Today marks my seventh year since getting sick with chronic lyme disease. Just to rehash my bit for those that are unfamiliar with my story of contracting this illness, here it goes.
Seven years ago I broke my arm and my wrist at a friends birthday. We were running around playing hide and seek, well I guess you could say I lost. I landed on my elbow, snapping it, and the way i landed also broke my wrist. The nerve in my arm was also stretched, paralyzing my thumb pointer and to some degree my middle finger for the following few months. I couldn't feel anything with any of my fingers, my pinky was the only functional finger on my left arm.
Because of this severe injury I had to have surgery. It was a minor surgery, only lasted 15 minutes. Just long enough for the doctor to set my arm in the cast and to place pins in my wrist and elbow.
Well, long story short the drugs, surgery, and the overall trauma of the ordeal killed my immune system...which allowed the lyme bacteria and rickettsia in my system to flourish. I had been bitten by a tick six months previous to this injury, so its assumed that i picked up the bacteria at that time.
Now seven years later, I am still here. 15,000 pills and many doctors visits later I am still here. Here but by the grace of God is all I can say.
This day has been on my mind for at least a month now. I cannot believe it has been this long already. I do not even remember what it is like to feel healthy and "normal". That was many moons ago and a previous life. I will see healthy days again no doubt, but with a new set of priorities in my life. Being chronically ill has taught me what real priorities are, and what things are totally worthless.
I have found that other people, uplifting people, are the best to be around. Those are the people that will stick with you when things go south. I have also found that material things really will fall apart and become meaningless. Activities like sports and hobbies can get pushed to the wayside without the world ending. When life gets rough you won't see a football or soccer ball coming to give you a hand, at least I never did.
I am glad to say I have a nice group of friends around me, I thank God for them every day. This has not always been the case in my life. I have always had what I thought were close friends, but you don't discover who is close and who is a fair weather friend until life gets turned upside down.
My best friends that I had pre chronic illness, pretty much 100% out of the picture. One or two I see every so often, but I just see them, rarely speak.
Anyway. On to why this anniversary has resonated with me so. I was only 13 for a couple of days before I became sick. Well, seven years later I am no longer a teenager. I was never able to beat this disease as a kid or a teenager, I am now 20 years old. That bugs me a lot. I don't like to think about my own personal arsenal of disease and symptoms following me around my entire teenage years. Its not what I wanted. I have fought so hard and so long, I have worn myself out, I wanted to be done by now. This was not supposed to become a part of my life, it was supposed to be a phase that I broke through and beat. I have had this almost half my life, I can hardly call that a phase at this point.
I am happy to report that the last few weeks have been fairly tolerable. Last weekend I had a few days that were very long, rough, emotional, and just no good...but it got better again. Now I am doing fairly well again. I am hoping and praying that this will be the case for a while but I know better than to count on feeling well for extended periods of time. I have had the rug pulled out from under me more than once, this whole last year has been an example of this. Doing well then bam, start over and stick it out again for an undetermined amount of time.
This is just the nature of the beast. I am very grateful I have made it this far and kept as functional as I have, but my heart and mind are getting weary.
I need a break for a while so I can keep on fighting this disease, can I do that? Can I call in a favor somewhere and say Hey, I need a break from my disease for a couple weeks so I can endure this a little bit longer?
Haha, only if.
Until next time :)
Showing posts with label surgery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label surgery. Show all posts
Friday, January 26, 2018
Saturday, January 2, 2016
The Injury that Changed my Life
In my first post I told that my illness skyrocketed after I was injured. In this post, I will explain my injury.
In 2011 I severed my elbow and broke my wrist. I lost all feeling in that arm. It became swollen to about 3 times it's normal size.
The injury happened at 1pm. I went to a clinic nearby, the doctor there told me I needed to find a neurosurgeon because of possible nerve damage. Since that doctor decided he wasn't qualified to treat my injury, all he could give me for the pain was extra strong Tylenol. A severed bone and a broken wrist...yea that Tylenol was a joke.
I was admitted to the hospital later that afternoon. A doctor checked out my X-Rays and told me for sure he couldn't just set the bone. It would take surgery...
It was so late in the day already, surgery had to wait until the morning. I was finally given morphine at 10 pm that night. Nine hours I was in pain with no end. I was knocked out when the pain was finally under control. Falling asleep after this was great, especially considering I am a chronic insomniac and usually sleep is not that easy to accomplish.
The next morning I was woken up for surgery. They told me it would be short and I would be back soon. Easy right? I was just glad they were about to let me go back to sleep.
Next I was taken to the operating room. The anesthesiologist started her job and told me to count back from 100. I made it to 92 fine, kinda started waffling... and then she told me to keep counting. I ended at 89 when I finally went out. This was about 7-7:30 am. I couldn't wake up until 4:30 in the afternoon. When I did finally wake up, it was sudden. I was wide awake.
This was odd for me. I normally only slept a few hours a night...I had just slept through the night(not well but I did) and then again through half the day. Where did this come from?! I was supposed to be knocked out half an hour.
I had the cast on for 9 weeks. The cast started a few inches past my shoulder all the way down to cover half of my hand.
A few weeks after getting the cast off I started physical therapy. 9 weeks in a cast, I could hardly use my arm. No strength at all, couldn't even hold a pen. I still had pins and needles in my hands and fingers. My elbow could hardly move, my wrist bent downward somewhat, and my thumb and pointer finger were paralyzed. (even today I have not regained 100% of the feeling in my hand)
I hated it. I have never hated something this much ever before. It was so painful. It hurt more than the injury itself most sessions.
I followed their regime for six months. I gained some mobility back in my elbow and I could bend my wrist downward.
I went back to the doctor for him to check my progress. He looked at my arm and said "You can feed yourself now with that arm. You don't need anymore physical therapy. Good luck"
I was absolutely floored. I was 13, my arm after six months moved enough for me to feed myself so good enough.
My wrist didn't even move upward. I could flex my hand down, the highest I could move it was even with my arm. My elbow wasn't much better. I could not even come close to fully extend it or touch my shoulder, though I could now bend all of my fingers.
13 years old and less than half of my normal arm function was "Good enough"
I moved on and spoke to my ND. To my surprise they had answers for me. They use a device that emits far infrared laser, it is used to speed healing.
I would go to the ND twice weekly and they would use the laser coupled with massage and another device called a "precusor" from my shoulder to the tip of my fingers. In two months my arm was 95% normal and my strength was returning to normal. It wasn't painful and the results were astounding, after each visit I could see that my arm had improved.
After these two months with the ND with laser therapy were up, I was officially done with anymore treatment on my arm. This whole deal with my broken arm is what caused my LD to go out of control and land me where I am today.
In 2011 I severed my elbow and broke my wrist. I lost all feeling in that arm. It became swollen to about 3 times it's normal size.
The injury happened at 1pm. I went to a clinic nearby, the doctor there told me I needed to find a neurosurgeon because of possible nerve damage. Since that doctor decided he wasn't qualified to treat my injury, all he could give me for the pain was extra strong Tylenol. A severed bone and a broken wrist...yea that Tylenol was a joke.
I was admitted to the hospital later that afternoon. A doctor checked out my X-Rays and told me for sure he couldn't just set the bone. It would take surgery...
It was so late in the day already, surgery had to wait until the morning. I was finally given morphine at 10 pm that night. Nine hours I was in pain with no end. I was knocked out when the pain was finally under control. Falling asleep after this was great, especially considering I am a chronic insomniac and usually sleep is not that easy to accomplish.
The next morning I was woken up for surgery. They told me it would be short and I would be back soon. Easy right? I was just glad they were about to let me go back to sleep.
Next I was taken to the operating room. The anesthesiologist started her job and told me to count back from 100. I made it to 92 fine, kinda started waffling... and then she told me to keep counting. I ended at 89 when I finally went out. This was about 7-7:30 am. I couldn't wake up until 4:30 in the afternoon. When I did finally wake up, it was sudden. I was wide awake.
This was odd for me. I normally only slept a few hours a night...I had just slept through the night(not well but I did) and then again through half the day. Where did this come from?! I was supposed to be knocked out half an hour.
I had the cast on for 9 weeks. The cast started a few inches past my shoulder all the way down to cover half of my hand.
A few weeks after getting the cast off I started physical therapy. 9 weeks in a cast, I could hardly use my arm. No strength at all, couldn't even hold a pen. I still had pins and needles in my hands and fingers. My elbow could hardly move, my wrist bent downward somewhat, and my thumb and pointer finger were paralyzed. (even today I have not regained 100% of the feeling in my hand)
I hated it. I have never hated something this much ever before. It was so painful. It hurt more than the injury itself most sessions.
I followed their regime for six months. I gained some mobility back in my elbow and I could bend my wrist downward.
I went back to the doctor for him to check my progress. He looked at my arm and said "You can feed yourself now with that arm. You don't need anymore physical therapy. Good luck"
I was absolutely floored. I was 13, my arm after six months moved enough for me to feed myself so good enough.
My wrist didn't even move upward. I could flex my hand down, the highest I could move it was even with my arm. My elbow wasn't much better. I could not even come close to fully extend it or touch my shoulder, though I could now bend all of my fingers.
13 years old and less than half of my normal arm function was "Good enough"
I moved on and spoke to my ND. To my surprise they had answers for me. They use a device that emits far infrared laser, it is used to speed healing.
I would go to the ND twice weekly and they would use the laser coupled with massage and another device called a "precusor" from my shoulder to the tip of my fingers. In two months my arm was 95% normal and my strength was returning to normal. It wasn't painful and the results were astounding, after each visit I could see that my arm had improved.
After these two months with the ND with laser therapy were up, I was officially done with anymore treatment on my arm. This whole deal with my broken arm is what caused my LD to go out of control and land me where I am today.
Monday, November 30, 2015
Praying for VIctoria
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4
Some of you guys may have noticed, I follow a bunch of blogs. One of the blogs I read is written by Victoria Wilguess.
Victoria was diagnosed with lyme disease as a young teenager just like I was. Except unlike me, she has progressed in her infection....In a few hours she will be undergoing a major, rare, and extremely painful heart surgery awake!
She has a heart arrhythmia that needs to be corrected, but because of where the arrhythmia is occurring specifically (near her diaphragm) not just any doctor perform the surgery.
Here is where she explains it
Victoria has an inspiring amount of faith in God, especially considering all of what she has gone through. She has undergone treatment at a clinic in Nevada for weeks and months at a time, multiple surgeries, numerous visits to the ER, and tremendous (and constant) amounts of pain.
She just has not found been able to find relief, and tomorrow her story will continue.
I would like everyone who reads this post to join me in prayer, to pray for quick healing, peace after the surgery, no more setbacks(shes had enough), and for minimal pain. Victoria also has a prayer list I would like to share-
"-Peace and patience for my family and friends as they wait during my surgery since it'll be an all day surgery
That they be able to get the central line IVs in easily
That I'll be able to do the surgery without sedation and not be in a lot of pain
That the surgery will work and the arrhythmia won't come back
That there will be no complications during and after surgery
That recovery will go well
That I will be able to show God's love to the doctors and nurses taking care of me
This is odd, I know, but please pray that my bladder problems don't flare up during and after surgery. Bladder catheters really irritate things and I'll have to have one for the procedure and after when I'm on bed rest for 6 hours to prevent bleeding from where they went into my heart. "
Although doctors do not have all of the answers, just their best guess, God knows. He knows what we all need, including Victoria when she spends over 10+ hours on the operating table later.
I am praying for good things to come from this Victoria!!
Updates after the surgery will be found here
I will fear no evil for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4
Some of you guys may have noticed, I follow a bunch of blogs. One of the blogs I read is written by Victoria Wilguess.
Victoria was diagnosed with lyme disease as a young teenager just like I was. Except unlike me, she has progressed in her infection....In a few hours she will be undergoing a major, rare, and extremely painful heart surgery awake!
She has a heart arrhythmia that needs to be corrected, but because of where the arrhythmia is occurring specifically (near her diaphragm) not just any doctor perform the surgery.
Here is where she explains it
Victoria has an inspiring amount of faith in God, especially considering all of what she has gone through. She has undergone treatment at a clinic in Nevada for weeks and months at a time, multiple surgeries, numerous visits to the ER, and tremendous (and constant) amounts of pain.
She just has not found been able to find relief, and tomorrow her story will continue.
I would like everyone who reads this post to join me in prayer, to pray for quick healing, peace after the surgery, no more setbacks(shes had enough), and for minimal pain. Victoria also has a prayer list I would like to share-
"-Peace and patience for my family and friends as they wait during my surgery since it'll be an all day surgery
That they be able to get the central line IVs in easily
That I'll be able to do the surgery without sedation and not be in a lot of pain
That the surgery will work and the arrhythmia won't come back
That there will be no complications during and after surgery
That recovery will go well
That I will be able to show God's love to the doctors and nurses taking care of me
This is odd, I know, but please pray that my bladder problems don't flare up during and after surgery. Bladder catheters really irritate things and I'll have to have one for the procedure and after when I'm on bed rest for 6 hours to prevent bleeding from where they went into my heart. "
Although doctors do not have all of the answers, just their best guess, God knows. He knows what we all need, including Victoria when she spends over 10+ hours on the operating table later.
I am praying for good things to come from this Victoria!!
Updates after the surgery will be found here
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