Around Christmas of 1994 Larry, my husband was operated on for what was believed to be spinal tumors. The problem turned out to be arachnoiditis of the spine caused by meningitis, and he came out of surgery with no feeling from his sternum down to his toes.
After two plus months of hospital rehab he came home to an even longer period of recovery. He had to learn to do most things all over again. Right from the beginning of his problems he began to suffer from severe spasms in the form of tightening of his abdominal and leg muscles and the pains became unbearable for him.
All in all it might not have been too bad but up until that time he had been a very active person. As an example he had been Mayor of the city in which we lived, past President of his Kiwanis Club, had a Commercial Pilots license, was a licensed environmental professional, was a two gallon Red Cross blood donor, had been active in Junior Achievement, Jaycees, a better than average bowler, played some golf and was active in our church. Needless to say he was completely devastated at having to slow down, if not, completely stop all the things he loved to do.
Some time in 1997 he had his intrathecal baclofen pump installed and things began to go in an entirely different direction. He got tired of seeing me do everything inside and outside of the house and he felt badly about not being able to help me with even the most mundane chores.
We decided to splurge and buy a tractor to help with the cutting of the grass and that's when things turned around. Now he cuts the grass and I do the edging. He began pushing himself a little more each time and before you know it he began to do more and more in the yard. Imagine my surprise one day when I went outside and found that he had, by himself, removed twelve large barberry bushes that heretofore, we had only talked about replacing. He has a little difficulty getting on the tractor but he simply takes his time and balances himself before swinging his leg up onto the seat.
Things are not perfect but they are better than they had been. He was encouraged when he heard that the comedian Jerry Lewis had the same doctor (although he had a different device installed) and had appeared on several talk shows to talk about his miraculous recovery. I don't expect that there will be a complete cure in our lifetime but, at least, there is reason for hope. |
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