Re: parade
Jo Ellen Finkelstein (ghellen(AT)ninenet.com)
Fri, 28 Aug 1998 22:25:53 -0500
Deborah Capuano wrote:
>
> JHarper33(AT)AOL.COM wrote:
>
> > Did the Parade article on Hal Ketchum mention TM specifically?
> >
> > Barbara H.
>
> Hi Barbara,
> I am going to write the article for you, as I have it - it is as follows
> from the Boston Parade:
>
> Q: I heard that my favorite country singer, Hal Ketchum, is seriously
> ill. What's wrong with him?
> A: After two failed marriages and years of drug and alcohol abuse,
> Ketchum seemed to be getting his life together. The singer-songwriter
> completed treatment at the Betty Ford Center last winter, wed makeup
> artist Gina Pacconi, 31, on Valentine's Day and recorded a new CD, I Saw
> the Light. But on April 9, his 45th birthday, Hal's left arm went numb
> while he was on tour in Florida. Within days, he was paralyzed from the
> waist up. Back home in Austin, Tex., he got the bad news: He had
> transverse myelitis, an inflammation of the spinal cord that causes
> motor and sensory dysfunction. The good news: After months of physical
> therapy, Hal can strum a guitar and says he's singing better than ever,
> thanks to breathing exercises. With Gina at his side, he's on the road
> again.
>
> That was it Barbara,
> My best to you, DeborahHi guys, Joellen here. In todays paper Dr Paul Donohue talked about TM.
"Transverse myelitis severs the spinal cord in the same way a neck or
back injury does.
Back pain appears first, followed by peculiar sensations, and
finally muscle paralysis. A number of people suffering from transverse
myelitis have had a recent infection or vaccination. Flu, measles and
chickenpox can trigger an immune attack on the spinal cord. Often,
however, no triggering incident is found.
About one-third of patients regain the use of paralyzed muscles.
Another third recovers some muscle function. The final third continue
to have muscle paralysis. Cortisone drugs often are given to reduce
spinal cord swelling, in an attempt to restore message transmission from
the nervous system to muscles."
Ok I guess he's trying to make it understandable to the general
public but "severs the spinal cord"?! Come on! It blocks the
transmission of the messages to the muscles, this kind of stuff only
increases the erroneous thought out there.
Joellen