I got hit by my Miller-Fisher Syndrome (MFS) on 25 September 2023. It was the first day of the term 3 school holiday. I was so looking forward to have a very well-earned and deserved break, away from the stress, pressure and challenges of a high school teacher.
This was the 3rd time that I got hit with MFS. The 1st was in 1994 back in the Philippines, then in 2017 here in Auckland, and now this time. It shouldn’t happen again, that it should not recur but how wrong doctors were. That was what the doctors said the first two occasions. They also said that this is a rare disease that afflicts one in a couple of million. If I’m a Lotto betting man, I should be a millionaire by now, after three times.
This 3rd time is similar to the 2nd one, when my immune system hit rock bottom. That’s when the virus does the most harm. I was rushed to the Middlemore Hospital. But after waiting for more than 24 hours and running a battery of medical tests, the doctor said that I can be released to recuperate at home.
MFS doesn’t have a cure. It is a virus that has to run its course. Normally it will take around 60-90 days before I regain my complete eyesight.