Betty Montgomery hospitalized with rare nerve disorder

Montgomery suffers rare nerve disorder

By Catherine Candisky, Alan Johnson and Matthew Marx

The Columbus Dispatch

Friday, May 19, 2006 1:40 AM

Ohio Auditor Betty D. Montgomery's recovery from a rare nerve disorder that was diagnosed this week could take weeks or longer than a year, experts say.

Montgomery, 58, was in the intensive-care unit at Ohio State University Medical Center yesterday after a preliminary diagnosis of Guillain-Barre syndrome. She reportedly was on a respirator.

Her staff said she was “in good spirits and resting comfortably,” although staff members refused to discuss her condition otherwise.

Doctors were still doing tests yesterday, but Montgomery's office said she is being treated for Guillain- Barre.

An expert reached last night described the disease as “friendly fire” from confused antibodies that kill nerves and cause paralysis and breathing problems.

The range of recovery is extremely variable, depending on the severity of the underlying nerve injury, neurologist John T. Kissel said last night.

One-quarter to one-third of Guillain-Barre sufferers are placed on respirators and the need for one has little bearing on the rate of recovery, said Kissel, professor and acting chairman of the OSU Neurology Department.

“It is strange. You can have two patients in the same room, both of whom are on ventilators," he said. “One is on a rapid recovery and 90 percent back to normal in three to four weeks and the other can be hospitalized for months.”

After Erin Tully contracted the disease in 2004, she spent six weeks in a hospital, followed by two months in a nursing home before returning to her Bexley home in a wheelchair. She spent a week in the ICU, she said. Three weeks after the diagnosis, the paralysis was at its worst, leaving her unable to sit up in bed, much less get into a wheelchair.

“It's rough, but you can get through it with support of family and friends and, hopefully, a positive mental outlook,” Tully said.

Tully, 59, completed outpatient therapy in July and returned to her job as a librarian at Montrose Elementary after missing one year of work. She still has some paralysis in her right foot.

“I have four toes that don't want to bend and it alters my gait a bit,” she said last night.

She visits people in the hospital who are recovering from the disease. Tully knows of one man who recovered in two weeks and another who was paralyzed for 18 months.

Montgomery was admitted to the hospital Wednesday afternoon after a visit to her personal physician for a lingering chest cold and cough, spokeswoman Jen Detwiler said.

“We're glad that Auditor Montgomery is getting the treatment she needs,” said Deb Hackathorn, her chief of staff.

She said work at the auditor's office “will continue uninterrupted and we look forward to her speedy recovery and return to the office.”

Montgomery's staff said she will be hospitalized “for an indeterminate amount of time for treatment and observation.”

Montgomery is the Republican nominee for Ohio attorney general against Sen. Marc Dann, D-Youngstown. She was elected auditor in 2002 after serving two terms as attorney general.

ccandisky@dispatch.com
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mmarx@dispatch.com