Our monthly support group meeting varies in size from month to month. This month we had five in attendance. They were Dorothy Danielson, Betty Coleman, Amy Turnage, Betty Savoy and myself, Joyce Boothe. Betty Savoy's Mother, which is Amy Turnage's Grandmother, Mrs. Luolla Craft, age 86, was diagnosis with TM on August 2, 2003. Mrs. Craft was doing her rehab at MMRC, where our meeting were being held.

I got the honor to meet Mrs. Craft before the meeting, and talk with her for half an hour. She didn't feel up to coming to the meeting, because she had already had physical therapy, plus she had stayed up to visit with her family. After the meeting, Dorothy and I went by her room for two reasons. First and most important, I had promised I would stop by after the meeting, and second, so Dorothy could meet her. We were fortunate enough to meet several more of her family members.

At the meeting, we ask Mrs. Craft's family to tell us about her and how it had begun for her. It seems Mrs. Craft had banding pain for 4-6 weeks. Then she lost bowel sensation. Her family immediately becomes concerned. They took her to the ER at Forest General. There they had someone that recognized the symptoms, and was able to diagnosis her immediately. This was August 2, 2003. She was there for ten days, has done rehab, back to the hospital, back to rehab, but even with all she has gone through, she has a wonderful attitude. She was such an inspiration to meet.

We are still working on idea to reach people that have TM, but have not shown up for meeting. MMRC does free PR statewide for us in the newspapers, to make everyone throughout the state aware of our support group. They validate our parking. They have made it easy for us to have the meeting at no cost to us except refreshments, so now we are trying to reach the people to attend. We are doing Internet invitations as well as personal ones. If anyone is reading this, and I don't have an updated address on you, please contact me.

Dorothy brought refreshments. After the meeting, we sat at a round table, very informally talking and enjoying each other's company. Mrs. Craft's family had to leave, because they had other family members coming. After we cleaned up the room, we left, also, to go to Mrs. Craft's room. It turned out to be a great meeting, considering it was suppose to be storms!