PHOENIX -- Health officials say with every vaccine there is always a real but very rare chance of adverse reactions. But the family of a Valley area woman said they regret that she ever got the H1N1 flu vaccine.

• Learn More: Guillain-Barré Syndrome/CIDP Foundation International

Cynthia Milliken's family told CBS 5's Steve Filmer that they fear she is now the face behind one of those statistics -- and may have a long road ahead of her to recovery.

A nurse herself for many years, the 47-year-old Milliken has spent the last 38 days in medical care. Her boyfriend and family said she may have been struck down by what's called Guillain-Barré Syndrome -- which starts with pain and ends with paralysis.

Milliken's family said they believe the H1N1 flu shot she received in the first week of November may be to blame for her suffering.

"Right now, she's in a lot of pain, mostly in her extremities. A lot of nerve sensations such as burning in her legs is what she's feeling," said Milliken's daughter Michelle Mellett.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracks adverse reactions to vaccines. It reported that as of last week, more than 92 million H1N1 flu vaccines had been shipped with 6,945 adverse reactions reported, said Filmer.

However, the CDC reported that just 410 of those are considered "serious" and of those just 32 are reports of Guillain-Barré Syndrome.

"She was given an H1N1 flu shot when her immune system was still somewhat compromised," said Milliken's boyfriend Gary Griffin."And about two weeks later she was in the hospital because she couldn't walk -- it worked up to her thighs."

Government health experts said the risk has to be kept in perspective, and that somewhere between 80 and 160 cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome occur every week in the U.S. regardless of vaccinations, said Filmer.