Sunday Stroke Survival: Action/Reaction

With the virus still active in places and being in the high risk category, I've put off the idea of having the baclofen replaced. It's still simmering on a back burner. It would have been off the stove entirely if it hadn't worked so well.  I've got to do something about the pain the spasticity is causing.

Sitting around and waiting has never been an option for me when there's another action I can take. I've decided to take another round of Botox. It's scheduled for September 11th. It's been three years since I've voluntarily injected the poison into my body. While I'm looking forward to it/not looking forward to it, it is some relief to the immobility and pain. At this point 45 days out of 90 is better than nothing because three muscle relaxers aren't touching it.

In talking to the nurse yesterday, I'll be back to the 300 units for injections into my muscles. Since there has been a break in the cycle of injections, we discussed whether my body would reset back to square one was possible. It is entirely possible that the lower unit dose will hold for the entire 90 days between injection cycles for pain control and improved mobility with PT like it did 7 years ago. Here's hoping.

Others have told me that they don't understand my pain with my spasticity. They have spastic muscles also, but it does not cause them pain while mine seems off the charts. While the contracted muscles causes a tightening sensation, it's not what technically causes my pain levels to shoot me into space. So, I have been evaluating where exactly the pain is and what causes the pain to increase so much. I have discovered there are several sources.

Although I consciously try to minimize the actions that intensifies the pain that only accounts for less than 50%.

1. Movement of the affected arm or leg while episodes of increased tightness is present. While the tightness or high tone is always present, sometimes are worse than others.
2. Cramping of already tight muscles. Not just rhythmic waves of cramping (tolerable) but the sharp, "Charlie horse" cramping that accompanies a movement the spastic muscle does not like (weight bearing, leg in full extension, or moving it an inch this way or that) . Once started, the Charlie horse cramp takes on a life of its own. It demands the arm or leg be held in a certain spot or the cramp increases in intensity. This cycle can last two hours, takes a break, and then starts up again.
3. Incident muscles and joints trapped between two spastic muscle groups. My trapezius, shoulder, and neck instantly come to mind. I recovered my shoulder muscles range of motion early after my first stroke. In spite of injuries, I still have that range of motion.  But its range of motion is limited by spastic bicep and pectoral muscles. So it wants and needs to move but can't. 
4. Psuedo involuntary movements of spastic muscles like with coughs and sneezes cause additional contractions of these muscles and cause pain. Even the simple acts of of blowing your nose or clearing your throat takes the contraction affecting these muscles.

Then there's my list of 'try not to do. that cause pain. Things like hitting a chair with my affected arm's funny bone, which is decidedly unfunny, causes a rippling effect into spastic muscles. The dead weight of carrying a spastic limb also causes its own level of pain. I try, when seated at the table, to keep my elbow supported on the table. The brunt of the weight of my arm is no longer carried by my shoulder. But with movement, like taking a drink, my arm will slip from it's perch causing a jarring pain in my shoulder and bicep. While walking when the spasticity isn't too bad, I can hook my thumb into the waistband of my pants to relax or help support the weight of my arm. All bets are off when the spasticity is very bad and my arm is drawn up into my chest. All six or seven lbs of dead weight rely on my shoulder to carry it. Don't think that's not too bad? Try carrying a half a gallon of milk around all the time and you'll see what I mean.

So it's back to Botox for me again. One step forward and two back. Sigh! It's like my mama used to say, "There will always be an again."

Nothing is impossible.

Fore Thought and Action After a Stroke

I'm realizing that my previous post is boggling most of you readers minds. How am I am to do what I do after a stroke. It takes a lot of fore thought and trial and error.

I have always been able to set priorities before acting. This stems from years of experience as a life flight nurse. I know you've all heard of the ABCs...airway, breathing, circulation in any first aid course. I tend to function like that after decades of following ABC steps. Critical first and everything else next. I call in my front seat/back seat method of prioritizing. Paying the electric bill before the power is cut off. Giving medicines in a timely fashion to prevent crises later on. Mopping up spills when they happen prevents falls later on. I personally dislike when others make their emergencies my emergencies. This takes a lot of fore thought to stop emergencies becoming emergencies.

A little fore thought before any action goes a long way in preventing a severe energy waste of do overs.

As in the case of my husband being on the floor my first concern was air because he didn't have his oxygen nasal cannula on. When he kept saying "no oxygen" it became a process of elimination before ever considering broken bones from the fall or trying to move him. It turns out that because the rails were up on the bed, the only way he could get out of the bed is over the foot rail. So rather than actually falling out of bed, he had done a slow slide intent on going over to the condenser. I didn't find this out until much, much later.

The way I balance him now is to brace my paralyzed side against him. With my spasticity in full force right now that side of my body is not going anywhere. This leaves my functioning side free to support, grab, reach, and lift or do whatever is necessary. I'll place what I need within easy grasp for my left hand before I try to do anything. It's not the perfect way to do it, or the safest, but it works for me. I get 'er done.

I fell a couple of days ago in my kitchen (the same day as my husband "fell"). I was turning around to leave the kitchen and I got my feet tangled up. BOOM! The Diet Coke I had in my hand went flying pouring its contents all over me, the floor, and down the hall. I did a quick body assessment ie, moved various moveable parts to check for damage. The main things that hurt were my functioning elbow and knee. This would be a major problem in me getting up but I'd have to grin and bear it.

My husband saw the can go flying and asked if I was okay. I yelled back yes. The last thing I needed after falling was him trying to get up and try to rescue me. We'd both be on the floor and no help coming. After I assessed the damage I sat there and looked around thinking of things to help me rise without hurting myself further. I scooted over to the stove. I could straighten out my braced foot and use the edge of the stove to pull my fat behind up. My knee and elbow screamed at me and I sat back down on the floor to rethink my options. I eventually figured it out and began mopping up the mess I'd made. The results were some really bad bruising and me guarding the injured parts for a few days.

I returned to my hubby with a forced smile on my face and got him up into his electric wheelchair. I grabbed a bag of frozen peas and propped on my knee and elbow for the next twenty minutes sitting at my computer. My hubby didn't know I'd fallen until after I got up to put the peas back in the freezer. That was because I did my loud old lady groan. Ya gotta love getting older. You make such interesting sounds when you move.

Since my stroke there are a lot of things I cannot do. I accept it for right now as a changeable fact in the future. Until that time, I'll do what I can with what I've got. Although I always tell others ...you never know what you are capable of unless there is something you have to do. Given the same set of circumstances, not that anyone would want my circumstances, they would surprise themselves at what they could accomplish.

Nothing is impossible with determination.

Friday Fun ~ Movies: Against the Dark

I spend a great deal of time watching films in Netflix or on television. There's a reason for that, my husband's deaf. What's the sense of going to the movies if I can't go with my best beau? I think the last movie I saw in a movie theater was when I took my #2 daughter to see Harry Potter & the Deathly Hollow Part 1 for her birthday.

Today's review is on a home viewing of...

Against the Dark  2009 "R" 94 minutes

Cast:

Steven Seagal, Tanoai Reed, Jenna Harrison, Danny Midwinter, Emma Catherwood, Stephen Hagan, Daniel Percival, Skye Bennett, Linden Ashby, Keith David

Genre:

Action Thrillers, Action Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Vampires, Action & Adventure

Synopsis

After vampires overrun planet Earth, it's up to a special ops squad leader to stamp out the bloodsuckers and save humanity. But for those who've survived and taken refuge in an abandoned hospital, hope is running out -- along with food and supplies.

My Grade

"C" for content

"D" for Acting

"No" for will I watch this again

All I've got to say is I should have known better. While Steven Seagal was fine for his usual kick-butt martial arts, he has not aged well. The older, paunchy "savior" was found lacking with few spoken lines and heavy reliance on special effects tricks. 

While keywords such as "virus," "vampires," "horror," and "action" drew me to watch. The only interesting part was the marriage of zombie eat flesh and behaviors, and the blood sucking vampire nature of the virus's mutation.

Say "pass" on this one unless your into martial arts and sword play for its own sake. It even gives "B" movies a bad rap.