My name is Joyce. My son had transverse myelitis in 1989 when he was a
13 month old child. One day he was normal, the next he couldn't walk, a
week later he was paralyzed from the shoulders down and even started to get
a floppy neck. Then he started to get better. He was at his worst on
Valentine's day, by mother's day he was walking again, but as you are well
aware there are some lingering effects:
1) bladder control not it's best. Ditropan helped for awhile, now we are
off it as an experiment. 9 days and so far so good!
2) he was more affected on his left and he runs weird - throws his left
foot out in an odd manner
3) clonus - if he plants his foot a certain way it shakes involuntarily.
I did a net search on transverse myelitis awhile back - almost nothing.
Now I am glad to find you folks.
Does anyone hold a FAQ they can send? I'd hate to ask questions that have
been well covered... Like for example has any progress been made
determining a cause of this mysterious condition that our pediatrician never
heard of until my son got it!!!!
Luckily my son is a bright and fairly well adjusted little boy (he is 9
now) - he will be able to pursue any intellectual career that he likes -
just not an athletic one. He is the kid who is always chosen last in gym
class thanks to tm.
Aurore, best of luck with your surgery.
Sincerely,
Joyce Kreuter