CaroleeRose

I've had an interesting life and it all started when I was born on Friday the 13th, in December of 1957 in the middle of a blizzard in the same hospital my beloved grandmother had been born in back on February 22nd, 1900.

I was born with a Hare lip and Cleft Palate. I've had 28 corrective surgeries with the majority of them when I was in High School.

Though I had the grade point average to graduate with my Class of 1976, I had to go another entire year to make up all the actual classroom time that I missed.

I grew up in South Florida but am originally from North Babylon, New York. After High School I enlisted in the Army and made a lot of great friends. I definitely enjoyed my tour of Germany where I was stationed in Bad Kreuznach.

I'm happily married to a wonderful man who turned out to be an incredible nurse in my time of need.

I woke up on May 21st, 2007 paralyzed from the waist down with no warning. It took 6 months to be properly diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis which is pretty rare. I was truly blessed to learn how to walk again and have adjusted my life to the new me.

It's been quite the journey and puts a whole new emphasis on getting reacquainted with myself. What I can and can't do, learning to truly listen to my body and recognize the early signs of fatigue.

I had to relearn how my body would react to everything and now I have it all down to a science and know exactly my limitations.

It's not as bad as it sounds, I'm still me, I just do things differently and a lot slower. If nothing else I've become quite creative in my every day life.

The hardest part for me was being home full time. There's only so much TV a person can watch before that even becomes boring. On the other hand, my dogs absolutely loved having me home full time and were only to happy to become my constant companions 24 hours a day.

My Laptop is my eyes to the outside world and keeps me connected with family and friends. Even so, I always need to remind myself that they all have jobs, families, responsibilities and hobbies of their own.

This Transverse Myelitis is just another chapter of my life and my story is far from over!