St. Augustine said in his Soliloquies, “The greatest evil is physical pain.” This quote came to mind because a new reader asked me about my pain level as they had a reasonably high pain level due to a car accident. They wondered if it interfered with my writing. I’m sure you’ve all seen the pain diagrams and doctors’ offices with various faces for the one through ten ratings. My pain level runs right around 4 to 5 on a typical day. I’ve learned that I can pretty much ignore that level, and it doesn’t interfere at all with my writing. Because of the failed fusion to my spine, there are moments when I move that my pain level spikes. The moments are brief, but there are times when I see stars. I can’t do anything at times like that.
If you have a chronic condition that causes pain, you learn that pain medications only reduce pain. They never eliminate pain. Plus, they all have side effects. You can become addicted to them. Over time they become less and less effective as your body adjusts to them. That puts you on the treadmill of ever-increasing dosages to get the same reduction in pain – not good!
I also experience another pain called peripheral neuropathy. You may have heard of someone who has lost a limb, and there are times when that lost limb hurts or even just itches. You may have wondered how a missing limb can hurt. You can blame the brain. As I understand it, if your brain doesn’t get signals from some part of your body, it decides to invent signals from that part of the body. Most often, it’s a pain. There are medications for that problem, and I’ve had good luck with them.
My new reader asked what my current level of pain is. It’s higher than usual, but I can still function. My pain has been increasing for the last few months. It’s pretty close to the level where I cannot ignore it. It will interfere with my writing soon. My hope is I can get a spinal cord stimulator. It scrambles the pain signals, so the brain never sees them.
3 Responses
I thoughtat that the cord stimulator was a done deal for you, did something happen to derail that process?
It was supposed to be. Rather than going down to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, I thought I’d go to the pain management center in Fargo. It was much closer, and there is a trial period before the spinal cord stimulator is fully implanted, so it would reduce travel. It seemed like a very successful clinic. The doctor had a PA and three nurses. There was an office staff out front with four people I saw. It seemed successful as he also had a brand-new building. He didn’t even consider a spinal cord stimulator. He wanted to implant a patented device he had developed. He also said some things to me that did not make any sense. He told me that pain medications weren’t effective against pain caused by stenosis. I knew that wasn’t true. When I knew he was really weird, he had me lay on my back and grab my knees. He then put his body weight on my legs, and of course, it hurt. He said, “See, that’s the reason we should use my device as it will alleviate that pain.” I also knew from the attempted spinal fusions that you should never do what he did to me. I’m not even supposed to put my socks on or tie my shoes. The good doctor manipulation of my spine has left me with constant new pain.
That’s the reason I’m not going back to him. The VA had authorized six months of visits, and I can’t go elsewhere until they run out.
There were patients at this clinic and VA approved the visits? Does not seem possible.
Was the clinic recommended to you? So sorry this happened.
Elsa