The following Healthcast report by Channel 4 Action News medical editor Marilyn Brooks first aired Dec. 10, 2003, on Action News at 5 p.m.

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David Sechrist, a 23-year-old paramedic, has struggled with POEMS Syndrome.

Sechrist: "It started out as numbness and tingling in my feet and spread up my legs. I thought I had diabetes, and was afraid to go to the doctor."

He went to West Penn Hospital when he lost strength in his hands and legs and couldn't work. It was just the beginning of a hellish year of debilitating symptoms and an elusive diagnosis.

Sechrist: "I developed nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. They thought I had gotten the flu."

In reality, his immune system had mysteriously turned against his body. He lost 200 pounds and was on his way to the Mayo Clinic when his family found Dr. John Lister.

Lister: "He was very close to dying."

The diagnosis was POEMS Syndrome. Each letter of POEMS stands for a specific medical issue. Basically, it's a devastating attack on nerves, organs, endocrine glands and skin. One protein grows out of control.

Lister: "It can paralyze your gut and you can't get anything to go through. You have continual nausea and vomiting and you lose weight. You tend to not be able to move because it it can affect your muscles."

There is no quick, easy fix for POEMS. As a matter of fact, the most drastic treatment would be the most normal -- a bone-marrow transplant. That was the only way to reset Sechrist's immune system.

Doctors harvested, treated and put aside some of Sechrist's bone marrow. They used high-dose chemotherapy to wipe out his immune system. A week later, they returned his treated marrow and waited a month for his cells to regrow.

Now, Sechrist's sister will take him to Jeanette, where he faces yet another tough challenge: rehabilitation and learning to walk again.

Sechrist is making progress. His immune system has been reset, and it may be up to a year before he will be considered whole again.