Netta's paintings are shown with Sam's poem. The cloud, El Nino, was painted in February 1998 (acrylic on canvas; original size 25 cm x 20 cm). The birds were painted in June 1998 (acrylic on canvas; original size: 25 cm x 15 cm). The paintings are wonderful - Netta is wonderful! To see these paintings in color and to see her other paintings, please go to Netta's web site: http://go.to/netta

My name is Netta Ganor and I am 20 years old. 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.

I was the busy mother of two young sons; den mother, soccer and T-ball coach, wife of a physician, and nurse practitioner providing primary care to over 100 elders in ten nursing homes when I began to notice numbness in the fingertips of one hand. Over a period of several months, I noticed the odd numbness and tingling spreading up my arm. Then I noticed the same thing happening on my other arm. Electric shock sensations shot down my arms, if I flexed my neck or coughed. One neurologist I consulted brushed me off, ordering no tests and insisting this would go away without treatment. My handwriting deteriorating, unable to type because of the numbness in my hands, unable to feel the skin of my patients, I knew this could not be right. When I tried to play catch with my son and couldn't move or feel my arm, I knew something had to be done. With the support of a neurologist friend, Dr. Christopher Martino, and my primary care physician, Dr. Leonard Finn, I was referred for evaluation at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center
by neurologist Michael Hayes, and on May 23, 1997, my diagnosis was confirmed as acute transverse myelitis. On that day, my life changed forever.

I responded well to IV and oral steroids, but was unable to come off of the steroids. I was one of those with ongoing, smoldering TM. With every effort at weaning me off of the steroids, my symptoms worsened, and by December of 1997 I could barely walk. I fell frequently, once cutting my mouth so badly that stitches were needed. I had severe spasms, if I extended my arm, or tried to open a twist jar, and I didn't have enough strength to open a pop-top can of soda. Cytoxan helped tremendously, stopping the progression of symptoms, and I began to reclaim a little of my life.

There have been many ups and downs, as other autoimmune disorders struck. I developed severe low blood pressure, and inflammation of the eyes. I was found to have an unstable cervical spine, with the bones putting pressure on the spinal cord. I required surgery, with placement of delicate screws and plates to prevent further spinal cord damage. Multiple medication adjustments have been required to maintain function at a livable degree. In order to live a "normal life," I take 30 some pills daily, and intravenous immunoglobin every four weeks. Today, I have some degree of function of my hands and arms, and can maintain my home and family with outside help doing housework and laundry. I plan my activities carefully, with rest as needed. I can walk well for short distances, but use a cane or stick for long distances. I have tremendous support from my husband and sons, and other family members. I count myself fortunate in my abilities. My life is changed, but it is good. And TM does not have me.