Thanks Anne, I am glad that you can function as you do knowing that when we are helpless it is as much a mental strain on us as it is physical and more so in some cases. I realize that each on of us are different but many share same symptoms and some are exclussive altogether,nonetheless we suffer together. thank God for a greater hope!
keep your chin up,,(if it doesnt hurt to do that ;) ) --- On John in WV(pup age 50) TM'er since 2008 Sat, 8/6/11, Anne Shreve <sthrnbll...@yahoo.com> wrote: From: Anne Shreve <sthrnbll...@yahoo.com> Subject: [TMIC] My Story To: "tmic-list@eskimo.com" <tmic-list@eskimo.com> Date: Saturday, August 6, 2011, 1:14 AM Hi everyone, my name is Anne, 58 years young, and live in North Carolina. I was diagnosed with tm in 1971. All the doctors were completely stumped, they had never seen anyone come into the hospital for a bladder dialation procedure and wake up 2 days later completely paralyzed from the waist down. My family had me transferred to another hospital where the dr. there did a mylogram the very next morning. There was just one thing that went wrong. The dr. inserted the dye/contrast however, he forgot all about drawing the dye out after the test was complete. I went on to a full recovery after a 4 month hospital stay. Then in 1993 I noticed that my legs started feeling very heavy and I was having a great deal of pain radiating down my spine, into my hips and continuing down my legs. Oddly enough, I was then working in the very hospital that I had recovered in back in 1971 so one day I went to the medical library and to my surprise every book that I picked up researching tm, had my name in it along with one other gentleman who lived about 8 miles from me. Anyway, after seeing several neurologists, I was told that the leftover dye had attached itself to my spine and had destroyed the myelin (the protective covering) over our nerve endings leading away from the spine. It progressed rapidly and I found myself using a walker, but within just a few months I was in a wheelchair. For the last 12 years my life has consisted of either being in a hospital bed or my power scooter. I don't suppose I will ever walk again. But I continue to live alone, with my son and daughter checking in on me and getting me to my dr. appointments. I probably should be in a nursing home but as long as I can continue to function in the capacity that I am currently in, I just want to stay at home. Please keep me in your prayers and thanks for hearing my story. Take care everyone and God Bless you all. Anne
