Kathy, I really appreciate your TM history. You sure were young when TM hit and it is incredible that it took so long for you to finally get diagnosed and on the right medication. I think I would be very bitter to have been treated the way you were by family and friends - unbelieveable!
I love how you met your husband - talk about a fairy-tale ending. You surely deserved it!! Keep emailing in to us - we need you. Janice ----- Original Message ----- From: LadyOwl1961 To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 10:29 AM Subject: [TMIC] Janice's questions.. Janice.. My name is Kathy Blaschko and I am 48 as of March 19th. I have been on and off this list since I found it in 2001 (I think). I was 27 (1988) when I first started with the symptoms of TM and was not diagnosed properly till I was 34 (1995). During that time they kept telling me I was in the early stages of MS. It took 4 doctors and a spinal tap/myelogram, and 3 MRI's before I was diagnosed properly. During this time my life was Hell. No one believed I had anything wrong with me except my father and a teacher when I was first having symptoms. Even though I walked funny (as they put it) it was said to be all in my head. During those 7 years I became a Good Actress as it was the only way to survive the criticisms I was getting from some family and friends. The worst one was that I was a drunk (I wobbled when I walked and people thought I was drunk). Some of my family were especially cruel by saying I was faking this to get attention. Even after I was diagnosed no one believed me as there was little known about it and as far as the doctor told me not many cases of it around Thunder Bay where I lived. Also at that time I was new to the internet and had not really thought to check there for information. It was not until it was on 48 Hours (which my husband taped for his family) that people finally started to believe that TM existed. I met my husband in 1996 online in a card playing site. And before we married in 1999 he became an expert on TM and knew my limitations before we married. He also knew that since I had another bout or breakdown (as I call them) where more lesions developed; I had a reoccurring type of TM. He still married me and as I said earlier we have a great marriage. I don't have the MS gait as they call it but I do wobble when I walk most of the time. I have been able to compensate for it so most people just think I stumbled over something or tripped on my own two feet as they call it. I also hide it allot. What I mean by that is when I am in rough shape I hide in the house and only allow my husband and a few friends to see me. I have put up with way to much crap over this to allow others to criticize me anymore. Since Nov. 1st. of 2007 I have been on Lyrica which I find fantastic for my pain and symptoms. Before that I was on so many pills I felt like a walking drug store. My daughter had me convinced I was addicted to Percocet since every so often I was taking 3 a day when the pain was very bad. I talked to my family doctor about this and he called me crazy for allowing her to manipulate me that way. I am still good at playing the actress these days but that is when I am with a new group of people or in a party setting. Just recently I was at a Navy League reunion and met a doctor from Finland (originally from Thunder Bay) and we had a nice discussion about TM as she works with autoimmune patients. It was nice for once with not having to explain exactly what TM is. Well enough about me. My fingers are starting to stutter and my spell/grammar check is flashing all over the place.. LOL Kathy
