BLUE ASH, Ohio -- Kelly Rasnick was a full-time teacher living a pretty typical life with her husband, 2-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son.
Then, one morning in August, that life was turned upside-down.
"I had a back spasm and it's been downhill from there," she said.
Doctors have diagnosed Rasnick with transverse myelitis, an autoimmune disorder causing inflammation within her spinal cord. She describes it as a cousin of multiple sclerosis.
"My life was like this beautiful stained glass picture, and it has been completely shattered," she said.
Rasnick can't pick up her kids, she can't do her job and she can't move her left leg without a walker.
"It honestly is the hardest thing, makes me feel like a shell of a person," she said.
She's been working hard with a physical therapist and trying to hang on to her sense of humor as she deals with the uncertainty of her disorder.
Rasnick said she couldn't do any of it without her family: She and her husband are selling their home and have moved in with her parents. Rasnick's mother is taking care of their kids.
"Our church has jumped in, people from childhood -- I mean, you know that old saying, it takes a village to raise a child? Well, thank God, they're helping my child," she said.
At this point, doctors don't know why Rasnick got transverse myelitis, and it's possible she could recover -- doctor's just don't know when. She hopes to get answers at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for Thanksgiving. She and her family leave Tuesday.
"The one thing I have to hold onto is my hope, my faith and so I just pray a lot," she said.
How to Help
Kelly Rasnick Donation Account
by Angela Bennett, custodian
Any Chase Bank branch
Deposits can be made by check, credit or debit deposit
