Hello, I am new to this forum. I hope to
be able to discuss my situation here and
get new ideas on possible solutions. Or,
at least to better understand what,
exactly, is the source of the pain I am
experiencing. Please allow me to explain
my initial injury and the pain I am still
experiencing as a result.
My nerve damage comes from an injury from
over 20 years ago. I was shot with a 30/30
rifle. Long story short...don't turn
around in a driveway in the country when
you get lost, especially if the owners of
the house are doing drugs.
Anyway, the bullet went through the
shoulder and took out a large chunk of
collar bone and severed many nerves. I
lived in GA at the time but ended up being
sent to Duke University in NC where they
took nerves from my leg and grafted the
arm nerves back together. Oddly enough, I
now live in NC about 45 mins from Duke.
The surgery went great but Doc was unable
to find one nerve ending so he tied the
end he had into another nerve and told me
the end he could not find would just die
and eventually my body would absorb it.
Interesting, when you touch my upper arm,
I feel it in my hand. I am incredibly
blessed to have as much use of my arm as I
do and to have the unbearable pain I was
in minimized so much.
However, there is still pain. I cannot sit
or sleep without propping my arm up on a
pillow or something or it starts hurting
immediately. I have noticed when I do alot
of walking where my arm is by my side, it
hurts every time. It hurts mostly on the
back of the arm between the elbow and the
shoulder but it will sometimes move
further down and the whole arm hurts. The
weather works on it too. I know
osteoarthritis has set in already but I
think the really unbearable pain is still
coming from the nerve damage. Sometimes,
it just starts hurting for no obvious
reason.
It's getting worse and I just need to find
out if anything could be done at all. I
feel kindof selfish or maybe ungrateful to
even complain considering the shape my arm
could be in had the surgery not helped so
much. But, pain is pain. I have 4 young
kids who need a Mom who is not hurting all
the time. My regular Doc does have me on a
combination of non-narcotic meds to try
and keep the pain down. But, they are no
longer doing enough for me. It's mainly an
insaid type drug approach he is taking.
I wonder if anyone else here has had any
similar experience. Perhaps in the 23
years since this happened to me and I had
surgery, new developments have been made
which could help me. A friend suggested I
go to a chiropractor because hers helped
her with nerve damage pain in her back. I
suppose I could try it. I have never
considered it because I don't want anyone
touching the wound site because the
missing bone section and the metal
schrapnel still in there makes it very
painful to the touch. The words "shoulder
massage" do not relax me at all, rather,
they strike terror in my heart.
I'd like to understand why the position I
have my arm in is key to triggering some
of the pain also. I really want to
understand the specifics of just what is
causing this pain. I appreciate any
information you can share with me.
