At 01:02 PM 11/9/97 -0600, you wrote:
>At 10:48 AM 11/9/97 -0500, you wrote:
>>My name is Jim Hoge and I am searching for information on TM. My 6 month
>>old niece has recently (last week) been diagnosed with this condition. She
>>is in Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. She is paralyzed from the neck
>>down. Her parents have received limited information thus far. What I would
>>like to know is what can we expect? Will she recover from the paralysis
>>after the spinal swelling goes away? What is typical treatment? She is
>>presently receiving steroid treatments. What are the typical causes?
>> Assuming she will recover from her present condition, what is the likelyhood
>>that this can re-occur? What kind of pain might she be experiencing now?
>> Any other information that you feel might be helpful would be appreciated,
>>especially if I could pass it on to my brother and his wife as encouragement.
>> Thanks for your consideration and time.
>
>Jim,
>
>Sorry to hear about your niece. Our son--also at six months of age--wound
>up paralyzed from the waist down. He had had some innoculations about 1
>month earlier including the oral polio vaccine. I continue to be suspicious
>that these shots may have been related to the TM. The doctors claim
>otherwise, but I don't find their arguments compelling.
>
>Galen spent five days in the hospital, was given many tests, but never any
>kind of medication. He is now two years old. He recovered a lot, but did
>not recover fully. The doctors say his problems are "nerve damage" related
>to the TM. He can walk, but has a strange gait, and cannot walk very far.
>The neurologist does not think he will progress much more; i.e. he will
>walk in the future, but with noticeable problems.
>
>Throughout his whole ordeal, Galen never seemed to have any pain. He slept
>normally and smiled constantly. He shows no signs now of ever having any
>pain. We're thankful for that.
>
>I also have knowledge of a six month old girl in North Carolina who also
>developed TM a month after having innoculations. I haven't called her
>father in several months, but as I recall she was given steroids as
>treatment. Her father when I spoke to him last seemed to think she was
>going to recover fully.
>
>I wonder how many kids are out there with TM that we just don't know about?
>
>If you'd like to give my name and number to your relatives, feel free. I'd
>also like to have their names and addresses. especially if your niece had
>had innoculations prior to her diagnosis. I'd like to start a list of
>parents of youngsters who've developed TM very early in life. Maybe we
>parents can get some kind of support group going. I'm not aware that any
>exists.
>
>Anyway, I hope your niece shows improvement. Thanks for leeting this list
>know about her case. Aagain, if you could give me the name, address, and
>phone # of your nieces parents, I'd appreciate it.
>
>Larry
>
>
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>Larry Hlavsa
>Webmaster
>Asian Pen Pals
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