A Tale of a Fall......And an Update
Several of you have asked me how I have been doing and
wondered about my health and especially wanted to know the details about my
incident at the hospital a couple of weeks ago (June 19th). I’ve finally gotten a chance to
sit down and gather my thoughts together to write up an update. So here’s the scoop:
For a while
now, the pain on my right lower quadrant has been extremely high. Due to scheduling issues between myself, my
parents, my doctors, etc., I had to wait a while to receive another pain block
injection. I was finally able to receive the pain block,
last Monday (June 19th). I’ve received several pain
injections before and have had zero complications. Because I have been getting these injections
about every 4-6 months, my pain management doctor decided to use all the same
medication (PLUS an
added steroid); however,
he used somewhat different method. Instead of burning the nerve, he would actually cut the nerve; therefore, the time it takes for the nerve to
regenerate would be much longer. The hope is that this illiolingual nerve would
no longer cause as much pain as it has been AND the relief would last up to 9
months or more. The procedure itself is
almost the same, except that I could actually feel the “heat” and the pulsating
feel while the procedure was taking place (even though I was nicely sedated, I was still somewhat aware
of things going on).
After the
procedure was over, I was in the recovery room for a good 30 minutes or so. I was very alert and talking and SO READY to
get out of the hospital, go to Chick Fe La and eat some breakfast! My nurse did my final vital signs and cleared
me to go and left me in the room to change.
Then it happened…..I fell backwards and hit my head. I had sat up in the bed and stood up. I took
one step with my left leg and then tried to step with my right leg and then I
realized I couldn’t feel anything. I
first tried to pull myself up, but I had absolutely no strength or feeling in
my right leg at all. I yelled for my
nurse and she ran in my room along with my doctor. They tried to help me up and I could tell
that I was nothing but dead weight because my leg was nothing but limp. My doctor was thinking I passed out (which I
don’t think I did) because they know I have had a few instances of passing out
and falling in the past. But I told him
that I was alert and oriented and feeling fine (except that my head was hurting and my leg felt weak).
I ended up getting observed for another hour (During that time, I got visited by
several “fun people: the charge nurse, the compliance department, the social
worker, etc… All this while I was just lying on the stretcher just wanting to
go home!!). Anyhow, my doctor explained to me that it’s
not uncommon for the legs to have a “numbing” feeling, there is no nerves that
is connected to the area where he worked on to the leg so he couldn’t figure
out what would cause me to fall. He doesn’t think the numbness should be that
intense to cause my not being able to stand up on my own. He’s not out ruling
the fact that the “new procedure” itself could have played some role in my
fall, but we also think that my fall also has something to do with my
neurological issues that once in a while arises (I do occasionally have unexplainable falls, but
nothing near like the one I had last week).
You might we
wondering “how I’m doing”. Well, my pain
is still there as it takes time to see full results. It has decreased about 50%, but as the weeks
come, the pain should continue to decrease. I’ve also been
struggling with other issues, but I’m working through them. There are days I’m doing well and days I
can’t function; or days when I am well and then it turns into rough days. This past Saturday (June 24, 2017), I was able to enjoy some
fellowship with the Worship team. It
was about a 70 minute drive for me to get there and that morning when I woke
up, I almost didn’t go because I wasn’t feeling the best. However, I decided to take my time getting
ready to go and figure out what to bring (or buy) to the retreat. I ended up arrive an hour after the start
time and stayed only a couple of hours.
However, the time I spent with my “family”, the team, was pure joy and
refreshing to the soul and I’m so glad I went and didn’t listen to that part of
me that said “don’t go, don’t go”. I truly enjoy the time with the team or aka: my
“family”. It’s always a pure joy, but
most importantly a blessing to be able to fellowship with my Brothers and
Sisters.
Tomorrow,
June 30th (after a 10-week long battle with the
nurse coordinator, which is a story in itself) I have my three-month Botox treatment with one of my
neurologist for my head pain/migraines. The treatments seems to help somewhat, but I
know (and the doctor
says) that if I don’t
have them, I’d be worse off than I am now.
My doctor has recently left the full-time position at UVA (where I was traveling to get my
treatments), to practice
at Augusta Health (which is much closer, as you all know). This makes it so much easier on me in more
ways than I can express. However, the bureaucracy
in the beginning stages of “transferring this patient” to another practice (although it’s the same doctor), was a huge headache and the nurse
was not helpful and understanding when it came to grasping the importance of
keeping a “tight schedule per main neurologist orders”
(despite my Botox
neurologist actually telling her the importance of this as well).
My migraines and neurological issues continue to be a struggle for me at
times and I am still being monitored by my main neurologist at UVA.
As
always, thank you again for your
constant care, prayers, and love. God
remains faithful in every way.
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