Jeron, You made my day!!! Ever think you were sent to Trinidad for a reason? Your goodness and caring in reaching out to another has paid off tremendously - both for you and Christa. You are my kind of people! Janice
From: j ra Sent: Monday, July 05, 2010 8:40 AM To: Transverse Myelytis Subject: [TMIC] I'm back! Hi guys, A couple of months ago I left Brasil for the Caribbean to spend some time alone and try to rediscover life before TM. It's been tough, especially because I decided to quit meds. No gabapentin, no miosan (for the shakes, think it's called xanaflex elsewhere) no valium, just sleeping pills. I know most of you thought I was pushing my wife away, but she's been really understanding as to why I needed to regain some independence. I did all the things I said I was going to do and I proved that TMers still have a lot of life in them. I know I am lucky to be a "walker", allbeit with a cane, but we are strong people. As a group, we can do anything and we are always going to be there for eachother....no matter what. I really think that without you guys, I could not complete my journey, so thanks! Here's the weird part, I found a little girl with TM in Trinidad, my home country in the Caribbean. I saw an article about her in the newspapers and decided to contact her parents. I met them. The kid's name is Christa. She is 10 years old and has been diagnosed with TM some 10 months now, but her family does not have the money for treatment and treatment is not available in Trinidad. So they've been battling with this thing of ours all the while without proper care, so I got involved. Christa, is the sweetest little kid I ever met, she makes your heart melt with her innocent smile and she's so upbeat all the time, despite being in a wheelchair. She has the strenght that I think I was looking for all along. Imagine, I actually thought that while I was there I was going to do everything in my power to help her, but all along she was helping me..... Her parents managed to raise somewhere near $120000 US already and they plan to take her to Johns Hopkins. I got in contact with the doctors there and they are ready to accept her case. So, I'm not sure what actually happened to me over the last few months, but I think I found what I was looking for....not in a selfish journey to the islands, but in the eyes of a child. Now I'm home in Rio de Janeiro and I think I'm going to play with my cat for a bit then take my wife out for lunch, then take her to the FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa. Another journey perhaps, this time with my wife! Bye guys, Jeron -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hotmail: Trusted email with Microsoft’s powerful SPAM protection. Sign up now.