Question
DEAR SIR, I'VE HAD THIRTEEN BRAIN SURGERIES, DUE TO HAVING AN ANEURYSM. KNOW I STILL HAVE THIRTY PER CENT OF IT REMAINING, BECAUSE THE REMAINDER IS TOO DEEP IN MY BRAIN TO REMOVE. NOW I BERRY ANEURYSMS GROWING AND THREE WEEKS AGO,, SEVERAL CLUSTERS BURST, AGAIN TOO DEEP IN MY BRAIN, FOR SURGERY. I ALSO HAVE SEVERLY ADVANCED MUSCULAR SCLESROSES, WITH TWO TO THREE MONTHS LEFT TO LIVE, ACCORDING TO MY DOCTORS FIVE DIFFERENT ONES AND ALL AGREE] I AM NOT WORRIED ABOUT DYING, I HAVE HAD A GREAT LIFE,, LIVED ABROAD FOR TEN YEARS, TRAVELED THE WORLD, WITH MY HUSBAND, WHO IS SCOTLAND. I AM FIFTY-THREE YEARS OLD. I'VE LOST BODY PARTS OR PARTS OF BODY PARTS. I'M A PARAPLEGIC AND MY RIGHT ARM IS GOING FAST, THE LEFT HAND IS SEMI NUMB, ABOUT HALF THE TIME. I HAVE ONE KIDNEY AND IT'S DOWN TO WORKING AT FIFTY PERCENT. I HAVE HAD FORTY MAJOR AND TWENTY-SEVEN MINOR SURGERIES AND I'LL HAVE NO MORE, NO LIVING ON MACHINES. I AM READY TO GO WHN GOD, CALLS MY NAME, I HAVE NO FEARS OF DYING. WHAT I AM TIRED OF IS LIVING IN CONSTANT PAIN. MY DOCTOR HAS ME TAKING THREE HYDROCODONE APAP 7.5mg.'s, PER DAY. I ADD TO THAT TWENTY FOUR TYLENOL, EXTRA STRENGTH, TWENTY-FOUR ALEVE, WHICH I KNOW HAS NEPROXEN IN IT, TEN TYLENOL SINUS-NON-DROWSY, CYCLOBENZAPRINE 10mg.'s THREE TIME A DAY, 5mg.s OF DIAZEPAM, THREE TIMES A DAY AND BECAUSE MY BRAIN SURGERIES [FIST ONE 12/26/1995] DESTROYED THE PART OF MY BRAIN THAT TELLS ONE WHEN TO GO TO SLEEP, I TAKE TWO TEMAZEPAM 30mg.s EVERY NIGHT, THAT ALLOWS ME TO SLEEP THREE TO FOUR HOURS A NIGHT, UNLESS I'M SAD, EXCITED, UPSET, WORRIED ECT. THEN I DON'T SLEEP AT ALL. I HAVE STAYED UP FOR EIGHT DAYS AND NIGHTS AND FINALLY PASSED OUT. SO I DON'T GET ENOUGH SLEEP, I AM IN CONSTANT PAIN THAT IS REACHING THE SCREAMING POINT AGAIN AND MY D.O., WILL NOT IMCREASE MY SLEEP MEDICATION, MUSCLE RELAXERS, DIAZEPAM [WHICH I HAVE TO TAKE DUE TO MY PAIN MEDS GIVING ME THE SHAKES] NOR MY PAIN MEDICATION. I KNOW I ONLY HAVE A SHORT TIME LEFT, BUT DO I HAVE TO LIVE IT IN CONSTANT PAIN, WORN OUT FROM LACK OF SLEEP AND TERRIBLY PAINFUL CRAMPING IN THE PARTS OF MY BODY THAT I STILL HAVE FEELINGS IN? MY NEUROLIGISTS [TWO] PREFER NOT TO PRESCRIBE MEDCATION? THE PAIN MANEGEMENT CLINC TRIED ELEVEN TIMES TO IMPLANT TITAINIUM IMPLANYS ON MY OCCIPITAL NERVE AND ALL I GOT OUT OF THAT WAS A FRIED, BLIND RIGHT EYE. NOW THEY ARE WILLING TO TRY AGAIN, FRY MY LEFT EYE AND BLIND ME TOTALLY, WHICH I REFUSE TO DO. I REFUSE TO HAVE A SINGLE OTHER SURGERY AND I WILL NOT LIVE, HOOKED UP TO ANY MACHINE. MY DOCTORS CAN'T EVEN GIVE MY OXYGEN, WITH OUT MY PERMISSION, OR MY HUSBANDS, WHO WILL NOT GO AGAINST MY WISHES. THE PAIN, CRAMPS AND HEADACHES ARE SO BAD NOW, I HAVE CONSIDERD THINGS, THAT ARE AGAINST MY RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. THIS IS NOT THE WAY I WANT TO DIE, BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH MORE PAIN I CAN STAND? THERE ARE DAYS AT A TIME, WHEN ALL I CAN DO IS SCREEM AND CRY. SURLY THERE MUST BE SOMEONE WHO CAN HELP ME LIVE WHAT TIME I HAVE LEFT, IN A LESS PAINFUL MANOR? I HAVE TRIED HOLISTIC, RECKI, MIND CONTROL AND ACCUPUNTSURE PAIN MANAGEMENT, ALL TO NO AVAIL, EFFICACY OR EFFECTIVENESS. IS THERE ANYTHING LEFT? I LIVE IN RIGHT OUT OF DALLAS, TEXAS, IN CASE YOU KNOWOF ANYONE WHO MIGHT HELP ME HERE. SAD AS IT MAY BE, I AM NO LONGER ABLE TO TRAVEL, WHICH I HAVE BEEN DOING FOR OVER TWENTY-SIX YEARS, WITH MY HUSBAND, ALL OVER THE WORLD, WE EVEN LIVED ABROAD FOR OUR FIRST TEN YEARS AND I KNOW THAT IF I COULD GET TO CARIO, EGYPT, ABU DHABI OF THE UNITED ARAB EMMERATES, SINGAPORE, SYRIA OR KUALA LUMPUR, I WOULDN'T HAVE TO LIVE LIKE I AM BEING FORCED TO IN MY OWN COUNTRY? I FIND THIS OUTRAGIOUS AND VERY UNDERSTANDING WHY THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO KILL THEMSELVES, RATHER THAN LIVE IN CONSTANT PAIN, BUT AGAIN, LET ME STRESS THE FACT THAT THIS IS NOT HOW I WANY TO LEAVE THIS WORLD. I JUST WANT TO SLEEP, SO I'M NOT WORN OUT EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE AND WHEN I'M AWAKE, I DON'T WANT IT TO BE IN CONSTANT PAIN, SO BAD, THAT IT'S QUICKLY REACHING THE POINT WHERE I WILL GIVE UP. A PERSON CAN ONLY STAND SO MUCH. IT'S TAKEN TEN PAIN PILLS, TEN DIAZEPAM, FIVE MUSCLE RELAXERS AND SEVERAL HANDS FULL OF NON PRESCRIPTION PILLS AND FIVE HOURS TO TYPE THIS LETTER. WHICH SHOULD TELL YOU THAT I DO WANT TO LIVE AS LONG AS GOD PLANS FOR ME TO, BUT I NEED HELP AND I NEED IT RIGHT NOW. PLEASE TELL WHERE I CAN GET SOME HELP, IF YOU CAN? THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND I WILL BE LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING BACK FROM YOU, WITH HELP OR NOT. SINCERELY, LAURA C. MACNEIL  

Answer
Dear Laura,

The part with which I can possibly help has to do with the muscle cramping.  I say this without knowing all there is to know about the pain you experience.

Muscles cramp in response to trauma, as well as in response to damage to the central nervous system.

There is a possibility that the brain-muscle training process of somatic education can help by relaxing the contracted muscles.  Pain of muscular origin and from pinched nerves would then disappear.

I don't know, from your description, the reason for the numbness.  It could be due to the brain surgeries or to nerve pinches in your neck, shoulder or arm.

The closest practitioners are in San Angelo and here, in Santa Fe, NM.  I have travelled in the past when a client was not mobile enough to come to me, but a more immediate option is available:

There are self-help programs for the geographically disadvantaged.  Two books come to mind:  The Magic of Somatics (for a preview, send blank email to [email protected]) and Free Yourself from Back Pain, which addresses neck tensions as part of the program (preview, send blank email to [email protected]).  The back-program features instruction on audio CD that guides you to relax muscular cramping through a movement-training approach.

This type of program a brings relief to many people who otherwise might be on muscle relaxants and pain medication.  However, it depends upon the brain being intact enough for learning-based improvement of muscular control to occur.

good wishes,
Lawrence Gold
CHSE