Mazel Tov, Netta and Ilan!

Netta wrote about herself for the TMA Newsletter in July, 2000.  It was a brief introduction to a couple of her beautiful paintings that were included in the Newsletter.

My name is Netta Ganor and I am a c-4/5 quad from Israel.  I was struck down with Acute TM on November 25th, 1994, at the age of 15.  It all started one Friday afternoon, after I came back from school.  After lunch, I suddenly started to feel a terrible sharp pain in my upper back (behind the shoulders).  Gradually, but quite fast, in less than one hour, I lost sensation and the ability to move my hands and finally my legs. My mother immediately called an ambulance, which took me to the hospital. I was taken to the IC department and was diagnosed after 10 days with Acute TM at c-3.  Of course, I was ventilated.  After three months, more or less, I saw the first improvement; my left arm started to move. Gradually, in the next one and a half years, I got rid of the vent due to hard work in exercising my breathing muscles. After spending more than two and a half years in the rehab hospital, we all had to move to a new house, and that included leaving our city, Jerusalem, in order to be geographically closer to our family.

Today, I still have no sensation from the shoulders down, including my arms.  I move the left arm without feeling it.  I’m driving a motorized wheelchair, paint and write with my mouth, swim(!) with my head and shoulder movements and do things that people are not supposed to be able to do in my physical condition. I’m very optimistic as for my condition in the future.  I don’t know what will happen with me or when.  I do know that others with TM have had improvements that are measured in years.  I’ve never lost hope and I’m sure that someday in the near future the medicine will find the right cure to our syndrome. 

In the meantime, I’m trying to do the maximum I can to make my life as normal as possible.  I just don’t see any point in sitting around the whole day and mourning.  Currently, I’m a second year student for Computer Science at the College of Management in Rishon Letzion.  I’m still a fan of sports (especially basketball) and stayed an athlete in my soul :-)  I was a tennis player and an athlete in high school.

After one year of being disabled (back in 1994-5), and after watching some other quadriplegic people painting with their mouths, I decided to give it a try myself. It was very hard at first, but as the time went by and with a lot of practice, I learned how to paint this way.

Netta wrote the following in June 2009. 

The Happiest Day of My Life

To tell you the truth, I almost stopped believing that this day would come.  After years of searching, I almost gave up on love when I finally met Ilan.

We met virtually on an online dating website at the end of May 2006.  I remember it was only two days before Shavuot, my favorite Jewish holiday, and indeed there was something special in the air.
After quite a few failed relationships and dates with guys who couldn’t deal with my disability, Ilan was a very unique guy in his own special way of looking at people and his ability to see beyond my disability. That’s what made it work from the very beginning.  After only a few weeks, it felt like we had known each other forever and my disability just “disappeared” to both of us from the very beginning. We went and still go on trips together, enjoy going out to the cinema, to restaurants, meeting friends and mostly just be with each other.

After one amazing year of being together, Ilan proposed to me and, of course, I accepted. J
It took us quite a lot of time to pull off our wedding; so much to plan, so much to think of.  My wedding dress was the most difficult “project” to execute!  But gradually, we figured it all out and had the most fabulous wedding I could ever imagine – you can see in the pictures!

Now, our next challenge is to go on a trip abroad. I know we’ll make it happen!

Netta is a Web Programmer at Applied Materials Israel, she loves designing websites, painting, watching movies, going out and watching sports.  Netta loves animals and she loves all of life!

And we love you, Netta.  We wish you and Ilan a long life together filled with GOOD HEALTH, happiness and peace!