Patient Letter #8

Thank you for helping me get my life back together. I came to your center on the 8th day of September in so much pain and not even aware of my painful condition. I was an out patient at the Center for four (4) weeks. In those four weeks I learned to take control of my painful situation. I learned to fight this painful thing that had struck my body, I feel before time. I learned this at your facility. Although, I did not leave pain free, I left being no longer a victim but a victor.

Being in pain everyday sometimes chronic sometimes tolerable is no easy feeling. I will tell anyone when pain creeps into our lives at the first instance take control. Your excellent outpatient therapy department and your divine physical therapy staff, they stretched me and made me into a human pretzel. I could barely move my right arm, I'm a right handed person.

Here is my story:

My accident happen on the 4th day of September 1996. For more than a year I was in constant pain, taking pill after pill and gotten none the better. I begin to think the pain was all in my mind. I spent weeks at the National Parkinson Foundation trying desperately to overcome this pain that had taken control of my body. Pighting so hard and trying just about everything short of suicide to deal whit an unfortunate situation. A Projection Screen mounted to the ceiling, in its steel casing, dismantle itself and I just happen to be in its pathway. I figure the gravitational pull had to be at least 8 miles per hour before it came to a crashing jolt over the upper right side of neck, upper right forearm and by trying to duck and get out of the way, the other end came loose and struck me down the right side of my back, after loosing vision for a few seconds. I had this frightening thought of blindness. For over a year, my back was swollen, I couldn't put my arm behind my back. I started buying make-up gadgets for my short coming.

Dr. Rosomoff, your staff help give me back 85% of my life. I am doing things again that I had given up on not ever being able to do again. I walk 2 to 3 miles per day. When there is a flare-up I have the tools to use to keep them under control that they don't take control of me. I start every day with a stretch exercise.

For over a year, I was unable to sleep due to pain, muscle spasms and the feel of worms crawling underneath my skin. Thanks to the Pain Center I am no longer a victim but a victor....

I highly recommend the Pain Center to any and everyone. You will get out of it what you put into it. At the University of Miami Comprehensive Pain and Rehab Center, there are no quitters here. There are no winners or losers. We all achieve VICTORY is some shape or fashion, Be it with a diet (1500 or 2000 calorie diet) or peace within yourself, especially in your mind. I always will keep the faith that I put in the Pain Center's doctors and staff, because with out their expertise, I could not have come as far as I did. I could not have been a victor. Each Therapist stayed focus and kept me on the right track to recovery. The Psychologist I had, Dr. Debbie Turner was always inspirational and encouraging. How I enjoyed those moments with her. We talked about any and everything that mattered and something's that was needful to be said.

In the past year, I dealt with a lot of depression with loosing both my parents, In November of 96, my mother underwent surgery for ovarian cancer and recovered from that. later in December, my father passed away of a massive heart attack. Later on, I encountered another serious attack with myafascial syndrome and fibromyalgia and I had an MRI done which showed a bulging disc in my neck and severally damaged internal muscles, which was the cause of the swelling in my back. Shortly after that, my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer, who never smoked a day in her life and passed away 3 months later in May of 97. I was really going through serious stuff. I was loosing my own battle with pain. Sometimes I thought so strongly of driving myself off the cliff of I-95. The pain was so unbearable, I was always in tears, stressed out, silent on my job, lost all interests in my friends and mostly just shut myself away from all that I thought didn't matter to me. I functioned off instinct. I had no control of this pain. I reached the point that medication was my closet friend.

Then one day, out of desperation, and a final attempt at some kind of relief, any kind. I sent a memo to the University of Miami Risk Management, since my injury was work related. Mr. Coombs responded and this is how I got to the Pain Center. Like so many others, THIS WAS MY LAST CHANCE. This was it. I was to either make it or shake it. I chose to make it. To give it my best shot, look I was already in pain. My pain was intensified that I woke up with 10+ pain. But once I got in the groove of things and realized that the worst pain I would feel would be a 10. And I refuse to let it go any higher. I said, hey I can fight this thing that has taken control of my body, my life and my family. If I couldn't have it all 100%, l'd have so close to it.

I still have the screwdriver feeling in my back, the tenseness in my neck and shoulder, and should I not take my medication, I feel the worms crawling underneath my skin again and I don't like that feeling and I like being in control of this situation. I have my ice packs with me, one on the job and one at home. I try to stay on guard and fight and not flight.

Dr. Rosomoff and Mrs. Rosomoff, this has been the greatest four (4) weeks of this most painful year that I wish I could forget, maybe someday I will, until then I remain 4.5..

Thank you again for all your wonderful staff, Ms. Kathy, Occupational Therapist and her excellent staff (co-workers) and Dr. Arlene Cummings and her excellent Physical Therapist staff. You all did an excellent job and may God bless each and everyone you. Also Dr. Fishbain who prescribed the perfect medication for my sleep and Dr. Suarez who cleared me for this intensive program and Dr. Podriski who examined me to see if this was the right place for me and to assure me that I could be treated and helped here. He was right. I needed it.

I hope to see you all soon and maybe we can all do the "electric slide".

Take care, and I wonder what new instrument you will bring back on your next venture I know, we the people in America could use it.

Thank you forever