My life, My Loss and What I Hope to Teach My Sons

I begin this blog almost six years after an auto-immune response to a viral infection single handedly, over the course of a day, annihilated the nerve cells in my upper spinal cord. Nerve cells, also called neurons, are like an electrical current sending motor and sensory messages back and forth between the brain and spinal cord to our organs and limbs. Like a telephone circuit, the spinal cord talks to the rest of the body via these highly specialized "wires" and any disruption to the circuit will botch communication or stop it all together.
My body plays a constant game of Broken Telephone with my brain, and vise-versa. After a full day of this aggravating back and forth with the odd correct message getting through, my body collapses into a much needed slumber, just to start it up again when the sun rises. Fatigue, not surprisingly, is one of the most common burdens of persons with spinal cord injuries and illnesses.
My two children were young in July, 2007 when I became ill, only four and six at the time. Much of my life was put on hold - dreams of travel, career advancement, and training for a marathon. But, my most valuable treasure, motherhood, was not stripped from me on that fateful day in July.
And thus, I begin to share the story of my life, my loss and what I hope to teach my sons.

Location:Toronto