Jolee’s story: Guillain-Barre syndrome isn’t keeping her out of the game

Active 10-year-old Jolee loves playing basketball and caring for the family horses at her home in Wills Point, about 45 miles east of Dallas. But shortly after a viral illness in February 2025, Jolee woke up one morning and told her mom that she couldn't walk.

"My legs felt like they were asleep and I couldn't wake them up," Jolee says. She also had headaches, dizziness and very little energy. "She couldn't even carry an empty backpack," her mom Brittany says.

Her pediatrician ran bloodwork, which all came back normal. He then referred the family to Children's Medical Center Plano for further testing.

They arrived at the ER and were shortly sent to see Eric Michael Remster, M.D., Pediatric Neurologist at Children's Health℠ and Assistant Professor at UT Southwestern, and Grace Warde, PA-C, Physician Assistant.

"As soon as they walked in, Grace said, 'That looks like GBS,'" Brittany says. Guillain-Barre syndrome is an acute autoimmune disorder that is typically brought on by a viral illness. It's a common ailment that can cause weakness and diminished reflexes, and it's one of many acute neuromuscular disorders treated in Plano.

When Zurisadai Gonzalez Castillo, M.D., Pediatric Neurologist and Assistant Professor at UT Southwestern, joined the Plano team in 2024, it meant families, like Jolee’s, in North Texas could access specialized neuromuscular care closer to home.

At the Neurology clinic in Specialty Center 1 Plano, Dr. Gonzalez works with electromyographic (EMG) technicians on the Neurophysiology team to diagnose and treat conditions such as GBS, botulism, myasthenia gravis and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP).

When Jolee was first admitted to the hospital, clinical staff conducted an MRI and a lumbar puncture that confirmed inflammation in the spine and tailbone, an indicator of GBS. Jolee received IVIG (Intravenous Immunoglobulin) infusions during her four-day hospital stay and was released back home with a walker to begin physical therapy.

"The doctor kept saying, 'It'll get worse before it gets better,’" Brittany says. "That was probably the scariest part," says her father, Jesse, "that we didn't know when it was going to get better."

Her mobility began to improve, but they returned to Plano about 10 days later because Jolee was suffering from terrible headaches and dizziness. Dr. Remster ran various tests and a CT scan, but determined the symptoms were related to anxiety and referred the family to counseling services near their home.

"It was a traumatic experience for her because it's a lot for a child to go through," Brittany says of Jolee, "but we just got the best care." She adds that the Children's Health app is "the bomb.” She communicated with the doctors through the app, and they always responded quickly.

For follow-up visits, Jolee began seeing Dr. Gonzalez, who monitored her recovery.

“A small proportion of patients can develop CIDP, which is a chronic form of the disease, and those patients will need maintenance treatment with IVIG," Dr. Gonzalez says. For Jolee, Dr. Gonzalez performed a nerve conduction study and EMG to rule out chronic complications. The studies were not suggestive of CIDP, so no further treatment was needed.

On a recent visit, she checked Jolee's strength, coordination and reflexes as well as her gait as she walked along a straight line.

"She is doing so well and is fully healed," she says.

While Jolee's family opted to homeschool her over the spring while she recovered, she's now back at school and is excited to start playing basketball again and possibly even return to rodeo activities.

"I feel 100 percent strong," Jolee says.

Learn more

When a child has neuromuscular symptoms, families want answers as soon as possible. Children’s Health is home to one of only three Centers of Excellence for Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathies (CIDP) in Texas. That means our care team can see and evaluate your child quickly and have the expertise to diagnose and treat rare neuromuscular conditions. Learn more about our Neuromuscular Disease Program and request an appointment.