my story

In my early 20s I developed an unexplained fainting disorder triggered by physical stress. In the beginning I was able to manage the problem by avoiding triggers such as standing still or moving to fast. As things progressed I was warned against working because my job involved long hours in the sun. I had stubbornly ignored the warning though and kept my job controling traffic for a road construction crew. One day I was traveling from one intersection to the next, a single city block, on the running boards of a f150. Within seconds I grew light headed, blood roared in my ears, and my head felt like it was going to explode.
The next thing I know I’m lying in the ditch, shaking and sore all over.

I refused to call an ambulance because I didn’t have any insurance, and I knew I didn’t qualify for compensation. The next day I had to crawl to the phone so I could call in sick. For the first week I thought the worst of my injuries was a few bruised ribs so I stuck it out and went back to work. Then I bent over to lift a shovel someone had left behind and ended up in the fetal position.

That was the day my boss drove me himself to the doctor and paid for the x-rays. The x-rays of my spine reminded me of that game with the wooden blocks, you stack the blocks and remove them one at a time until the entire thing crumbles. My L5 disk was shattered and the four disks above it were dislodged from their sockets.

Next came the EMG which told me that the nerves along my right side had been damaged. Over the first year the damage evolved into femoral neuropathy. Now seven years since the accident I have 40% control over my right leg on a good day. I’ve also developed deteriorating disk disease and arthritis which brings a whole new kind of pain to the table.

I’m still working on losing the sixty pounds I gained those first few years after the accident and I’ve been off the hard pain killers for 36 months now. I try to walk as much as possible and that helps manage the pain but I still have days where I’m forced to curl up in a ball.

I went to wal-mart once and used one of their electric scooters…. everyone looked at me funny :( I even had an elderly woman (who was walking just fine on her own) curse at me. Of course the scooter was hard to maneuver around the isles so the experience didn’t last very long.

I walk a mile across town at least 4 times a week. I’ve formed my route so that there is a “resting” place at every corner encase I need them. You wouldn’t believe how many people have park benches in their yards or next to their business that will curse at you for sitting in them. I suppose that’s what I get for living in Texas…