BIOGRAPHY

MY DISABILITY / ILLNESSES

by Joannie Cowie

I was a healthy child until the age of three when I was first diagnosed with severe allergies and slight asthma. My brother Alan, and sisters Mary Ann and Sheila also had problems with sinus and allergies.  I, the youngest of the four ended up with many distinct allergies which sometimes prohibited my daily life.  For instance, my severe fish allergy made life difficult.  My family adjusted to having fish without me being around or me taking a pill to help.  Most times it ended up in hospital visits for adrenaline shots and asthma medications.
At the age of six, I had a severe asthma attack that changed my life forever.  I can still remember some things plain as day, others I have blocked out most likely due to trauma.  I can remember playing that day, riding my bike which I fell into my neighbors bushes and planning on a picnic with my best friends family that evening who was and still is a University of Windsor Professor.   I remember waking up in the middle of the night and I could not breathe, my breathing became more irritable and my parents took me to the hospital.  I remember the nightie I wore that night, as well as the "ballerina blanket" which my father carried me in.  From that moment on, I do not recall and depend on my parents and their friends to fill in the gaps.  The initial Dr that was on the scene still recalls that horrible night as at times I still search for answers.  The Dr. has always said to me, "Joannie, the reason you are alive is because of God".  I truly believe he was right.  He told my parents that night that he did everything he could do medically for me and that he was going into another room to pray.  I often look back on that when I see that man.  He cared enough about his patient to pray for me.   I was a healthy six year old child and for no reason, suddenly my life put on hold.  I remember waking up in ICU and seeing my parents, sisters and brother.
I don't remember a lot but I do remember the Dr. saying "Joannie its time to get up and start walking and I said "ok" and I tried to get out of bed and stand.  The next moment I was on the ground, I couldn't walk.  I can close my eyes today and still see my father's face.  I don't think I'll ever forget any of that.
My parents immediately had all the proper physicians in my care, from neurologists to orthopedic to physio and others.  There were so many doctors in my past that sometimes I try to remember their names and faces.  I stayed in Windsor in Metropolitan General Hospital where I received my first of many spinal taps.  I still remember laying on the table crying for my dad to come and help me.  I fought with my Scottish background and won my way.  The nurse picked me up off the table and carried me a special way and handed me to my father who then passed me back to her to put me in bed.  My parents became more and more involved with my care.  My initial diagnosis was Guillian-Barre Syndrome.  My father being a professional wanted a second opinion, which was done in London Children's War Memorial Hospital, where I found I could smile through some very rough times.  I had another spinal tap and many tests there and the same  diagnosis came up.  I remember my mother coming to the pool area where I was having therapy and she held tears in her eyes, and she was carrying a record.  It was The Homecoming by Hagood Hardy.  That was the day I came home from the hospital.  My parents were told I would never walk. Coming from a very stubborn Scottish family, that would just not do. My mother said "she will walk.  You just wait and see", and I shocked them...I did.
It was time for me to return to school and I still remember my mother arguing with the school to let me come back.  I remember my mom saying "she may not walk but that doesn't affect her brain".  There would be no special schooling for me, I attended regular schooling as everyone else.  I do remember however spending days in and out of the hospital and teachers who really stuck out in my life.  I remember and wrote a paper on my grade three teacher.  I had missed so much school in grade one, that by the time I hit grade three, I could write but not print.  In grade six, my father and mother noticed that when I played the piano, I was starting to have a bump on my back. Diagnosis? Scoliosis.  My parents took me to a physician in Toronto and he was a hit with the family..not because of his ideas / logic. He was Scottish and my family and I loved him.  He unfortunately is in the states now and I miss him dearly.  But he understood my illness and performed the surgery that would again change my life, the Harrington Rod surgery.  My spine is now fused three quarters of the way up from the base.  Now I have a very beautiful scar from the bottom of my spine to very close to the top.  I have had many asthma attacks...this one being the most significant.  Others also were significant, but any physicians I have seen since the asthma attack when I was six, have been very interested in treatments as well as medications that were used back then.  I was left with residual paralysis and I can walk a short bit with assistance but require a wheelchair for distance/shopping/etc.  I also suffer from panic attacks which I have found it works in conjunction with my asthma attacks they assist each other in making my life hell...but I work with them to conquer it all.  So technically I am a severe asthmatic with GBS but some other things as well...  I had breast surgery in April of 1998 and found in May of 98 that I had a small lump.  This lump is the reason for being home for three months to prepare for the official tour in January.  I need to be healthy as well as keeping all focus on my children and my goals.  I feel that God makes each and everyone of us special and for me...he must have a plan...and an awesome plan it will be....

Copy write Sept 23/98