jqtaylor@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com (John Taylor) (11/05/90)
Index Number: 11505
One has to begin somewhere, and I feel I am among friends.
I have just joined the Net today, and this is my first attempt
at vi, notes, &tc.
I have had chronic pain since a C-spine injury in 1972.
I take the usual plethora of Rx for the pain, and I don't have
to describe to most of you how 19 years of chronic pain can
affect everything in one's life: marriage, children, divorce.
I'm always "right on the edge," so to speak. Don't get me wrong;
I do have good days. About 10% of the time it's unbearable (1500mg
codeine & 50 mg diazepam a day), 80% of the time I'm in mild
discomfort, and the remaining 10% of the time I feel great.
As an aside, I think the psychological aspect of being occasionally
able to be "normal" is the hardest thing for me (and others who
know me) to deal with.
No doctor has really been able to say, "You have blah blah blah
wrong with you" but from all my research, and since I am the one
who deals with it, it seems to me I have a disk problem, maybe
in C1 or C2 (I occasionally lose feeling in my fingers in the right
hand). Other symptoms: pain always in right jaw (near TMJ but the
joint itself has been ruled out), some loss of hearing (ringing)
when in severe pain, pain episodes occur after chewing, talking,
and most interestingly enough (to me), before stormy weather, i.e.,
when the barometer is falling rapidly.
What I'd really like is two things:
1) Being new to this Notes beast, could you give me some pointers
toward other areas within notes where I might find relevant
information. Remember, I'm just a beginner (oh, yes, I know what
a :*] is -- something I did a whole lot more of before 1972, but
I digress...), so bear with me while I learn to master this Net.
2) Maybe this note could be continued by others who deal with
lives that are "normal" to the extent that it allows them to
let their mind's aspirations write checks that the body cannot
always cash, i.e., the emotional aspects of living with pain
that may come at any moment.
Thank you for listening. I go home now. Ciao!
-- In essence, JQTera@ncar.ucar.edu (Ed Arnold) (11/21/90)
Index Number: 11960 In article <15407@bunker.UUCP> jqtaylor@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com (John Taylor) writes: >Index Number: 11505 > >No doctor has really been able to say, "You have blah blah blah >wrong with you" but from all my research, and since I am the one >who deals with it, it seems to me I have a disk problem, maybe >in C1 or C2 (I occasionally lose feeling in my fingers in the right >hand). Other symptoms: pain always in right jaw (near TMJ but the >joint itself has been ruled out), some loss of hearing (ringing) >when in severe pain, pain episodes occur after chewing, talking, >and most interestingly enough (to me), before stormy weather It's my understanding that a TOP specialist (i.e. one of the ones at a major medical center, some place like Stanford or Johns Hopkins) can now pin these types of problems down reliably with the use of tools like MRI. Have you considered such an analysis (will your insurance pay for it)? >1) Being new to this Notes beast, could you give me some pointers >toward other areas within notes where I might find relevant >information. Since you appear to be on Usenet, try posting an inquiry to sci.med. There are some real doctors (well, they have the initials M.D. after their names, I don't really know they're real :-) :-) ) who read that group. Perhaps they could point you in the direction of some knowledgeable people in this area of medicine. -- Ed Arnold * NCAR * POB 3000, Boulder, CO 80307-3000 * 303-497-1253(voice) 303-497-1137(fax) * era@ncar.ucar.edu [128.117.64.4] * era@ncario.BITNET era@ncar.UUCP * Edward.Arnold@f809.n104.z1.FIDONET.ORG