Differing Neurological Disorders

I spent a couple of nights at the hospital late last year. It was due to pneumonia. Since I was feverish my MS was made worse. I was almost totally paralyzed and could barely move my right arm and hand. The care I received from the nursing staff made me realize some of the differences between neurological disorders that produce paralysis. The nursing staff (1 in particular) treated me quite different than I had ever been exposed to.

She brought in some device that squeezed my legs from ankle and up the calf to aid blood flow. She also supplied a set up that included a nylon pad that went under my entire body. It had and grips on it so I can be slid around easier on the bed. It also included 2 foam wedges that could be put under one side of my back and hip. This was to take pressure off the same spot in my back. I would be left like this for a few hours and then they would move the wedges to the other side. At home I am always on my back in my bed. It was quite a few weeks before it dawned on me that she was treating me in the same way they would a spinal damage quadriplegic.

The other day I saw video on Facebook that talked about progressive MS. Putting together that and my treatment at the hospital I realized how different some of these neurological disorders can be. While I am mostly paralyzed I have not had problems with bedsores. One doctor told me this is due to the fact that I still have feelings in my extremities. I can feel when I’ve been sitting or lying in the same spot too long. I can still move a little bit and when I’m in my chair I can change the tilt and the back position that I’m always resting on a different spot I may end up suffering from bedsores but right now I don’t.

So some of the differences are that a quadriplegic or paraplegic may have had spinal damage. This prevents any feeling or movement in their affected extremities. They are very susceptible to bedsores. This is because they cannot feel anything in their extremities. So they must be very careful in the cold or near hot. They cannot feel when things are freezing up or burning. In my case I can feel when my legs or arms or hands come in contact with heat or cold or touch. I don’t think the one nurse understood how different my paralysis is than someone who has had spinal damage.

Can’t say that I really understand my disease very well. I’m told the nerves that are affected are only motor nerves. This leads to some tingling and nerve pain but nothing like that true paralysis that comes with spinal damage. I’m also told my disease has not affected my organs. I really don’t understand how my disease can paralyze me but leave my muscles capable of spasms. The muscles seem to work okay and the spasms are a big problem. Like if my arms spasms and my hand runs into something immovable the spasm will sprain my fingers quite easily. If my legs get trapped underneath me like when I slide off of things while transferring the spasms would probably tear muscle. It seems strange to me but MS is what it is.

I’m told that people with ALS, whose symptoms are somewhat similar to mine many times, have a much greater probability of their organs being affected. ALS seems like the worst possible neurological disorder/disease. Some people have a very short life after the onset and some people live for decades with the disease. Again I really don’t understand it.

So back to my main point and I do have one, all paralysis is not the same. MS related paralysis is different than ALS related paralysis and spinal damage related paralysis. Of course all 3 of these are serious but I do not have some of the same problems that the other 2 diseases I have mentioned are exposed to. While studying the neurological disorders, because I have one, I have found their much more extreme diseases than what I have. I know what I have is serious and my heart goes out to all my MS friends, spinal damage friends and ALS sufferers.