It sure does. I was fine then a few minutes later nearly dead, woke up in
the hospital totally paralyzed and not able to speak or breathe. I've
always said the worse thing with TM is not knowing how it happend. It's not
like I was horseback riding and fell off (like Chris Revees), it was
nothing I did or could have prevented. I was talking to someone, felt lite
headed, had an intense pain in my shoulder, couldn't stand then stopped
breathing. All it the matter of less that 10 minutes!
Oh well, 8 years later (as of May 17th) I'm still paralyzed from the neck
down, totally dependent on a ventilator to breathe, able to feel touch
everywhere except my right arm, able to feel when my bladder is full. I'm
not in pain anymore. Life goes on... being paralyzed is no big deal. The
most I hope for is to be able to breathe on my own. After that, being able
to scratch my nose when it itches would be nice too. :-)
Jim
Jim Lubin
jlubin(AT)eskimo.com
http://www.eskimo.com/~jlubin
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A searchable archive and more TM information is available at:
Transverse Myelitis Internet Club
http://www.eskimo.com/~jlubin/disabled/tmic