James, I had 2 TM attacks within 30 days back in '06! The first was T10 - T12 which left me paralyzed from waist down! Before I could go to outpatient PT, I had my 2nd attack C4 - T1 leaving me paralyzed from neck down.
I had Plasm Excange (PLEX) treatments 7 in hospital and 7 as outpatient along with inhospital/outpatient PT. I do "walk" dragging my R leg/foot which causes me to stumble quite often. I do have spotty feeling in leg/foot. My L leg/foot is stronger but no feeling at all! I can only be on my legs/feet for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. My L arm/hand is the worst and only at 1/4 strength with little or no feeling! My R arm/hand is at approx. 50% with feeling! Considering all and all, I feel VERY LUCKY! I take Tramadol, Cymbalta, Zanaflex, Protonix, and Gabapentin. Plus 10,000 IU Vit. D, Cranberry capsule, B Complex, Calcium, Cq10, Omega 3, and multi vitamin for women. If you were given steroids at the beginning, do get a bone scan. My scan showed severe loss in spine and hip area. So I take a Forteo self shot daily! Also, Vit. D has been shown to help the immune system! My blood level 19 months ago was at 13. Normal should be 37+. I'm up to 30! I also wear a TENS. Which helps somewhat in walking! The Vit. D has seemed to help somewhat in the pain levels but when the level is19 or 20 (forget the 10 scale), every degree is a help! Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably . And never regret anything that made you smile. Prayers and thoughts for you and yours, Candy K. ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Berg" <[email protected]> To: "CANDIS KALLEY" <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, November 15, 2010 6:23:27 PM Subject: Re: [TMIC] Peddle Machine My injury is at T-10-12--no legs at all, constant severe pins and needles sensation with waves of increased shocking sensation from my feet to my knees. Swollen feet. Strong leg spasms. Banding around my middle from the navel down. It seems that the banding has gotten stronger (thicker?) with the peddling. Also the shockwaves and spasms seem stronger after a peddling session. I get back pain from being in the chair too long or from the bed when I try to be in a sitting up position. Banding does make it hard to take a deep breath. Occasionally I stop breathing altogether and wake up gasping for air. Scares the hell out of my wife. Eight months of caring for me has worn her out. No improvement in all that time. The only medications I take are vitamins-multi vitamin, fish oil, b-complex with C and L-Arginine for blood circulation. On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 12:41 PM, CANDIS KALLEY < [email protected] > wrote: Any time I move, my back pain becomes worse. In PT they would allow me to rest 5 to 10 minutes between each different activity. Sometimes I would require heat to the back to help relieve pain. I would also have episodes of the banding around the middle - I called it the "corset" effect - which made breathing very difficult! This maybe from back spasms? Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably . And never regret anything that made you smile. Prayers and thoughts for you and yours, Candy K. Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably . And never regret anything that made you smile. Prayers and thoughts for you and yours, Candy K. ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Berg" < [email protected] > To: "CANDIS KALLEY" < [email protected] > Sent: Monday, November 15, 2010 5:33:23 PM Subject: Re: [TMIC] Peddle Machine I am at no resistance--the machine does all the work for me. Did you have any spasm/pain reactions? On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 12:28 PM, CANDIS KALLEY < [email protected] > wrote: When I was in PT they had me on a peddle machine. I never got pass half resistance. And never that fast! They would put me on for approx 15 min. I had PT 3 times a week! Keep up the good work! Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably . And never regret anything that made you smile. Prayers and thoughts for you and yours, Candy K. ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Berg" < [email protected] > To: "transverse myelitis" < [email protected] > Sent: Monday, November 15, 2010 5:22:53 PM Subject: [TMIC] Peddle Machine Has anyone used a peddle machine to work their legs? I am using one now with the idea of keeping my legs from atrophy. My questions are how long should I run my legs at one session and is it adviseable to do more than one session a day. I am currently doing 20 minutes and one session a day at full speed--about 1350 revolutions in 20 minutes. Any thoughts on this?
