Northern California TM Support Group 
Judy Melcher 

I live in Lodi; in northern California Wine Country.  I own a medical business. I have been a durable medical equipment provider for the last 13 years.  In 1991 I caught a virus.  After a week of having this virus, I began to get numb around my abdomen.  My experience with doctors was a nightmare as they didn’t know what was happening.  They began looking for cancer with MRIs, spinal taps, and blood tests.  The numbness was now moving down both of my legs and I was getting severe pain in my middle back.  Since they didn’t know what was happening, I did not receive any steroid treatment.  They did more tests.  While they were desperately trying to figure it out, both legs became paralyzed.

The pain I had in my back felt as though I was being sawed in half.  I was in bed for three months.  I couldn’t even put a sheet on my body, it was so painful. After three months of tests and three neurologists, they did not come to a conclusion as to what had happened.  They told me that nature would have to take its course to see if I would come back to normal once again.  I never heard of the word “Myelitis.”   Eventually I began to walk again; I had dead legs, back pain, fatigue, and other symptoms.

I did learn how to walk.  It took almost a full year to be able to stand alone and walk without a walker or wheelchair.  I am one of the one-third who came back half way.  I still had some numbness, but was able to return to work.

In 2006 it happened again; fifteen years later.  I had been on a drug for a skin condition for about one and a half years.  I did some research on this medication and asked the doctor if it could damage my immune system.  I explained that I have had four reoccurrences of cancer and nerve damage in my spinal cord in 1991.  I was told that it wouldn’t cause an immune system problem. Well, as you can probably guess, it did!  It affected my immune system and the attack was on again.  For the last six months, I have been falling due to muscle weakness and lack of tone and my left leg is pretty numb.  My right leg does have some numbness, but is much stronger. I went to a new neurologist and was diagnosed with TM.

Can I recover once again? I will!  The inflammation in my spine is gone.  I still have a little banding around my abdomen and some fatigue. I am in therapy to keep my legs flexible.  I am able to work, with help of a walker and wheelchair. I am grateful that I am not totally paralyzed and do not have bladder or bowel incontinence. 

I just discovered the TM forum four months ago and what a wealth of information and friendship.  Locating the John Hopkins website has given me so much information on TM and it has answered all my questions. I thought the TMA might have a Northern California Support Group. I would love to be a part of one, but there isn’t one at this time. 

I have decided to start one.  Lodi is between Stockton and Sacramento, California.   My office phone is (209) 334-0412; home (209) 334-0771 Cell: (209) 986-8011 and email address is judymae@softcom.net and judymae@pacbell.com.  If you are interested in participating in a support group and live in Northern California, please contact me.

Judy Melcher 

What we do for ourselves will die, but what we do for others will live and last for eternity.