Indie folk singer Sufjan Stevens reveals he has Guillain-Barré Syndrome, is learning how to walk again

nypost.com:

SOOF-yawn — announced the news in a Tumblr post. The 48-year-old musician explained why he was unable to promote his newest album “Javelin,” which is set to be released Oct.

6.“Last month I woke up one morning and couldn’t walk,” the “Chicago” singer wrote in a post. “My hands, arms and legs were numb and tingling and I had no strength, no feeling, no mobility.”“My brother drove me to the ER and after a series of tests — MRIs, EMGs, cat scans, X-rays, spinal taps (!), echo-cardiograms, etc. — the neurologists diagnosed me with an autoimmune disorder called Guillian-Barre Syndrome,” he added.Stevens explained that the disease can be treated by administering immuno-hemoglobin infusions for five days, as long as the disease doesn’t reach the brain, heart and lungs.“Very scary, but it worked,” Stevens wrote. “I spent about two weeks in Med/Surg, stuck in a bed, while my doctors did all the things to keep me alive and stabilize my condition.

I owe them my life.”The singer-songwriter was transferred into an acute rehabilitation center on Sept. 8, where he is learning how to walk through intensive physical and occupational therapy.“It’s a slow process, but they say I will ‘recover,’ it just takes a lot of time, patience, and hard work,” Stevens wrote.