since his surgery

News 10NBC’s annual telethon to benefit the Golisano Children's Hospital is set for June 3 and 4.

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