Heather Mews
English 101
Professor: Begert
How I learned to live with a Painful Disability
Most
people who don’t know me on a personal level are unaware of the debilitating
pain I am faced with daily. I was midway through my work day staging and
inspecting furniture when I had to run an extension cord underneath a sleeper
sofa, this was part of my usual routine so I didn't think twice when I lifted the sofa and twisted to reach for the
cord, it was then that I realized something didn't feel right. I reported the incident but continued to work with my injury for several more weeks due to
fear of losing the income that I needed to support my 3 children. Little did I
know, these actions would soon lead to what is now a very permanent and painful
disability.
After
several years of spinal injections, physical therapy, chiropractic care, laser
therapy, and massage therapy, basically every form of treatment that did not
involve taking drugs I came to the decision along with several orthopedic
surgeons, that surgery would be my best option. Upon making this decision I was
informed that L&I would require me to attend a very extensive pain
rehabilitation program before they would allow me to move forward with the
surgery. In my opinion this seemed to be yet another way for them to avoid
taking the necessary steps for my recovery. If they had just done this in the
beginning I would have been well on the road to my recovery and saved them a
lot of money on ineffective treatments, the government wastes enough money as
it is. I had spent an ample amount of
time preparing myself for the surgery so I was not happy about this little adventure
they were about to send me on.
It
was the beginning of December when I got the call "your rehabilitation program
will start on December 11th and you will need to stay here for the
duration". Not only did I hate the big city, but I felt they had no regard to
the fact that they were making me leave my family over the holidays, my dog
whom I felt played a huge role in helping me manage my depression, and the
comfort of my own home. When I first arrived in Seattle I was
angry and had already formed an attitude that the program they were requiring
me to attend was going to be no more effective than the other treatments I had
received prior. The apartment I was to stay in was cold and drab, impersonal,
and there were people camped out on the side of the road with their sleeping
bags, leaving me with little comfort, as I was by myself. I missed my family
immediately, and I just wanted to give up and go home. Little did I know, that
attitude was about to change.
The
next morning, I was to meet with the doctors, therapists, etc.
First I met with the doctor, she performed several tests, after doing so she gave
me the opportunity to ask questions about the program and my injury, you
better believe I had questions and I can assure you there were many. I had
every intent on breaking down this little program of theirs and exposing it for the
scam that it was. I also asked her to explain my injury and the procedure. This is
where the education began. She presented me with an over whelming amount of
evidence pertaining to the outcomes of my procedure, and the results
were very alarming. I decided it would be a good idea to do some further
research on my own. What I found out supported what she had told me. On average
there was only about a 20% chance that a spinal fusion "a metal plate on each
side of my spine to secure it" would fix the damage to my spine, and there was
a higher risk that it could make me worse in the long run. It would be likely
that I would need to have a new fusion to support the next section of my spine,
and so on, and then by around age of 50 it was possible that I wouldn't be able to walk. It was then that I began to realize "Hmm L&I might actually be
looking out for my well being and not just their pocket books". After learning
all of this information, I was still reserved and not yet willing to make any
decisions but I did have a more open mind.
The
next step after meeting with the doctor was to meet my occupational therapist.
They had me perform a series of tasks as I normally would at home while
videotaping my postures, we then went over the film and she customized a
routine that would help me to better compensate for my injury. This routine
would be performed twice daily, as it takes 30 days to build a habit, and would
hopefully enable me to perform everyday tasks much easier. My occupational
therapist then introduced me to Linda, "my physical therapist" she ran me
through a bunch of tests to see what my physical abilities were so she could
customize a plan with realistic goals in mind. I realized early on that she was
a lot like me, to the point, no bull, but with a good since of humor so I told
her not to put up with my stubborn butt, and to push me as hard as she felt
appropriate. She did exactly that, but we laughed our way through the whole
process. I noticed the impact that the positive energy had on the other patients so
I began to encourage others and joke around to lighten the atmosphere. Even the
staff was having fun. We also dedicated 30 minutes a day to learning different
forms of meditation, which helps to relax the muscles and take the strain off
of my spine. I found that I enjoyed Tai-Chi the most. After meeting with my
physical therapist it was time to move on to psychology.
I
met with a psychiatrist several times and attended classes daily that I found
to be very informative. I learned that the effect Pain has on your mental well being and vice versa was quite significant, and when I started to find
alternative ways to do the things I love, I began to live again. On my last day
I met with each of my program leads so they could assess my progress and report
back to L&I. What a difference from their first assessments of me." Dr.
Forseit my psychiatrist" Heather seems to be depressed, she feels she has let
everyone down and has an unhealthy amount of guilt. The last Day "Dr. Forseit" Heather has played a key role in helping and encouraging others in their
recovery, she has been a model patient. She will be missed.
I
continue to stay in touch with the staff at RIW to this day, and can say that
my new career choice was influenced by this program. I am studying to be a chemical dependency counselor to help pain patients, as most at some point will become addicted to pain medication. I try to keep up with my
home therapy as much as possible, but I would be lying if I said my pain is
gone. What I can say is although I chose not to have the surgery for now, I
feel I can live with my disability and be a functioning and contributing person
in our society, which is enough for me.
I really enjoyed this paper. Once its finished it will be wonderful. very insperational
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