Larry Throne wrote:
> I had been working for a construction company for just a couple of
> months. I was eighteen and it was my first really good job. We were
> building a power plant in southeastern Oklahoma, they were behind
> schedual and had us working seven days a week, twelve hours a day. I
> was young, healthy and making good money. I thought I had nothing to
> worry about.
> It had been a wet rainy summer and everyone on the crew had been
> fighting a summer flu, I was just beginning to feel the aches and pains
> on friday morning when I went to work. (hmmm) On saturday, I just felt
> terrible. My head was pounding, i had no energy and I was perspiring
> profusely. I went on to work but shortly after lunch I had a fainting
> spell. My boss sent me home. I went to bed at 2:00 pm and slept
> straight through to sunday afternoon when my father came in to check on
> me. It was after 5:00 pm. When I awoke, I couldn't urinate, my bladder
> was distended and I had a fever. Dad took me to the E.R. and I was
> catheterized. The ER doctor sent home and told to return the next day
> for testing.
> The next morning our family Doctor was calling , he had talked with the
> E.R. doc and was concerned, he wanted me there at the hospital asap.
> Over the next 24 hours everyone at the hospital in Ada Oklahoma had
> poked, proded and examined me, I think the janitor even had his turn.
> They did a spinal tap (those sure are nice aren't they!) When I woke up
> the second day, I was paralized from the wiast down.
> I was transfered to Oklahoma City, St Antony Hospital. In the next 4
> weeks, I went from being a strapping 190lb construction worker to a
> 130lb paraplegic.
> The first week or two, I was really sick. My fever got so high they
> packed me in ice to attempt to break it.
> I remember coming in & out of a coma and the pain was unbearable. It
> felt as though a spike was being shoved up my spine. Luckily I don't
> remember everything from that period. Everything was getting dark and I
> remember telling my brother something was sitting on my chest. I just
> couldn't breath. I vaugely remember having the respirator place on me,
> I remember the fear I had of not knowing what was happening, and not
> being able to see or speak.
> Late that night, an overwelming feeling of comfort and reassurance came
> over me, it was God telling me to trust in him and everything would be
> okay.
> I was totally blind and on a respirator for the next 10 - 12 days. Then
> one day there was a flicker of light! For the next 4 days, as if a
> large hand were drawing back a curtain, I was getting my sight back, I
> remember focussing on my mother, she was so, happy and worried at the
> same time.
> The paralisis started moving back down my chest, They took me off the
> resirator & eventually the paralisis stopped at T-5.
> I had been in the hospital for almsot 4 weeks before I heard anything
> about TM, a doctor from Mayo clinic was visiting ST Antony and he Dx the
> TM. I never did get his name, nor do I remember seeing him.
> The next year was filled with endless hours in PT with little spurts of
> progress like the time I first moved my big toe. You would have thought
> I'd jumped up and danced a jig the way we were acting.
> That was the start.
> In the next year (year 2), I went from walking with leg braces up to my
> chest to walking with a single cane. I still have the leg spasms, lack
> of complete sensation & the back pain some of you have, also my bladder
> control could be better. But hey, I'll take anything I can get!
> Ten years after I was Dx with TM, I was in a airplane crash,(whole
> nuther story by itself), I cracked my pelvis and broke some other bones.
> That has really slowed me down. While in the hospital over that episode
> my doc showed me x-rays of my knees. I was wearing them out by locking
> them back to walk. He told me if I want to keep walking, I had better
> start riding in my chair, at least for when I go for long distance
> walks.
> A couple of years ago I fell down and almost ripped the cartilage in
> one of my knees. Once again, my doc told me to take it easier on my
> knees. Today, I use my chair more than I ever have. Only walking
> around the house and taking real close eye on how I do things. I also
> suffer from the fatique some of you have complained about. Its makes
> life hard when you feel like your running on empty all the time.
> Today, I'm married to a wonderful girl and we have two children and
> two grand children. I manage a mental health clinic specializing in
> working with children and families with emotional problems. I am
> working on a second masters degree at the University of Oklahoma.
> (social work)
> In the past 24 years I have traveled over most of this country and to
> many different countries around the world. Sailing has been my release
> valve, I have sailed at most of the locations i have traveled to.
> I have taught sailing to over 100 people including 29 emotionally
> disturbed kids I taught last summer. It was great!
> I have had plenty of bad times and good times. I'v been able to go on
> with life. TM has slowed me down a little but I'm probably a richer
> person because of it. I'v learned to enjoy and appriciate what is in
> front of me. I see the the beauty of the smallest flowers as I'v
> struggled past them, when most never notice. I'v smelled the fragance
> of the spring days, warmth the of the summer sun, & the sting of a
> winters breeze & understood the significance of it all.
> Its been a long lonely trail, in the past 24 years I have only met,
> conversed or heard of only about 10 or 11 people with TM. Finding this
> group has has given me a since of belonging. I feel as though i'v found
> my family. Only you guys can fully understand the fears, frustrations,
> and yes, the fortunes of having this disorder. It is great to have
> found my home.
> Larry Throne
>
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