Pain Management
Video on Comprehensive Pain Program at the University of Vermont Medical Center featuring John R. Killacky.
Twenty-eight years ago, I had spinal cord surgery to remove a tumor at C2 that left me with Brown Séquard syndrome. My right side has no sense of touch or temperature. My left lost proprioception. I have no kinesthetic connection to the ground.
After six weeks in the hospital, I was sent home in a wheelchair. Physical therapy, swimming, water running, and yoga incrementally expanded motor skills, coordination, balance, and strength. Initially quadriplegic, I regained some function and within months used a cane or walker with the chair as backup.
One unpleasant aftereffect: neuropathy is unrelenting on my right side. My foot feels swollen and on fire. Electric shocks punctuate every step. Excruciating throbbing pulses through my hip.
Trying to lessen the distress, I ricocheted to body workers, chiropractors, acupuncturists, and herbalists. Everything was scattershot, with little or no medical advice. Insurance sometimes covered limited treatments, most times not.
Pharmaceuticals tempered spasticity and misery but distanced me from family and friends. Falls, accidents, and setbacks were emotionally fraught. Chasing relief seemed futile.
Ambulation became even more complicated three years ago when I slipped in a restaurant and fractured my right fibula, adding intense burning on top of persistent neuropathic torment. On a scale of 1 to 10: 15.
Blessedly, I participated in the Comprehensive Pain Program at University of Vermont Medical Center’s innovative 16-week program for those grappling with debilitating chronic pain. A wondrous paradigm of care and well-being.
Group meetings as well as individualized hands-on sessions provided practical tools. Nutritional, medical, physical, and occupational therapy, and health coaching consults were tailor-made for each of us, dealing with different afflictions. Yoga and meditation, even cooking, augmented the curriculum. Partners had a support group as they, too, were impacted.
No one turned on a stopwatch as they came into the room, and therapists listened intently. All came informed as to what was happening with the other modalities in this marvelous team-based approach. As the weeks proceeded, I felt I was being carried by the entire crew.
Each participant articulated values and defined action steps to realize them. Resiliency strategies were discussed for all aspects of our biopsychosocial selves instead of focusing solely on recovery from injury.
Most powerful were the acupuncture, craniosacral therapy, and Reiki sessions. For 28 years, I obsessed on the neuropathy in my right hip and foot, amplified with the fractured fibula three years ago.
In this program, I realized I had ignored the left side of my body. How thrilling it was to work with these gifted practitioners to recircuit my dormant limbs. As energy vibrated through, I was heartened.
While initial intentions were focused on lessening the agony, I now target a more balanced holistic body. This is transformational, providing enormous physical, psychological, and emotional healing.
I am extremely grateful for this visionary design of integrative health care and to insurance companies understanding lives can be improved and ultimately dollars saved longer-term.
