As many of you my dear readers know, I have been having some trouble keeping myself actually posting and staying current on this anecdotal pathway of events. Some of you do know what I have been dealing with, however for the rest, here is the road thus far!
For the last 3 plus years I have been battling one of the biggest battles someone like me could have battled. When you are a healer in life, you spend all of your time helping others, putting others first and attempting to ignore any pain or hardship that presents itself to you, so that you can continue to help others. This battle wasn't against a boss, per-say, it was a fight to continuously function as I had. There was a curse eating at me, taking away my ability to do all the things I love one by one, it's name was Chronic Pain. That curse grew and festered until I could push it aside no longer. I could barely move my head, my hand was continuously tingly or numb, it had been effecting my work at the Tower, it was effecting spending time with my crew and it was effecting my life with my questing partner, something had to be done. I finally had to contact my primary healer and see what could be done.
Now, thinking that maybe it was just a pulled muscle or damaged nerve, she sent me to have physical therapy. There was no imaging done, no attempt to truly find out what the problem was and sending me on my way. After nearly 3 months of this therapy with no real improvement I had to contact my primary healer again. After fighting with them for several weeks to no avail. I was finally contacted and treated as though I was once again making things larger than they were, however, they did ask questions and finally sent me to a new healer, a surgeon to see if he could help.
When I met with this surgeon, he sent me for imaging of the bone structure within 5 ticks of walking in the door. After nothing obvious came up on those, he did some actual movement testing on my arm and shoulder, as well as my neck. He was furious that my primary healer had not sent me for imaging previously and believed the therapy had perhaps caused things to get worse. I finally felt as though I had a champion who would help me and perhaps take away the curse I had been dealing with for so long.
He sent me to have magnetic imaging done, which was a whole new and weird experience for me. I had to lie in a giant tube as magnets spun around me, magically taking images of my spinal column. It was not a long process and I was contacted just a few short days later to go back and see this surgeon who truly wanted to help.
My champion surgeon, was very concerned when I met with him the second time. For I had masses in my spine as well as a protruding disc in my neck. So he sent me to another surgeon to look, as the spinal masses he was not equipped to handle. I was so relieved that I finally was getting someone to help as it had been years of pain and dealing with this in my life.
After meeting with the second surgeon, I was very pleased as well, he genuinely wanted to help as well. After seeing my images, he informed me the masses in my spine were not a problem. However, the disc in my neck was in fact going to continue to cause me pain. So it was decided that I have it replaced, a surgical procedure which should help with everything.
So, after what seemed like an eternity, though it was only a few weeks later. I went under the knife. They made me unconscious and took out my disc made of cartilage and replaced it with a bionic piece, fusing it to my spinal column. When they went in to replace it, they found that 2 of my vertebrae had also collapsed. So it was a bit more of a process than expected. However, I had no idea until I awoke in the recovery room. As I came to, I realized that I could in fact feel my left hand and it wasn't tingling any longer. I announced this, as I was very altered by the potions they had given me, just as my surgeon walked in. He got a very large smile on his face and told me this was a very good sign.
It has been nearly 3 months since the surgery, it will be officially 3 months in 5 days, and I have been progressing in the healing direction. I have had days of pain still, but they are less and less as the days go by. I know I had a lot of damage to my nerve endings and to my muscles around my spine up near my neck and I know they will take time to heal fully. However, the fact that I am finally starting to feel like myself again and to have full days without pain. I am able to go for walks again, I have been progressively more and more social with my crew and it has helped to remedy things a great deal with my questing partner.
Do I still have a decent way to go, probably. But I have been progressing in an upward direction. Albeit, I now have a tiny bit less essence than I did before this all began, but I will take the small loss and the little bit of bionics if it means and end to this curse. My wonderful sister and friend has informed me that I did in fact gain a super power from all of this, I have an insanely large pain tolerance at this point, beyond that of what I should in fact have had in my life.
My lesson to all of you in this, chronic pain is no joke. It is a curse, it is something that can be even more debilitating than the worst plague. It can cause changes in personalities, lifestyles and even dispositions. Please be very kind and patient to those who live with this curse, for until you have lived that life, you cannot begin to understand what someone is going through. Be accepting and just show them that you are there for them. If I hadn't had the support and love that I had throughout this process I honestly don't know where I would be.
