Intense pain and pain relief are symptoms that stroke survivors have after the stroke. Stroke survivors may have intense pain due to damage to the nerves that control their muscles. This nerve damage may cause muscles to contract for long periods going into painful spasms or spasticity, while other stroke survivors have pain relief from previous nerve problems.
Both Gina and Albert had pain from spasticity and other causes after their strokes. Both used baclofen, botox, and other pain relievers as well as therapies to relieve the pain. Some of the pain relievers worked while others only worked partially.
Gina’s pain was intense so her doctor injected Botox in her neck, arm, and one leg to try to relieve the pain in the areas where the pain was the most noticeable. After this success, her doctor injected baclofen into her spine to test that it would bring her relief from the pain. The injection worked with great success bringing Gina pain relief, but as she and Rob had been warned, the effects only lasted 24 hours. Rob remembered how sad Gina was when she went to sleep knowing that she would wake up. The next morning when she awoke, the pain was indeed back – as intense as it had ever been. Gina had to wait a full month before the baclofen pump could be surgically implanted for the following reasons: filing insurance paperwork, getting n the surgeon’s schedule, and scheduling the surgery room. One month was a long, long waiting period.
The surgery for the pump was finally completed, but it was only partially successful. The surgeon was not able to insert the baclofen delivery tube into the full length of Gina’s spine so the effectiveness, in terms of pain relief was only partial, though she did have a significant amount of pain relief. There was hope that the baclofen pump would also allow Gina to regain some of the use of the right arm and leg. This, however, was not the case, and Gina came to realize that she would never regain control over her body.
The resulting outcome of this portion of Gina’s struggle was a mixed blessing. On the one hand, she was in less pain; on the other, she realized that the life and health she once knew, was gone, not to return. The darkness of her depression deepened, and the intensity of her struggle took on new dimensions.
Learning to Live Life and Loving it - Carol Johnson Blogs 