[jscott92064]

Hi folks:

My husband came home from the hospital in January and the bad news is he has a pressure sore and has been on bed rest for several weeks now. The good news is with his pressure sore (on his cocyx) forcing him to take a rest, he seems to be getting some feelings and sensations back in his body. (His injury is T7 - we did a recent follow-up with a spinal surgeon to find out what happened during the botched surgery in November --his spinal cord was "mashed", but it's not severed.....)

He's getting a burning sensation in his rectum (that's been off and on for a few months now and is more consistent now.) He's got some feeling now too when it's time to poop.

But my question relates more to his legs. They always felt very "heavy" to him. Now his joints are aching, but it's very, very deep. He cannot feel touch on his skin, but he can tell you which calf feels more crampy and achy to him.

Have any of your spouses had those feelings and is there anything you do to alleviate the pain? (When my husband spasms, I find flexing his feet stop the spasms.)

Thanks so much!!!

J

[rue2you]

That sounds like some of what is going on with me! Since I have started therapy (which I did not start until 7 months post because I was pregnant when I became paralyzed), my butt feels like it is burning a LOT! I also feel like I am sitting on gravels, and sometimes it feels like I am sitting on a shoe or something. I am always wanting to look and see if I really am sitting on something but I'm not. It just feels really weird. Also, I get deep pain like that in my legs. It is not really in my joints but it feels like it is my bones. That same burning - like somebody has really rubbed me down with sandpaper. I feel it a lot in my thighs and I am getting some return to my thigh muscles and my glutes. The therapist says that maybe the pain is either coming with return of function as they "wake" up or he says maybe the pain has been there all along and I am just now starting to get sensation back. I can definitely tell you which leg is hurting!!
I can also tell when I need to have a bowel movement. I feel pressure.

[jscott92064]

Is there anything you do for it? How do you get yourself to sleep at night when you can't find a comfortable position? (I have played some relaxation cds which seem to help him.)

You do sound like you are in the exact same situation.

Weird stuff, isn't it.

[dangerousdave]

Back to Basics

Incomplete injurys will have perefery nerve regrowth
The further the nerve grows the more resistant to signal transmition it gets
The chord never repairs - the nerve growth from the chord portal can within limitations
This is why it is so important for incompletes to exercise and move beyond the pain threshold for the first 2 years of injury
The burning and stabbin pains should be welcomed

Wish you well

This post has been edited by dangerousdave: 10 March 2010 - 10:29 AM

[jscott92064]

dangerousdave, on Mar 10 2010, 10:28 AM, said:

Back to Basics

Incomplete injurys will have perefery nerve regrowth
The further the nerve grows the more resistant to signal transmition it gets
The chord never repairs - the nerve growth from the chord portal can within limitations
This is why it is so important for incompletes to exercise and move beyond the pain threshold for the first 2 years of injury
The burning and stabbin pains should be welcomed

Wish you well

Thanks. That's good information. His doctor said he was complete, but I think it's too early to tell (only been a few months). It feels like his blood circulation is coming back --i.e. entire body is warm again to the touch like it was before his surgery. In looking at the Pain Management section (probably where I should have been in the first place --ha ha), it looks like one could always have pain. (Or do you think it's different after two years?)

[dangerousdave]

I'm afraid I'm a bit of a oddball -- amongst us SCI
I'm incomplete and continued to regain most of my leg use over 4yrs to the state where I could walk but not run or carry heavy loads
Alas in 95 everything went wrong and I now live in a wheelchair with a dying chord
But what the heck -
I do not manage my nerve pain with opiate drugs like the doctors tell us to
I built up over time a resistance to the pains we endure and manage with with a low opiate dose codine and the illeagle substance Cannabis which I vaporise
As we know - we are all differant
If the injury is indeed incomplete - then for me the Burning and Stabbin pain died down as nerves regrew, but the nerve pain never goes, it disappears or lessons, but never has left

Back in 74, morhine Lille was a singular nurse who was called when required. A singular nurse in a multi floored haspital means you have to wait your turn
No opiate power syringe packs in them days
So yes I often cried a lot until she sent me to sleep
I also learnt to handle my pain in other ways to
Move my pressure points - distance myself with music and laughter

Treatment and meds are so different now - so I'm still the oddball

LOL

[jscott92064]

Thank you. This is all good information to have.

I'm not sure why his doctor has him listed as "complete". That may be more for the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Power Company so he gets handicapped parking forever and also a break on the electric/gas bill.

I've been playing some subliminal cds for him --relaxation, overcoming fear and worry, removing limitations --those seem to relax him and put him to sleep.

He's not into taking pain meds.

Moving around pressure points help.

He's also a bit miserable having been on bedrest for several weeks now. I think things will be different once he's up and around again.

Now to get his bowels under control. They were awesome - like clockwork - and then when he went on bedrest, he's had lots of constipation issues.

I have asked all my friends to dedicate their daily poops to him and to send him "pooping" thoughts --ha ha! (didn't want to use the "s" word here)