Jeanne, Your comment was very nice, but I mean it from the heart. When I first got my TM my family told me to please, not to go onto the TM website for the time being. That the info on the site was not optimistic and the people on the TMIC even had some pretty poor outcomes. I made this promise, and I only did therapy and listened to my doctors. When I first came into the TMIC I lingered for a few weeks. It was hard to hear about some of the stories, as I was starting to get a decent recovery. From paralysis from waist to toes, I had begun walking with a walker, so that was looking ok for me at that point, and hopefully more to come. TMIC really made me feel a part of a community and not alone with this crappy TM. I didn't know anyone else who had TM, so this was my only contact with anyone who had my kind of limitations who could help to teach me how to deal with all of it. Mentally, I thought I was ok, but I wasn't. I didn't think I needed anti-depressants, but I did. I thought if I could get back to work all would be ok with me, so that's where my emphasis was. I pushed myself to go back to work, although there were a few on TMIC who tried to encourage me not to. I didn't have the energy to do it, and really didn't have the energy to do work and therapy, so my therapy suffered. That wasn't the brightest thing I could have done. I was a terrible employee, but my boss was so wonderful, allowing me to work when I could, at the office and at home. It took me at least 2x as long to accomplish a task as it used to, as I didn't have the concentration to handle things properly. It took me to totally crash to realize that I couldn't do my therapy and work. In order to mentally handle it, I finally admitted to myself that I wasn't going to wake up one morning and not have TM, so I called my doc and quit working and went on a disability leave of absence once again, this time for good. I went on anti-depressants that same day. This was almost 9 years ago, and for all that time I have gotten support from TMIC. I don't know that I could have gotten through all of this without all of you. Big hugs, Barbara A
**************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001)
