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September 05, 2008 - 05:48 PM heather gardner - indigoink@comcast.net I never imagined that my body could fail me. Ever since I was a kid, I was athletic and competitive. Running, biking, swimming, soccer, ultimate frisbee, hiking, baseball, football, volleyball... I never met a sport I didn't love, and my body seemed to have unlimited strength and agility. Now, I am 46, and I live with chronic pain. I had a string of injuries and then was rear-ended by a car that was traveling 60 mph. In the following months, I had many cortisone injections and several nerve blocks. Nothing seemed to work. In fact, during the last nerve block, when the needle went into my low back, I practically jumped off the table in pain. My neurosurgeon theorizes that the doctor who performed the nerve block injected the cortisone directly into the nerve root instead of around it. As a result, I now have a chemical lesion on my nerve root. This causes the nerve to fire continuously, and is the cause of my acute chronic pain. In the following eighteen months, I had eight back surgeries and two terrible hospital infections, My endocrine system crashed, and I developed an autoimmune disorder that still causes my joints pain and swelling. Now, in order to get around, I use forearm crutches, a walker and a wheelchair, and I cannot even drive because I am on too many pain meds, because I cannot lift my right foot up, and because I cannot put any pressure on my right foot or leg without causing acute, shocking, stabbing pains that make me cry. I suffer from frequent, crushing migraines and terrible insomnia. My hips kill me, and so do my knees. Thank goodness that I have Erin in my life. Her treatments offer me what no traditional medical establishment ever has: a respite from chronic pain. I find a safe haven in Erin's gentle and reassuring nature and in her adept hands. I am so grateful for and amazed at the fact that she constantly researches information that allows her to tailor her treatments ... IP : 67.173.235.170 |