I think this is a GREAT explanation. Thank you, Debbie!!!! Carol in Culver, IN
----- Original Message ----- From: Deborah Nord Capen To: Carol Sent: Saturday, November 03, 2007 6:22 PM Subject: Re: [TMIC] Do we still have TM? Carol, "My-el-itis" is an inflammation. You can think of other illnesses, such as tonsil-itis, appendic-itis, to name a few. It is an inflammation, that causes a person to become severely ill, with death as a possibility if the inflammation is not corrected. A person with appendicitis has surgery to remove the inflamed appendix. A person with chronic tonsillitis has their tonsils removed to get rid of the tonsils that are causing chronic inflammation. Obviously, since myelin is surrounding our spinal cord, we can not have it removed to get rid of the inflammation. The doctors either use medical treatment, such as IV steroids or plasmaphoresis, or other therapies, to reduce the inflammation before it does too much damage to the myelin sheath. Once the inflammation has gone, we are left with the residual damages that the "itis" caused to our spinal cord. We now have "myelopathy". There are varying degrees of damage, such as permanent paralysis, mild paraplegia, sensory deficits, motor deficits, bowel/bladder dysfunction, and in hundreds of different ways, in thousands of people. So, technically, we no longer have transverse myelitis - we have the residual damage from an attack of transverse myelitis. In other words, you can say you have transverse myelopathy. I tell people that I am living with damage caused by an attack on my spinal cord called transverse myelitis. Hope that helps. Take care, Debbie ----- Original Message ----- From: Carol To: tmic-list@eskimo.com Sent: Saturday, November 03, 2007 2:14 PM Subject: [TMIC] Do we still have TM? I know this question has been put out here before, but I can't find it. So I ask again, do we still have TM or did it come, destroy and leave and we are left with the aftermath? Your comments please.... Carol in Culver, IN
