Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers go out to you.We're glad you found us,
though sorry you had a reason to!
I was also told my TM had a viral cause, though I had no virus (that I know
of) previously. The first two weeks on TM, though, I felt like I'd been hit by
a truck. I felt totally drained. So I wonder if a virus and TM hit
simultaneously.
Your son's progression and treatment sound pretty standard. No one can really
answer your questions definitely about recovery and time frame -- that is one
of the most frustrating things about TM. There are similarities between cases
but there are also many differences, depending on where the damage occurred
and how severely, etc. Different ones of us have been given different
"windows" of time frames. Some have recovered almost fully, some not at all,
but most of us are inbetween. I would say, in my unmedical opinion :-) , that
your son has made good progress so far and has great hopes to improve further.
Tell him to continue to work hard in PT, keep as postive an attitude as
possible, but allow himself to grieve when needed...and pray a lot. If you
have not already seen it, the Transverse Myelitis Association web site at
www.myelitis.org has several good links that can give you a great deal of
information. One of the most helpful links is the one that says something
like, "Symptoms and diagnosis".
Let us know how things are going.
Prayerfully,
Barbara H.