This must be contagious because I have had nothing but problems since moving back to Tucson in January. First, the nurse blows up a balloon in my urethra and it stays there for nearly 45 minutes causing me, for the first time in my entire life, to leak around my catheter. Which put me bedridden for nearly 3 months between July and October 1.
I have been wanting to get to a dentist because I know I have a cavity and need a teeth cleaning badly about it there because of all the other problems I've been having. Then last Tuesday, a week ago yesterday, on December 13th my caregiver went to pull me up in bed but I felt a finger or a thumb (of hers) push into my chronic pain area/lower neck upper back while she was doing that (even though she claims she didn't do it and pulled me up like always which was almost the same and now than a week has passed and it is hard to describe). That day both of us were exhausted so I was not going to get up and so I just got hold of a little bit about whatever happened has caused me unbearable pain and spasticity. That evening when I was on my side my back started clenching causing my stomach to clench inward [tighten] during different intervals and has continued during the day in bed ever since. I can't believe all of this is happening to me or I'll that has happened to me since moving back to Arizona to enjoy what I enjoyed for 11 years that I couldn't find where my family is. Well, what is left of my family which only equals 2 much older sisters, one brother-in-law, and one niece. I have 2 other nieces and a nephew. All adults. Now one of them is not speaking to me (the one who is closest in age to me and I practically grew up together... age 44) because of an article I shared with her about what happens in nursing homes which I shared with many other people who accepted the article and read it without nailing me to a cross. My nephew it is 39 but he still lives at home with his mother and has never moved out. He never speaks to anyone in the family or elsewhere. Not because he does not like any one of us but he grew up with a learning disability and is beyond shy. He holds a full-time job and grocery shops, etc. but never speaks to anyone except for his mother and his sister. His sister (my only other niece) is married and lives near Ithaca New York as a teacher of kinesiology but knows nothing about spinal cord injuries. Whatever happened last Tuesday is getting worse instead of better. This morning when I woke up my arms and legs hurt down to the bone. I have no external feeling below the chest area and the external feeling on my arms is mostly on the insides of my arms and not on the outside. I can feel a little bit of my right thumb but when I am trying to say is that I ache terribly like never before and I don't know how one finger or thumb pressure on that area could cause this much problem. I was just fine before that. I just can't deal with all of this at the same time. The nurse practitioner of the urologist I saw on Monday explained the difference between going with a mesh sling and having a bladder neck closure. My urologist of 10 years trying to solve my problem and she did a cystoscopy on July 6 to confirm that my urethra was definitely stretched which we already knew and she had one bladder stone removed. One bladder stone is not much for me but she referred me to this urologist at the University. He specializes in female pelvic urinary issues including reconstructive surgery. Before that I got an opinion from another urologist who also specializes in those issues but she could not accommodate me in her office (while they urologist I speak about above does) and therefore had to schedule me to "examine me" at the hospital she goes to. But I did not like her ice cold staff or her ice cold personality. However, she suggested that if I ended up going with a sling that it be made from my own body tissues because of all the issues that deal go along with the mesh slings. But the urologist at the University says they have only had trouble with approximately 3% of the population but with my luck... I would fall into that 3%. A spinal cord injury nurse from the Care Cure Community wrote me this: "We have done some urethral slings on a number of our female SCI clients. I would caution though against doing any procedure like this that involves using mesh! There have been a number of large class action suits against physicians and medical device manufacturers due to patients having bad reactions to the use of mesh. Better to use a small piece of your own body tissue (muscle or tendon) to create the sling. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-c...s/art-20110300 <http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/pelvic-organ-prolapse/in-depth/transvaginal-mesh-complications/art-20110300> http://www.webmd.com/urinary-inconti...nence-in-women <http://www.webmd.com/urinary-incontinence-oab/urethral-sling-for-stress-incontinence-in-women> There is a significant amount of literature about the long term development of what is called a "patulous" (stretched out) urethra in women who have used an indwelling urethral catheter for more than 20 years. The patulous urethra will nearly always lead to leakage, as the short female urethral tissue can no longer seal well around the catheter. This condition can be made worse by going through menopause, as the decreased levels of estrogen can make your urethral mucosa thinner and less moist (just like occurs with vaginal mucosa after menopause). Management and prevention include consideration early of a suprapubic indwelling catheter instead of a urethral one for women who are determined to use an indwelling catheter long-term. Often people try to manage this by using larger and larger Fr. sized catheters, but this actually only increases the rate at which a patulous urethra can develop. I would also caution you again any procedure that would include urethral ligation (bladder neck closure). Our experience with this is that the bladder REALLY wants to have an opening to the perineum, and if it is closed off with this procedure, often a fistula develops to that area from the bladder, which is very difficult to manage or surgically close again." I just don't know what to do anymore. Terrible holiday season without my husband or any family and having my social life stunted dramatically because of what happened there that nurse at the beginning of the year. Then whatever happened last Tuesday is worse simply because it hurts so bad day and night. ~Lori On Tue, Dec 20, 2016 at 7:00 PM, Ed Tessier <[email protected]> wrote: > The only thing that is the neck and shoulder pain has been craniosacral > therapy > > On Tue, Dec 20, 2016 at 1:03 PM, Gail Overton <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Only thing that has worked for my husband's neck and shoulder pain has >> been acupuncture. >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Larry Willis [mailto:[email protected]] >> Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2016 1:07 PM >> To: [email protected] >> Subject: [QUAD-L] Tissues and issues >> >> I have a couple of serious issues that cry for quad wisdom. First, I went >> to the dentist yesterday to have a crown replaced. Instead, he tells me >> that I have three teeth (including the crown tooth) that need to be pulled. >> That will be a total of nine teeth, none of them visible, that I have had >> removed. Chewing anything crunchy, like baby carrots, is already a task. He >> wants to put in implants, something that will cost a small fortune. Now, I >> am almost 65, 45 years post. Common sense says I am nearing the end of my >> rope. I am leaning toward doing nothing and removing each tooth as it >> becomes a problem. The implants would also require repeated trips to >> Louisville, a 200 mile round trip. >> Secondly, my neck and shoulders have become unbearably painful. Have any >> of you tried glucosamine chondroiten or anything similiar like CQ3? >> I surely would appreciate some input on these things. I feel like I am >> sinking in quicksand with no rope. Larry WILLIS >> >> Larry Willis >> Retired and proud of it >> >> > -- "Petting, scratching and cuddling a dog could be soothing to the mind and heart and deep meditation and almost as good for the soul as prayer." ~Dean Koontz
