My Story........Metro

Hey Guys...

I came across this forum about a month ago. Being a private person, this is the first time I've ever posted about myself & my story. This month is the six year anniversary from when everything all started.

In 2008 I had spinal fusion (L4, L5, S1) at UCLA in Santa Monica. During the procedure my colon was perforated unknowingly. Three days following I went into full blown sepsis. The nueros didn't know that they had perforated my colon. Luckily I was still in the hospital & had a nurse who was persistent in getting more drs involved. Five days later I was transfered to ICU & rushed into emergency surgery. They were orignally going to try to repair the colon but my body started shutting down (ARDS) so they created an illeostomy & put me on a ventilator. What was even worst was that I was morphine resistant and didn't know it. So for three days following that I had zero pain relief with sepsis, two surgeries in five days.....in the ICU.

What followed was the absolute hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life. I had to literally fight for my life in the ICU. Because I couldn't eat or get out of the bed I lost 30lbs & had to learn how to walk again. The drs were very uncertain whether I would survive the sepsis. I spent six weeks in ICU & then another four weeks in telemetry/general before I was discharged with an IV & three drainage tubes still in me.

Learning to walk again was very challenging & painful. Living with an illeostomy was also hard. Luckily, five months following all that I was able to have the illeostomy reversed. And living with an illeostomy for five months was one of the most humbling experiences of my life. From all of that......I was also diagnosed with PTSD which took a couple years of very intense therapy to work through everything from that.

I am extremely lucky to be here today to share my story. I am also extremely lucky to have an incredible wife, parents & parent inlaws who were by my side through all of that. Unfortunately the surgeries didn't actually help in lessening the pain.....it increased it. But I've learned to embrace what I can't change and to focus on the positives of my life.

I know in the near future that I am going to have to undergo another spinal fusion from L3-T8. I am hopeful that this will help provide some relief from the constant pain that I live with. I also know how important it is to keep my expectations in check. Any relief is better than nothing.

Appreciate in advance you guys taking the time to read my story.

Best.....

Metro

Post Edited (Metro) : 4/26/2014 7:30:46 PM (GMT-6)

Hi Metro Welcome to our chronic pain forum. I'm glad that you found us.

There are a lot of supportive and sympathetic members here. I'm sure you will find the support that you're looking for. Take care.


hugs
Loretta

Welcome! This is a great community that has quite a few knowledgeable members! :)


My, you have such a long and agonizing Journey with CP! I can't even begin to think about dealing with such pain AND learning to walk :(

And I hear you on being thankful of the support of family and spouse. I too am thankful for a loving/supportive spouse...sadly, not all CPers have that in common...many have members of the family that are at best cautious about their medications/symptoms...and worse in disbelief/unsupported.

Look forward to seeing you around :)

Thanks guys! Appreciate the welcome.

Sunny......telemetry was the heart unit. I had still needed my vitals monitored around the clock when I came out of ICU.

Hello Metro & welcome to the chronic pain forum. Every person that comes here has a story to tell as to what started their chronic pain journey. After reading your post it sounds like you have been put to the test far too many times.

You are very fortunate to have a supportive family around you. That makes all the difference in the world. Many people just do not understand what chronic pain is about or how it affects a person.

You mentioned you may need further surgery down the road & it involves the thoracic area. I am surprised to read this as it is very rare that a dr will do surgery in that area because they say its too risky. Let's hope that it never comes to that with you.

Weekends tend to be a little slow around here. Now that it is spring time everyone tries to get out & enjoy a little sunshine to recharge their batteries.

Also we like to let the new members know that the owner of Healing Well has a few rules in place & we ask everyone to read the rules & honor them. It just helps to keep everyone rowing the boat in the same direction.

Anyway, welcome aboard. Take care.

Hi Metro Welcome from Spain :)