I have TM
RedShark6(AT)aol.com
Wed, 16 Jul 1997 08:58:25 -0400 (EDT)
On Sept. 17 1996, I woke up and had a pain in my back, 15 min. later I had
pins and needles in my buttocks. 5 min. after that I was completely
paralyzed and could not move from the waist down. When I got to the hospital
the x-rays and cat-scans ahowed nothing, and my left leg feltlike it was on
fire whenever anyone would touch it. Two MRI's showed nothing and I as
transferred to Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia. They thought it was
Guilliam Barre and so they did a spinal tap, ouch! The spinal tap showed
nothing so they admitted me and put me on decadron (steriod) A third MRI
showed interrupted blood flow from T-12 down. At that point the diagnosis
was an AVM (anterior vascular malformation) the arteriogram was also
negative. This was the 23 of Sept. 6 days after I had collapsed. My right
leg was moving very slightly, spasms and a little toe movement. 12 days
after I was admitted to Children's I was transferred to a Re-Hab. There I
was and heparin, hytrin, and decadron. They decreased steroids and gave me a
tone reducer called baclofen. By November I could transfer from bed to
wheelchair with assistanceand gained controll of my bowels. After that I was
doing pivot turns and crutches and before I knew it I was walking again. I
was and still am an avid golfer. I am 13 and know can walk almost completley
normal, but I do know the trouble the menacing thing gave me and I want to
help others with TM. I do get down a lot but not as often anymore, if anyone
wants to talk I just want to know what others are feeling and if it is like
what I'm feeling,
Please Write Back,
Terry
RedShark6(AT)aol.com