Spine Psychology

[biffnoble]

annapurna:

It's sad to hear of your estrangement from loved ones. It's really difficult for others to comprehend what's going on inside another's sick body.

There are so many permutations to spine illness.

One thing I'd like to understand better is "acquired" illness: one�s life was going well and you felt fine until a specific point in time where everything changed versus, congenital predisposition resulting in accretion of illness and dysfunction.

In the latter case the life disturbance(s) are very easy to confuse with psychological disorders. There's no smoking gun.

That�s why I�d like folks to give insight into their lives, functional problems.

Sleep
Social
Pain
Work
Behavior

Etc..

The medical profession is so mechanistic that to get a simple answer as to whether a given spine operation will reduce or eliminate pain is difficult. So the subtle affects of spine disease are a complete mystery.

[biffnoble]

As a cervie I'm interested in the CSF (cerebro spinal fluid) related effects caused by central cervical spine stenosis. These effects fall into a subtle range. Again in the gray area of "psychological" effects. What are the effects if any? Is this more mumbo jumbo or could there be subtle but profound effects caused by CSF impedence.

Website with CSF and health related info. Check it out and give your "take".

http://www.healtouch.com/csft/philosophy.html

Gathering statistics and getting the views of the top docs, as they relate to the subtle effects of spine disease, at the May 1 NYC conference could be valuable for patients and docs alike!

[Fortitudine]

Interesting article, Biff. My first reaction is "OMG i better get it fixed!"

I guess I know now why they drag a feather over various parts of the body - the good thing is I could feel it everywhere.

[biffnoble]

Hi ans:

You'd better watch the weight lifting!

Fortitudine: remember if it ain't broke don't fix it. Do the actuarials. How much of the end of one's life does one want to spend in an anatomically "corrected" state while being consumed on a daily basis by say; pain? Of course there is the equally pleasant corollary of not feeling pain while using ones walker/wheelchair.

[andromeda1111]

Emotionally - I lost my identity, did not know who I was, past photos of myself were unrecognizable, a definite broken spirit.

I wanted out of my body.

I had not much of a social life.

Mentally I felt my spine injury made me psychotic.

I still worked out which was my rebellion against my disability.

Since ADR, I have gone through an evolution so to speak, feel like I am in a dream...very surreal, unbelievable that I can literally fly out of bed and get up w/out being tormented in movement.

Laura

[biffnoble]

Wow, an inspirational response!

Sounds like a Tolkien movie.

Thanks!

Seeing your physic it's easy to imagine YOU flying. Of course there's a wee bit of your outside, inside many of us, so we can relate a little to your "flying".

[Melanie]

For me, habits developed because of years of disability were well entrenched before ADR surgery. The surgery was very successful. However,the habits that I had developed were totally automatic - watch the ground while walking, don't move too quickly, don't drive for more than a certain time period, don't climb stairs, etc. The things that ran through my mind pre ADR, were still running through my mind after surgery - but no longer served a purpose. I didn't want to be trapped by my own thoughts. Only after quite a few mishaps that didn't result in flare ups or days or weeks of added problems, did I start to live more like a normal person.
The physical symptoms left immediately after surgery, the emotional, social, psychological took longer. Every day fells like a gift.
Melanie

[biffnoble]

An inspiring response.

[biffnoble]

It's really amazing that in the 21st Century there are no clear data on the subtle psychological effects of spine disease.

In my case the affect/function curve is: start very low upon waking and gradual improvement through the day. There is no consistency day to day. When I work on day one, I'm really low on day 2 and for several days afterward. Not gross physical indications, except for pain, subtle psycho-emotional stuff, bad sleep, affect, etc..

I've been able to find nothing about the bio-physical basis for any of this. Foot numbness, stumbling gait, limb weakness, yes. But subtle, yet debilitating "behavioral" effects, no.

Very frustrating, but the thread responses have shown how sensitive on a multiplicity of levels, psychic and physical the human body is. If the medical community would start treating patients like complex individuals instead of like machines we'd be much better off. The machine paradigm is unsustainable, although it may be the inevitable future of health care.

More insights please!

[ans]

Mabye Descartes was the culprit.

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:UAsJ7ufKJxsJ:youaren...+is+an+machi ne&hl=en