Thank you very much for replying to my letter. You are a terrific
inspiration to me and I feel priveleged to have you respond to my questions.
To hear what you have gone through (ARE going through) and to see what you
accomplish, for example - this wonderful tm internet club where we may all
share, is just wonderful. I love to see people accomplish tasks, goals and
other things. I hope one day to achieve some of my own goals. My doctor
just put me on anti-depressants yesterday. The depression is not as a
result of the tm, which I got on Jan. 13/97, but has been getting worse for
the last 4 years. I guess the tm just pushed me farther and finally into
the doctors office for help. Maybe the tm was set upon me to make me find
help for other problems... Anyway, that is a whole other subject. What I
really wanted to mention was that I saw my neurologist today for the second
time since my tm attack in January. Basically I was told this: we dont
know for sure why you got tm. we don't know when it will get better. we dont
know IF you will get better. we dont know if all the symptons will go away
or if you will be left with some numbness and or pain. we cant prove that
acupuncture/naturpaths diets or other homeopath things help one way or
another. we dont know if you will have a recurrence or not. we dont know
for sure if you do not have ms and we dont know if you will have ms in your
life or if your chances are better of having ms because of this tm. we
really dont know anything about tm or how to make it better. I DID find out
that I have a T2 inflammation.( I didn't know the exact location of it
previously). Thats about it. For me because it is mild, he suggested I
play the waiting game to see if I get better, versus the cortisteroid
intravenous and other medications. So, I will wait. Thank you for
allowing me to go on and on. Thank you to everyone else who responded as well.
Sandy
samiam(AT)rapidnet.net
---------------------------------------
At 03:58 PM 2/18/97 -0800, you wrote:
>At 09:32 PM 2/15/97 -0800, you wrote:
>>
>>I keep thinking that I will get better quickly. That one day I will wake up
>>and I won't be numb anymore, that my good (not numb) knee won't give out all
>>the time, and that my energy will come back. Anyone ever have this happen?
>>Or should I probably expect to be numb for a while - and how long? Do some
>>people with tm recover inside a year?? Somedays I feel quite good, not too
>>much pain, so I guess that is the days I think that I will get better. I
>>can walk, drive and mostly do things, so I am very lucky to be able to do
>>these things. If I run a finger lightly down my numb arm, I can feel my
>>finger on my arm, but I don't feel hot or cold or a pinch. Does the fact
>>that I can feel a light touch mean I may be getting better? Do others
>>experience the same thing? Also, half of my foot and the two smallest
>>toes hurt alot,or are even more numb. Does pain mean I may be getting
>>better? Are there things that I will go through that will be a sign that I
>>am recovering? I would love to have some kind of sign that mean that this
>>may soon be over. To anyone who has gotten better - are there any signs
>>that mean recovery is near?
>
>I was diagnosed with TM in 1989. Since it was at the C2 level it affected
>me more serverly. I'm paralyzed from the neck down and totally dependent on
>a ventilator to breathe. At first, I had no feeling below my neck but was
>in extreme pain (I was getting iv morphine shots for the pain while in
>ICU). I remember feeling like my whole body was sunburned.
>
>After about the 2nd month I started getting feeling back on my left side. I
>was also giving a new trach tube so I was able to speak a few words between
>breathes. It made it much easier to commuicate! :)
>
>A few months later, I started getting feeling back on my right side, but
>not as normal feeling as my left side. I also started feeling temperature
>on my right leg. I could not feel my right arm.
>
>A couple years later (around 1991), I started being able to feel when my
>bladder was full.
>
>Today, nearly 8 years later, I am still paralyzed from the neck down;
>although I am able to move my head a bit more than before. I'm still
>dependent on a repirator to breathe. I have nearly normal feeling on the
>whole left side of my body, less feeling on my right side and can't feel my
>right arm. I can only feel temperature on my right leg, but feel cold most
>of the time. I very rarely have any pain at all.
>
>My neurolgist orginally said that if I ever did get any significan return
>of function that he wouldn't expect it to be for 7 to 10 years. So if it's
>God's will, I'll get better. If I don't get better, I know He has other
>plans for me. One thing my condition has done is allowed me time to be able
>to help others (such as creating this list and a few others), and for that
>I'm thankful.
>
>Well excuse my rambling...
>Jim
>
>----
>Jim Lubin jlubin(AT)eskimo.com
>Bothell, WA, USA <http://www.eskimo.com/~jlubin>
>disAbility Resources: <http://www.eskimo.com/~jlubin/disabled>
>
>