How would you feel if you were a dancer jumping, twirling, dancing all over the floor yesterday but then today you couldn’t move your legs and have lost all mobility you had to walk? Life always comes with obstacles that we all have to overcome and get past. Some are easy some are difficult. Giving up is never the right answer!

I’ve been dancing sense I was little. I have always enjoyed being able to learn a routine and then perform in front of big crowds. I was good at it so of course I wanted to be the center of attention! When I was thirteen years old my life took a turn for the worst. I went to bring my dog outside and my right leg from the knee down was numb. I told my mom and she said “Oh, maybe you just sat on it weird?” I figured that was the only logical conclusion. So, well no big deal. Soon after my whole right leg was numb and I couldn’t use it. It was odd but still no big deal to me. When I went to bring my dog inside both my legs were numb and I was having difficulties walking. As I was grabbing on to every little thing in the yard that could hold me up and help me get back to the house my sister saw me struggling to do so. “Don’t tell mom. Okay?” She agreed to keep it a secret. I had assumed it would get better that maybe I just needed some rest. My sister helped me get to the couch. I sat there watching tv when my mom came out from her bedroom and asked me to stand up and walk. My sister ratted on me. No surprise there she has always been known for telling my mother every little thing I do. I stood up and at that point it was completely gone. I stood up so fast that if my grandmothers dog hadn’t been standing right in front of the couch I would have fallen. It was then my mom realized something was wrong. She then helped me out to the car and drove me down to my grandmother (Nana). My Nana had always been the person my mom always went to when my sister or I were sick. My mom not having a clue what was going on she rushed me down to my aunts house where Nana was to see if maybe she had any ideas of to what might have gone wrong. My uncle got me out of the car and there my aunt, mom, nana and my uncle stood and could tell something bad was really wrong. I then got rushed to the hospital. I sat in the hospital in pain for hours upon hours. Doctors came and went. Did test after test. All results coming back negative. After spending a long time at the hospital they had finally released me. Which at that point I was glad. I was still not able to walk at all and all my strength was still nonexistent. The doctors had concluded they had done all the tests they could think of and they were not able to help me. From that point on my mom brought me to my doctor everyday until she decided to send me to a specialist. My back killled like crazy. The pain was almost unbearable. My legs would spas out constantly. My legs swollen, heavy and had no feeling at all. Doctors never gave me a wheelchair or anything to use. I borrowed my aunts crutches from her because walking on my hands and scooting around the floor and grounds was just not working out for me. I was getting blisters all over my hands from doing so. When I wanted to step out of the car, out of bed or anything I had to physically pick up my leg and place it to the spot I wanted it to move. To do simple tasks it was taking me twice as much time as normal. The only plus of the whole situation is that my sister felt so bad for me she was waiting hand and foot on me and that I got out of doing the dishes which was amazingly the highlight of being paralyzed.

Right from day one I was terrified I would never be able to walk let alone dance. Dancing was my life. Not knowing if I would ever be able to dance again stressed me out. I was worried that my life was over. Dance is all I did if I couldn’t dance then what else was there? I felt like a stranger. I was different then everyone else. I was viewing the world in a different perspective. This experience had opened my eye to how it feels to be handicapped and incapable of functioning every part of your body the correct way as you should. I’ve never been one to judge people who were handicapped my mom is a CNA and works at Harris House, so I’ve been brought up around that and raised to not make fun of them. The truth is, no one honestly knows how that person feels until it happens to them. People may think they understand and feel sympathy for the individual with these incapabilities. I thought I understood and had the most sympathy for them. To be completely honest I have realized that wasn’t the truth. Now is the Truth, after experiencing what I had to experience I now understand what handicapped people have to go through and how they feel. I was able to overcome Transverse Myelitis and am able to walk after I learned to walk I had to relearn how to dance. When I got myself back in dance I felt like I was a failure, I felt as if I would never be able to get back to my old self and be able to do my steps over again. I use to be the dancer who all the other dancers would look at when they forgot the steps. When I got back to dance no one was watching me when they didn’t know the steps not because I couldn’t remember the steps or didn't know how to do them it’s that I couldn’t do them. The paralysis and numbness sensation in my legs had took over. My strength and will power to succeed was destroyed and weaker then it all. I felt at times as if breaking down was my only option.

I had realized that going through such a frustrating and difficult situation had made me the bigger person. I was able to experience something that some people always wonder about, learned who and how people you think in your life are everything to you and then how one big change to your mobility can change a person enough that they give up one you. I really learned who my real friends are which then it really opens your eyes and teaches you that when a word has “end” in it, it really means it has the potential to end as family has “ily” for I love you. Family might have some tough times but family never gives up on other family. Family is always forever!