>On Thursday, June 17, my brother Dave called 911 because he thought he was
>having a heart attack. One second, he was sitting at the computer typing
>away and then he felt a sharp pinprick between his shoulder blades. Pain
>rapidly spread around to his chest and his arms went numb. The ambulance
>came and took him to the hospital. Within a short period of time, he was
>paralyzed from the chest down - but was still in tremendous pain. The
>doctors were very good. They first ruled out an "aortic disconnect" (or
>something like that). They did an MRI, which was inconclusive, so they did
>a myelogram. They had put him on steroids right when he was brought in to
>the ER. They did back surgery on him that evening because they saw some
>calcification on his spine that they thought might be compressing and
>causing the paralysis. After the surgery, they told us he either had TM or
>had suffered a stroke to the spinal cord.
>
>By Sunday (his first father's day) he was able to slightly move a toe and
>felt pain when he got a shot in his belly. The neurologist told us that
>since he had shown early signs of improvement, his chances at recovery were
>now better than average - we were elated! He finished his course of
>steroids and was moved to a rehab hospital. We all had such high hopes at
>this point. Now the reality sets in - they tell him he needs to accept his
>paralysis and learn to live with it. They are saying the doctor should
>never have told him he had a good chance of recovery. In essence, they are
>killing his spirit. Yesterday was the lowest of the lows so far. They
>were considering putting him on an antidepressant. One nurse finally came
>in and told him he needed to be in his wheelchair so that his body could
>remember what it is supposed to do - i.e. sit up. He sat in his chair for
>4.5 hours. When he got back in bed, his wife got him to close his eyes and
>just try to wiggle his toes. HE DID IT!! Then he was able to move both of
>his kneecaps. Then he was able to turn his foot and leg inward from his
>hip. He has a renewed outlook on things. Once again, he feels he will be
>able to get better if only he works hard at it.
>
>My question is, are rehab hospitals required to be so negative? What's the
>point? Why try and crush someone's spirits when they are already so down?
> My brother knows there is a chance he won't improve any more than he
>already has, but why on earth should he stop trying to improve? Any
>responses will be appreciated.
>
>Take care, my prayers and thoughts are with all of you,
>Debby