Re: HERIDITY OR NOT ??
Jo Ellen Finkelstein (ghellen(AT)ninenet.com)
Thu, 21 Jan 1999 23:18:14 -0600
ALICE ROGERS wrote:
>
> 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!
> AliceHi Alice, Joellen here. Decadron is a glucocortisoid used to control
inflammation. That's about all I can remeber from nursing school!
Joellen