I guess my daughter should consider herself completely blessed. She has been back in school since a month after this happened to her when she was in 5th grade. She continued to maintain a A - B average and was actually on the distinguished honor roll this past term b/c she recd straight A's. She is now in 8th grade. I thank God, every time I read one of your emails, that he has blessed her with the ability to continue to concentrate, learn and grow and not have most of the struggles, trials and tribulations that you all have gone through! When Ashlee was first in Hershey Medical Center and TM was what they thought she had, I googled it. I was scared to death to read a whole lot about it b/c everything was so new. I made my mom promise me that she would NOT read about it until we knew for sure what she had and how they were going to treat her. After she came home, got back into school, and things settled down a bit, then I started researching it again. I don't really even remember how I found this list but I am so glad that I did! You guys have answered so many questions and I enjoy reading the emails! Kudos to Jim for starting this list!! Tracey L. Black Certified Insurance Service Representative Hockley & O'Donnell Insurance Agency Phone - 717-334-6741, x 29 Fax - 717-334-3414
Thank you for providing information to us. Please beware that no coverage is bound and no change to your insurance program is confirmed until verified by a licensed agent during regular business hours. If you do not hear from us within 1 business day, please re-contact us in case your information has not been retained. ________________________________ From: Trudy Ogilvie [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 12:35 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: [TMIC] 19 year TM Anniversary - my thanks to TMIC Barbara, Are you wheelchair bound? My TM is from the waist down and I use a walker to get around and I believe I have recovered some of the use of my legs. At first I was completely paralyzed from the waist down? Do you ever take vicodin for the pain. My doctor has given me some and it does help but I am very careful not to over do it. I too had to quit work I just could not concentrate. This list has truly been a life saver. I also was told to stay out of the any type of list... of course this is from people who mean well but have absolutely no idea of what we have been thru. I hope you find some relief for your pain at night. Take care Trudy In Virginia where the sun has finally decided to shine! On Wed, May 21, 2008 at 6:02 AM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: 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> .
