Fresh out of college, Tammy and her sister, Julie moved into their first apartment ready to start their lives. Full of life and busy all the time, Tammy found herself feeling exhausted…which felt a bit off being that she was normally so energetic. Feeling like she a flu that just kept getting worse. Work and hibernation began to become her normal. Finally, Tammy gathered the strength to get into the doctor. This was the beginning of her emotional and physical roller coaster. Here are a list of some of his personal symptoms and a brief version of the path of Tammy took to get a final diagnosis.

Some of the symptoms he showed over time:

• Felt run down with flu-like symptoms. Went into the doctor who ran a blood test which indicated she had mono. She followed the doctors instructions but didn’t seem to feel any better.
• 2 days later, she realized she was unable to urinate. She got into the doctor that day and the doctor had her take in water while she was there. 3 hours into the visit, drinking water and still unable to urinate, her doctor suggested a catheter to relieve the pressure. The doctor believed it must be a bladder infection. With antibiotics and instructions to have soup and drinks, Tammy headed home.

 

• After drinking so much liquid, Tammy couldn’t urinate again and was in pain. Her sister took her to the emergency room. Another catheter was inserted relieved the pain. Unable to find the source of the problem, they left the catheter in and instructed her to see a urologist the following morning.
• The following morning, the urologist ran some tests but was unable to pin point the issue. He needed to do an exam which was scheduled for the following week when Tammy’s bladder was back to a normal size.
• Exhausted with very little strength, Tammy crawled into bed to rest. Over the next few days, Tammy noticed a tingling sensation that was accompanied with numbness below the area rise up her legs. By the time Monday came around, she was unable to stand on her legs AND was unable to move her legs. Panicking, Tammy’s family rushed her to the hospital. Doctor Lori MacPherson, from Cox Family Medicine, examined Tammy. Noticing that she had no sensation below her chest, Dr. MacPherson ordered an MRI. The results showed multiple brain lesions which is typically indicative of Multiple Sclerosis.
• The doctor then ordered a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to confirm and the results came back …Tammy didn’t have MS. At that time the doctor was able to diagnosis Tammy.

Final Diagnosis:

• Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis or ADEM- a rare neurological disorder often triggered by a viral infection. Normally when viruses enter a body, antibodies fight it off. However in ADEM patients like Tammy, antibodies go haywire and begin to attack the brain and spinal cord causing systems to malfunction. This is a critical illness that is an ascending paralysis that works from the feet up. Eventually it reaches the chest wall and causes the patient to no longer breath on their own.

What is ahead for her:

• At that time there was no known treatment. This illness is so rare that only 8 in a million people. The doctor stayed up researching and found evidence about studies done with high dose IVs with steroids. With no guarantees, the doctor administered the treatment.
• Within hours of starting the treatment, Tammy’s sensory tests began to improve. Over the hours her sensation came back but her muscles were in bad shape. After 2 months of intense physical therapy, Tammy was back home.

With such a quick onset of this illness, it was great that Dr. MacPherson was able to finally locate the problem. So many times I hear of people waiting months for diagnosis. For Tammy, that could have cost her life. 12 years later, Tammy is married and had a daughter…she is closer to her family and truly appreciates life.