I have heard Transverse Myelitis referred to as the hidden illness for two reasons

1. It can attack with no warning and suddenly
2. There are many aspects to this illness apart from the physically visible that patients suffer that others never know
   
   

My Day of Onset

On Sunday March 10^th 2012 my parents were moving out of their home into their new van they had bought a few days earlier as they had just retired and were getting ready to travel Australia and have the holiday they had dreamed and talked of for as long as I can remember. I woke up and had a “sore back” you know the kind that makes you think I did something the day before that maybe had given it a little tweak. As the day went on it stayed annoying and mid afternoon I noticed a change of sensation on my stomach. When I ran my fingers over my stomach it felt kind of numb. I then noticed later that evening that my right leg had the same sensation. Anyway on with the day and tomorrow I would wake up and all would be ok. For the next few days I just had a sore back. On the morning of Wednesday the 14^th March I collapsed without warning whilst making my childrens sandwiches for school. It was as though somebody had snuck up behind and stabbed me repeatedly between the shoulder blades. As I was screaming I began sweating from the pain and not being able to catch my breath. My darling boys 13,11 and 9 and i live alone (their father resides in Brisbane) and they rushed into the kitchen to see their mother hunched over the kitchen bench in a state they didn't quite know how to handle. Over a couple of minutes as the pain intensified I felt as though my legs were becoming weak and I asked one of my sons to get me a chair which he did and I sat in the hope the pain would ease off. It didn't so I thought I would lie on the lounge to try and get some relief. As I stood to head into the lounge room my legs collapsed from beneath me and I noticed I could not feel anything below my bra line. I was paralysed. My son rang my parents and my mother in law who raced to my home to find me on the floor unable to move or function. They called the ambulance and as the doors shut and they pulled out my drive I could see the faces of my three boys standing and watching as their mum who was fine half an hour ago leaving with drips in her arm and crying in pain. The sight of their faces is embedded in my memory. That day I was taken to our local hospital in Mullumbimby where they told me I would need to go to Tweed Heads another ambulance trip that would take me further from home and my boys. At Tweed Heads hospital I had a CT scan and xray of my spine and nothing was found. I had numerous blood tests and nothing showed as abnormal. Between bouts of vomitting and doctors and nurses deciding what to do next I realised that when I got out of bed that morning I fell to the floor. I laughed at myself for being so silly but that was my first sign of paralysis setting in I was to find out later. By this time it was mid afternoon and I asked the nurse for a pan as I needed to urinate. They rolled me, placed the pan and left me to take care of business. After twenty minutes of straining and trying I could not for the life of me excrete any urine. I informed the nurse and the chaos began. Before I knew it I had a cathetar inserted and a finger up my bottom to test for clenching reflexes. When they discovered they paralysis involved the bowel and bladder they contacted Gold Coast Southport Hospital Neurology where they said I needed to be admitted immediately. Another ambulance trip and another hour further from home I arrived to be subjected to more blood tests and monitoring. At this stage the night was late and they settled me in a bed in the ER for the night until they could access the MRI machines the next morning and do a lumbar puncture. My mind was exhausted my body was paralysed and all I could think of was what lie ahead of me and my boys at home. Their world had just taken a change but they didn't know it yet neither did I. Tomorrow would bring a new day of tests to determine a diagnosis. All I knew was something was wrong and maybe after a sleep I would have the feeling back. I was wrong.  I just started my blog tonight and i am doing a few days catch up to bring me up to current day.  Tomorrow i will start from Diagnosis to first lines of treatment.