MAtt, We use UM since the day Alex was born at 26
weeks.I have to disagree with you very strongly here
based on what his care/treatment has called for. He is
seen in the PMR dept for issues dealing with spastic
quad CP.He has little in the way of drugs which is
quite mazing considering his  history. He used motilty
drugs his first 2 years because of reflux and GI
issues. Not using them would result is aspiration
pnuemonia. He has had Botox twice in his life and it
was done to to see the effect SDR would have for him,
which he did have done at age 4 to relieve his
spasticity in his legs( and it did). This summer he
participated in horseback riding and I asked his
physiatrist at UM whether Botox would be a good thing
to do before the riding sessions started and his
doctor after examing him said no. He wasn't going
through a growth spurt and his ankle that I worry
about would  benefit just as much from horseback
riding alone. Dina and I have gone several rounds over
alternative vs conventional therapy( right Dina!) but
the one thing I've learned from her is that you've got
to keep moving be it alternative or conventional. UM
also has a very large alternative medicine dept that
deals with pain issues( maybe spasticity too but I
don't know about that).   Did you ever book an
appointment for yourself there? Bobby and Ken both
made the point well that doctors often have to respond
to the abuse we, ourselves cause our bodies, be it not
pushing away from the table after the first serving or
becoming couch potatoes. All the doc's have to offer
is drugs. We demand them rather than making
significant life changes because it's so much easier
to just pop a pill. The medical establishment can't be
blamed for that. If your doctor knows from experience
you're not likely to walk away from that fried chicken
and second piece of Pecan pie( down Carla!!!  but you
can send me that pie recipe off list,I'll be waiting
:)).  How easy to blame the docs rather than take
responsibilty for ourselves and actions.
--- Matt Conaway <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I can tell you guys that Drugs Are It at U-M
> Hospital.  When I moved to
> Michigan, the first thing these people wanted to do
> is shove baclofen down
> my throat because they wanted to "control" my
> spasticity.  God forbid we
> should be the least bit spastic.  Das ist verboten,
> ja!  It's as if
> spasticity is an evil, bad thing.
>
> Needless to say, I have minimal contact with the MDs
> at UMH.  I would not
> trust them to deal with my disability issues.


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