How I over came paralysis
About two months ago I awoke to find my left arm and leg were unable to move. The night before I had gone to bed as usual when I was felt as though someone had lifted me up by my arms and slammed me into my bed. The backs of my arms and shoulders were in a lot of pain. My first thought was I was having a heart attack so I woke up my wife  and off we went to the hospital. By the way don’t follow my example, if you think you are having a heart attack call an ambulance they will be ready to take care of you when they arrive, I learned my lesson. I was rushed into the emergency room and after testing me it seemed like l wasn’t having a heart attack but they kept me overnight to observe me and do further tests. In the morning when I awoke I realized that my left leg and and right hand weren’t able to move and my left hand had diminished movement. My first thought was I had a stroke, but the diagnosis wouldn’t be so easy.
Now imagine waking up paralyzed, what thoughts would enter into your mind?  To give you a little background about myself so you can understand where my mind set was at the time, I am a very physically active person. For the past seventeen years I have been studying various martial arts, the last eight years I have studied and taught Tai Chi. I am also a runner and enjoy weight lifting, kayaking, and hiking. My greatest fear was what would I do if I became paralized and couldn’t do Tai Chi or run or go on hikes, these were my favorite activities and what I did with most of my free time.  What was the first thought that entered my mind?  “Well, my greatest fear has just become a reality and you know what? It isn’t so bad, I will just have to learn to deal with the situation and figure out what else I will do with this new reality I have.” That was my first thought and I never looked back. I was determined that I would regain as much ability as I could and learn to live with the results.
Back at the hospital, I was in a lot of pain in my arms and shoulders and the tests started. I had x rays of my neck, two MRI’s, one of my brain and another of my neck, and still no determination of what caused the paralysis. They threw around possibilities such as MS or a spinal stroke but nothing for sure. On the second day I awoke to find that I could move my right hand but now my left hand had lost it’s ability to move and that was how it was to remain. A series of neurologists came by to check out the mystery illness guy and tell me how exciting it was to have such an unusual case to deal with. I was thrilled to know how I had enriched their lives. Eventually I had a spinal tap and when everything was put together it was determined that I had Trans-viral Myelitis or TM, which is an inflammation of the spinal cord caused when a virus attacks it knocking out large motor centers of the nervous system. In my case the shoulders, which is where the arm and hands are controlled and also the hip area which controls the legs. No one knows the exact cause of this and it can happen to anyone at anytime which I am sure is reassuring to all of you. I had no illness at the time this happened and the virus that attacked my spinal cord was never found.
The good news is that many people have a partial or complete recovery if they start recovering movement in the first few weeks of the illness. I was determined to recover and began seeing improvement almost immediately. Since this began I have worked constantly to try to move all the affected parts of my body and within a few days could move my leg and arm a little and have consistently found improvement every day since. I was sent to a rehabilitation center called Peninsula rehab in Ormond Beach, FL. where I had physical therapy three to four hours every day. After three and a half weeks I was sent home with a walker and a wheel chair. I never sat in the wheelchair again and a week and a half later I gave up the walker for a cane. Within a week I gave up the cane.  My physical therapists find my recovery extraordinary. I am improving much faster than they thought possible. Why?
I believe the main reason I have had such a good recovery comes from two things, one, my physical and mental training before the illness struck and two, my positive attitude  and constant working at therapy. I believe that my martial arts training, especially Tai Chi and my overall fitness level contributed to my ability to get on my feet and begin the process of relearning to talk. All of my therapists commented on my ability to balance which is the number one factor in walking. Tai Chi is all about balance with most movements requiring balancing on one leg. The slow controlled movements require extraordinary leg strength, the back is straight and the head is level using the knees as shock absorbers. Visualisation is also a large part of Tai Chi as each movement is a martial art technique with a specific application that the body has to execute properly in order to be effective. Moving energy or Chi, through the body is also an integral part of learning Tai Chi that requires one to visualize energy in different parts of the body. This is essential when trying to get parts of the body to move that currently aren’t receiving information from the brain. The brain has the ability to make new connections and neuropathy ways throughout our whole lives, that is why we can learn new things no matter what our age. When you learn to play a guitar you put your fingers on the strings to play a chord, at first it’s difficult to do, the fingers don’t stretch that way the wrist is at a unusual angle and it’s hard to remember the order without constantly looking at your hand placement. Eventually it becomes easier, this is because your brain makes new connections between your fingers and your brain. This is the same process that is required when you’ve become  paralyzed, unless the spinal cord is completely severed. As long  as there are nerves connected to a limb the brain will find a way to get there, provided you put your mind there first.
The second important part of recovery is hard work. You not only have to put your mind in the part of your body you want to move you have to move it with your mind. When I started to walk I couldn’t get my foot to lift up at the ankle  so the toes would clear the ground, this would cause me to drag my foot and trip. The therapists wanted to get me a brace made that would hold my ankle at an angle to keep my toes up so I could walk, I knew if I had that done then I would never get my foot to work properly and I would always have to use that brace, forget about running again. That night I was in my room and concentrated on moving my ankle after an hour of staring at my foot willing it to move I saw a slight movement. I continued every day concentrating  on that ankle until I could walk without using a brace. My hand is the next challenge, it has the most muscles that control the tiniest movements requiring lots of strength. Again I spend hours everyday doing ridiculous little things such as flipping playing cards, picking up coins and stringing beads but each day I see improvement, it’s slow because the hand is very complicated but it is getting stronger and constantly improving.
Today a little over two months after this happened I am walking several miles a day doing thirty minutes on a elliptical machine and lifting weights, which is more than most people who are healthy do. I will continue to keep you posted on my recovery, as well a other topics, at this sight.
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