HERIDITY OR NOT ??
ALICE ROGERS (tarprent(AT)gte.net)
Thu, 21 Jan 1999 08:56:52 -0500
Good Morning,
The message asking if anyone considered TM to be heriditary (sp?) or
not peaked my interest.
In 1989 one of my brothers was involved in a serious auto accident
which injured his back. We were told he had four 'cracked' vertebra
which did not require surgical repair. During the course of his
hospital stay he had a mylegram. Two months later, when the pain in
his back was nearly unbearable he went back to the hospital. The
diagnosis was a cyst on his spine at the site of the mylegram. It
was determined to be 'inoperable' and was drained. He has continued to
have severe back pain and periodic draining of the cyst since that time.
In the last few years intermittent muscle spasms have occurred and he
is medicated for them. This has also affected his ability to walk or
stand for extended periods of time. Upon tiring his right leg will
start to drag.
In 1991 my oldest son, who was a Deputy Sheriff at the time, was injured
on the job during a foot pursuit. He was struck in the left knee and
across the back with an iron pipe which destroyed his knee requiring
replacement of the knee joint. The injury to his back involved damage
to three thoracic vertebra which did not require surgery. He also had
a mylegram and subsequently developed a cyst on his spine at the site
of the puncture. He was paralyzed from the waist down while in the
hospital and the doctors were of the opinion that it was caused by the
stress and inflammation to the spinal cord due to the injury. Upon
release from the hospital he was able to walk with the aid of crutches.
He had constant pain in his back and legs and several hospitalizations
over the next year. Muscle spasms were severe and continuous. Oral
medications gave minimal relief. He was treated with oral medication
and physical therapy until the fall of 1993. The spinal cyst was deter-
mined to be inoperable and a shunt was installed to drain it into his
abdomen. In the fall of 1993 a Baclofen pump was installed and he
got the first relief of pain. We were told that the 'life expectancy'
of the pump was about 5 years, which proved to be true. In September
1998 he again had surgery to remove the original pump and install a
new one. The pump has proven very successful in his case. He also
looses some sensation and control of his right leg upon tiring and it
will drag.
In September 1993 my oldest daughter had spent the day cleaning house
and moving furniture. The next morning her back was hurting so I took
her to our chiropractor. He exrayed her and told us that there was
something going on that he didn't understand and sent her to the
hospital. We were met at the hospital by a neurologist called in by the
chiropractor. This was about 10 AM, by 6 PM my daughter was paralyzed
from the waist down and by 6 AM the next morning the paralysis had
progressed to her arm pits. She was diagnosed with Acute Transverse
Myelitis and was not expected to ever leave the hospital. During the
course of testing and examination she was found to have a spinal cyst
also. The neurologist said the cyst was located at the site of spinal
punctures made during the delivery of her son in June 1992. Against
all the odds we were given she did survive and came home paralyzed.
Over the next year and a half she recovered remarkably. She is now
remarried and living very happily with her family in NY. She has en-
dured the severe spasms, depression, bowel and bladder incontinence,
occassional loss of control of her legs and various other symptoms I've
seen mentioned by list members. Her doctor is very reluctant to use
the Baclofen pump. He feels that ANY intrusive treatment in the spinal
area could cause more problems than it fixes. At present she is still
incontinent and has very little feeling in her legs from about mid
thigh down yet walks without aid. She refuses to take any medication,
says they all make her feel like her brain is scrambled!
Now we come to the problems my grand daughter Sabryna has had over the
past two weeks. She has suffered un-diagnosed pain and swelling in her
lower back. After hospitalization for three days and IV drug treat-
ment she is at home and symptoms seem to be going away. My daughter
was told the medication she received was Decadron (sp?) Are any of
you familiar with that? What is it?
With the history of three family members developing spinal cysts at
puncture sites Sabryna's parents were adamant about no invasive pro-
cedures unless absolutely necessary!
Well, there you have it-----heridity ?? I just don't know, but all
this sure seems like more than coincidence to me. Over the past 10
years four family members with spinal problems of varying degrees of
severity and only one of them has a definite diagnosis!
Alice