Saturday, February 15, 2014

The Next Chapter

When we got home from Germany at the end of May in 2006, I went into what I can only describe as "overdrive".  I hadn't felt so good in years!  I ran around like a crazy woman, lost 40 pounds and rejoiced that I had none of the pain that had plagued me for most of my life.  Looking back, I truly believe that God had led me to Dr. Kruschinski.  Here is why...at the time, my Grandfather was nearing the end of his life.  My Mom and Dad had moved him into the front room of their home and she was caring for him, as well as babysitting my Niece for my Sister.  Needless to say, my Mom was about at the end of her endurance.  When we got home, I started spending more and more time with my Mom and Grandfather, helping in whatever capacity was needed. 

It was July when my Grandfather went to be with The Lord.  I had been staying with him during the night hours so that my Mom could get much needed rest.  I will always cherish that time that I had with him and be thankful that I was physically able to be there for both him and my Mom.  Had I never gone to Germany and had surgery with Dr. Kruschinski, I wouldn't have be able to do more than give encouragement over the telephone, as I was consumed with pain.

A few days before my Grandfather passed away, I received a telephone call and a job offer.  Prior to going to Germany, I had been working at Clear Channel Radio Willliamsport as a Senior Sales Representative.  I loved that job, but with my deteriorating health, had to give up my 5 1/2 career.  This new job offer came from one of my best clients, whom I had become friends with through our business dealings.  He owned a carpet store and was opening a new showroom and wanted me to work for him.  I accepted the job and started working for him shortly after my Grandfather passed.

I started learning all about floor coverings and threw myself into the job.  I may as well have thrown myself off of a bridge.  Here's why...I felt so good that I didn't use caution.  I was lifting, pulling and doing things that I never should have done.  Within three months, I was back on the pain meds and unfortunately had to leave that job as well.  And it was all my own fault.  I knew that I shouldn't have been doing that much physical labor, but ignored my better sense and just did it anyway.

From that moment on, things got worse.  I couldn't walk because I had pain shooting straight up through me...like a knife.  I couldn't even sit comfortably because of the pain.  I was prescribed Morphine for the pain.  I ended up pretty much sleeping most of the time, getting up every 8 hours to take my next dosage and then falling back asleep.  This is no way to live, and I was miserable.

At that time, going back to Germany wasn't an option financially, so I began looking for a surgeon here in the United States that specialized in adhesions.  I didn't have much luck, so I went to a local surgeon.  She recommended that I go completely off of the pain meds because she thought that they were adding to my condition.

At the end of June 2007, I checked myself into White Deere Detox for six days.  That was truly an experience that I will never forget.  My room had three beds in it and I was the only one in it until another woman arrived around midnight.  She had an interesting story.  She was in an automobile accident and took Fentanyl for the pain from her injuries.  But here's the thing...she would get 10 Fentanyl patches that were prescribed to be taken one every three days...she took all of it by slicing the patches and eating the medication within one week, then shot heroin for the rest of the month.  My first night in detox was spent trying to calm this woman down...she was kicking the walls, moaning, throwing up and horribly sick all night long.

I couldn't fathom why someone would intentionally do this to themselves.  I looked around and saw basically healthy people who were killing themselves with drugs and I would have given anything to be healthy.  I stayed to myself, read my Bible and kept a journal.  I didn't attend any of the meetings because I wasn't in there to be rehabilitated.  My addiction to the pain meds was physical, not mental.  I really hated the fact that I had to take a pill to even get out of bed in the morning...being a slave to pain and pain medication for as long as I had been had taken its toll on me.

I won't go into detail about the detox off of the Morphine.  Let's just say that it wasn't pleasant.  But, after six days, it was out of my system and I returned home.  I went back to the local surgeon and she preformed laparoscopic surgery and discovered that my bladder was folded in half and encased in adhesions. They were taken down and Seprafilm was applied to inhibit further adhesion growth.  Lovely, right?  No wonder! 

Now, you would think that after that I would have been better, but that wasn't the case.  The difference between having surgery here in the United States and Germany is this...here they use gas to see to do the surgery, which in turn causes more adhesions.  In Germany, Dr. Kruschinski uses the Abdolift and an adhesion barrier called SprayShield, both of which are not approved here by the FDA.  So, by having surgery in the USA to remove adhesions...more are created.  It is a viscous circle and has no end.





1 comment:

  1. Hi- I am helping a friend research adhesion's... she is suffering greatly. 27 plus surgeries. In and out of the hospital with obstructions caused by adhesion's... she is in the hospital again today in excruciating pain.

    I am just wondering how you are doing currently and wonder if that Dr. may be able to help my friend.

    Thank you

    ReplyDelete