My name is Michell Freeman, I am from a small town in
Bennettsville South Carolina and this is my story. On
November 4, 2013 I was in an
automobile accident that involved a fatality.
I was hit by a car that had ran a red light. I was unable to walk
without great pain. When I arrived at the hospital my legs felt very cold and I
had lost feeling in my saddle area and later down my left leg. The Doctor came
in and told my family that I had a disc fragment that sequestered. The doctor
told my husband that I was to lie flat on my back only to get up to use the
restroom and if I lost control of my bowel or bladder to call 911. I was
released the same day with a follow up with a Neurosurgeon.
I was able to see this
neurosurgeon on November 5, 2013. I was instructed to take a steroid for seven
days and given opiate pain medication. He wanted to get the inflammation down.
On November 12, 2013 I returned to his office unable to walk. The pain had me
screaming for help. I was told that I needed to undergo an emergency
Laminectomy/Discectomy.
On my follow up I let my surgeon
know something wasn't right. I was leaking and having sudden urges to urinate.
I was having electric sensations go down my back and legs. I was burning. I had
another Mri and was told I had a lot of inflammation involving the nerve roots.
I was referred to pain management for a series of selective nerve root
Injections.
On my first appointment with pain management I
was nervous and was given a Valium. I laid flat face down and the nurse said
that she was going to walk me through it. The doctor didn't speak only to say
who he was. As the procedure began the pain was terrible. The nurse said he was
about to inject the Depo Medrol steriod. I felt a shock of electricity go down
my leg and I began to cry. The nurse assured me this was normal and the doctor
cleaned my back and walked out the room. I had no feeling in my leg and was
placed in a wheelchair. My pain relief was not better but increased and my head
would hurt so bad I would put an ice pack on it. For awhile my body ached. Two
weeks later I went for a second injection. On my third injection while on the table
my doctor started the procedure and inserted the catheter. It was very painful.
He moved the table up higher with the needle inserted to get a better view
using fluoroscope. Tears were falling and the nurse said its almost over. Just
as she said that I screamed out loud as my back jerked. The pain was excruciating. The doctor finished and walked out the room
without speaking.
July 2014 I went back to my
neurosurgeon for him to tell me that this pain may possibly be permanent. He
said he was out of options and my primary care physician would need to take
over with either helping with pain or a referral to another pain management
specialist due to I refused to continue to get anymore injections. The
neurosurgeon, imaging and pain management were in the same complex.
February 2015 I was diagnosed with Adhesive Arachnoiditis.
I sent my Mri scans to be reviewed. The Mri two months after my surgery
(January 2014) it was confirmed that it had already advanced to adhesive stage
with Empty Sac Sign.
I have since developed colitis,
bradycardia with syncope, and fluctuating blood pressure. I no longer can go to
activities with my children at home nor play the same with my four grand
children. I break plans often due to unrelentless pain. Days of not being able
to get out of bed. My life is no longer my own. I have lost control of deciding
what I am able to do each day. I live a life of having to take opiate
medications in order to have some life,
relief and function. Before finding the
correct dosage and keeping it as low as possible I would constantly cry out and
beg to die. Pain altered my brain in which I had thoughts of suicide daily. I
lost the life I once knew as an employee with USPS, an active wife, mother, and
grandmother. I now live a life of having to learn how to adapt, improvise and
overcome.
Michell Freeman
Member of Social medial support
groups Arachnoiditis Together We Fight and ARACHNOIDITIS,
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