When she showed her research to the doctor, he told her GBS was rare, Birch says, but agreed to run tests. When she woke the next morning, her symptoms were considerably worse.
That day she received her official diagnosis, and for the next month she stayed in the hospital receiving immunoglobulin treatments, which added antibodies to her system. Then she was transferred to a hospital with neurology experts in Liverpool, where she stayed for another month before she moved to a rehab center. For four months, she tried to combat her paralysis from the neck down.
At the time, the summer was coming to a close, so the nurse asked her to pick a “more realistic goal.” But, Birch says, “I did it. I danced at New Year’s Eve [2016] with crutches.” “I just thought, GBS has taken everything from me, but it’s not going to take away my degree,” she says.. But GBS symptoms often pop up, for example after exercising too much. She starts to get tremors so severe she’s been unable to drive herself home from the gym.