I was working as an associate professor of economics and petroleum pricing at an engineering college in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (near Dubai) when my left side sort of "went out" on me at the end of the fall semester in 2010. Had to use a walking stick to go to work. Drs thought it could be related to an earlier back injuryI have 7 fused vertebrae from an industrial accident incurred in 1970but weren't sure. Couldn't take an MRI due to the steel rods holding everything together; ditto for spinal tap due to the fusions. Sent me to see psychologists!
Later after several more examinations an Indian neurologist, who had spent a lifetime diagnosing without expensive imaging equipment, was able to declare it TM, idiopathic. He said that Abu Dhabi, with 4 million foreign workers, is a petrie dish of diseases. By that time the pain was outrageous, like a thousand bee stings, mostly in the torso and arms. For a couple of weeks my spinal cord was just on fire and I feared a complete meltdown and paralysis, because it was the same thing a friend of mine described, who died of MS. He put me on Lyrica, and later dilantin for seizures. On 24 April 2010 had the first general seizure; it was just after class on the woman's campus and in plain site of the students. Taken by ambulance to a hospital. Lasted for 6 hours, and there would be plenty more. When one occurred during class and when my memory began to noticeably slip I was sent home for good in the fall of 2011. Now, banding is intermittent, bee-sting pain is off the charts without the meds, but leg and foot function has returned almost to normal, though dizziness makes me walk a little loopy sometimes. Memory is a shambles and any kind of executive functioning on my own is riskyfor others! Seizures seem to be the result of an "anomaly" in the brainstem in the area for the body's voluntary muscle functions. It is not epilepsy, because it does not start in the brain. Now, the seizures are much reduced and more like sets of contractions; or when I will suddenly totally lose focus and just stare out and not be able to move or talk for a few seconds or minutes. Seizures are not controlled by medications, come at unknown times and last for unknown duration, and are humiliating. And if it weren't for the importance I attach to my present work, which involves going to meetings and public speaking, I might avoid people altogether. With the decline of mental faculties, the life I once enjoyed as an economics professor at an engineering college seems incredible now. Outsiders can't really appreciate the level of ongoing intellectual competition involved in maintaining an academic position at the university level, especially where no tenure or even year-by-year job security exists, as in a foreign posting. These are teams and not families; each time you must perform well or they get someone else. But while most of the acquired economic knowledge has fallen away the spiritual insights have only increased. A new life has opened up conducting local teaching circles on the Qur'an and to a lesser extent, the Holy Bible among fellow Baha'is and others, not to mention discussing the tenants and beliefs of the Baha'i Faith to anyone interested. Friends help with transportation as I am not really safe traveling unaccompanied due to the seizure threat. Have the spiritual and inner lives increased as our outer, physical abilities have been taken away? And, is there anything in which we feel useful and still able to make a contribution? Have there been any surprising "compensations"? That is the next discussion we should be having, and how we can build new things out of this experience. With deep respect for you all, Dalton Dalton Garis Flushing, Queens New York, USA Mobile: 718-838-0437 From: Judy <heyjude48...@aol.com> Date: Friday, 26 January 2013 11:09 PM To: <tmic-list@eskimo.com> Subject: [TMIC] Re: Transverse Myelitis Resent-From: <tmic-list@eskimo.com> Resent-Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2013 20:10:06 -0700 (PDT) Hi Everyone! It's Jude Hoops. I was just reading the quad list and they are talking about their injuries at what level they are injured, how it happened and when it happened. Do you think that that would be something we could do too? I think it might be interesting to know how we were all injured or got sick and how long ago it was. We've all been on this list for a long time now and I was wondering whether any of us had gotten any better over the years. Let me know what you think. Just write a small paragraph about how you came to have TM, what level your injury is at and if you have seen any improvement over the years. I love you all so much and have been thinking of you. Hugs, Jude (TIAD)
