So after roughly a 32 hour stint between the West Chester ED, transport to UC Medical Center in Clifton, and in the ED here waiting on a bed to open up, I landed on 4NE which is the Neurology unit at about 7pm on Tuesday 1/18/22. My nurse that first night was Jasmine and she was wonderful, did what she had to do and let me SLEEP, which is exactly what I needed. Then began the hard work of figuring out exactly what was going on with my body, and how I am going to get better.
Wednesday 1/19 was my sister’s birthday, so she didn’t come down, but my Dad did. We were trying to figure out plans, I was contacting school to put my life on hold. The Neuro team basically settled on the diagnosis of Transverse Myelitis, which is where the immune system attacks the myelin sheath of the spinal cord, and can leave partial paralysis. I was receiving high dose steroids, once a day, which made me extremely weepy, but should kick my immune system out the door to stop attacking my spinal cord. Flowers started arriving and they were beautiful! They helped brighten my spirits during this crazy time.
Getting used to what my body actually can do has been hard. My legs feel like peg legs, I have to lift from the core/hip/arms to get going. I am struggling with nerve pain, I am struggling with muscle spasms. I am having to re-potty train myself (more on that later.)
The rest of the week was more the same, paperwork, working on sub plans, working on getting my rehab placement/insurance certs. It has been quite a bit to process and deal with. Right now, it is looking like I should transfer to rehab tomorrow, and then from what I understand the real work will begin.
More later…
Bratschetech Baroque 