TRANSVERSE MYELITIS

Hi, my name is Phil, ( this is me on a sunny day in Stanmore, London). Up until August 2002, I was fine- I just finished taking my GCSE's and I was working in an international bank for the summer.

On August 9th 2002, I arrived home from work like every other day. On my journey home from work, I felt pressure on my spine and put it down to a busy week at work. That evening I had a fever so went to bed hoping that I will feel better in the morning.

I was woken up by pain very early the next morning. My parents took me to A+E as it was the weekend. When finally seen by a consultant (3 hours later) was told it was a pulled muscle and that I should go home and take some painkillers. We requested an X-Ray, however, this was refused by the consultant. When returning home I  did some exercises that were shown to me.

The tablets eased my pain and I was able to have a better night's sleep. In the morning, I woke up and I felt that I could not empty my bladder properly, and that my left leg felt extremely heavy. I was getting quite worried. Thankfully our neighbour is a Professor in Neurology in Hammersmith, and he came round and took some reflexes and said that I should go to hospital immediately.

Over the next few days, I had an MRI scan which showed that I had an inflammatory disorder called Transverse Myelitis- inflammation of the spinal cord.

I have created this web-site to share my experience of this, and offer what I have learned along this journey in the hope that it may help others.