Archives for 2006

Sounds like a chinese board game doesn’t it, but for those in the know it’s actually an aspect of Chinese medicine dating back over 3,300 years. I was introduced to QiGong just recently by Kerry who had been introduced to Dr. David Smith. David is the first American Medical Qigong Doctor on record in China to be recognized for using External Qigong for the purpose of pain relief and healing, you can check out his website for his background – pretty impressive and a really interesting guy to meet.

I’m a big believer in fate; things generally happen for a reason. The fact that Kerry was introduced to David recently through her work, that he lives in Walnut Creek just up the road from us, and happens to be a QiDong Doctor with 20+ years of experience who has successfully helped many amputees with phantom pain…well you get the point and so this is my first experiment in easing my phantom pain.

A couple of you sent me some great info in response to my last post, many thanks. The article by The Welcome Trust on phantom limb pain was interesting and spoke to use of mirror therapy and other techniques to try to shift the emphasis in phantom limb pain away from the site of damage – the stump – to the centre of pain processing: the brain. Another article, emailed to me by a friend, from
the Economist (requires subscription I’m afraid) talked about retracted phantoms. Patients with extended phantoms showed activity in the hand area of
a part of the brain called the motor cortex. This response is identical to that shown by un-amputated volunteers asked to do the same thing. Those with halfway
retracted and completely retracted phantoms had different responses. They showed activity in the elbow and shoulder
areas of the motor cortex respectively. In other words, a greater degree of retraction involves a greater re-wiring of the brain. And the greater the retraction, the worse the pain.

As I read this I started to realize that the sensations in my hand were in deed retracted, almost as if my hand was attached directly to my stump (sans wrist). Also, I realized that my hand felt as if  it was tightly clenched in a fist, as it was at the time of the accident (I had to prise my fingers open to get the brake handle of my glider out of it).

All this speaks to what David told me when we first met, that the memory of my injury was stored in two places; the cells of my arm and the cells of my brain. He explained that his focus would be on the cellular memory of my brain, as this was the cause of my pain.

I first met David last week during Kerry’s session with him, he had invited me to come along for the experience and I decided to go back – today was my first session with him. I like to keep an open mind, mixed perhaps with a healthy dose of skepticism and it was with this attitude that I met David. He quite happily told me that it wasn’t necessary that I believe in what he would be doing for it to work, it would work regardless. He didn’t need me to go into a trance, or meditate and he wouldn’t be dancing around me waving his hands or hitting me on the head and telling me I was cured…did I mention he’s got quite a sense of humour.

Our first session was quite incredible to be honest, hard to explain the sensations I experienced but it was both a physical and emotional release. For the first time I started to feel my hand release a little and it felt like I could wiggle my finger tips…a promising start. I’ll be going back once a week for continued treatment and we’ll see where it ends up.

Phantom pain is something that many amputees experience, and I’m no exception to the rule. For me there is a constant ache or throbbing in my arm that varies in intensity through the day. At it’s worst it feels like there is pressure squeezing my arm and I feel as if my hand is clenched tightly in a fist and I can’t open it. Every now and then I’ll feel a sharp, stabbing pain that lasts from less than a second to maybe three or four.

I’ve been taking 40mg of Nortryptline for the last couple of months, it was prescribed to help reduce the nerve pain and does a reasonable job, although I’m now trying to reduce the dosage since I’d rather not be taking any medication if I can help it.

It’s interesting that my arm feels most uncomfortable when I’m in a car, as a passenger or driving, and likewise at night when I go to bed. My best guess is that in both cases the rest of the body is pretty much resting and the pain in my arm then comes to forefront.

From reading around it seems people aren’t quite sure what the cause of phantom pain is or even how best to treat it. There are plenty of suggestions, but it seems it’s really down to finding something that works for the individual. I’m fortunate enough that the pain isn’t debilitating and I can get on with every day life and just put up with the annoyance coming from my arm, a bit like living with tooth ache. If it was my leg I can imagine it making it hard to use a prosthetic.

So my hunt is on for something that will help eliminate the phantom pain, I’ve been recommended self hypnosis…apparently it worked very well for one amputee. I’ll keep you posted as I try things out.

Last week I visited Hanger  Hanger Orthopedic again, it took a while to sort out the insurance paper work with Kaiser but it’s all systems go again.

My first visit on Wednesday was to take a molding of my arm from which they’d be able to make a test socket. A socket is the part of the prosthetic that fits onto my arm to which the hand, or other such device, is attached.

The first step was to get a gel sleeve onto my arm. This is a bit like a neoprene sleeve (except it’s silicone) that you roll onto your arm; you should be able to see it in the picture. Richard, the guy from Hanger, then used a laser to scan my arm and create a 3D image on his computer. It was pretty cool to see the image building up as he moved the laser over my arm, but, unfortunately due to software issues he couldn’t save the scan…we’ll have to play with that again another day.

The scan would have been a useful record of my arm and whilst it’s possible to make a socket from it, Richard prefers to still take a molding himself using fiberglass bandages. He first covered my arm in cellophane and then a cloth sock, he wetted the bandages and wrapped my arm, molding it carefully to fit its shape. After a couple of minutes it was dry and the cloth sock was pulled off along with the mold. From this Richard would be able to make a clear plastic, test socket.

I was back at Hanger on the Friday (they work quick) to see how the test socket fitted. Unfortunately despite several adjustments the socket was just a little bit too small. It was interesting however to see how the socket worked, using a vacuum to stay on my arm.

So it was back to square one, Richard took another molding of my arm (he had to break the previous one when he made the casting). My arm is a little bulbous in the middle, which makes it tricky to make a socket that can go on, but still be tight and fully make contact with the arm. We’ll see if he has better luck next time.

Well I can report that both Kerry and I survived our 10 day cleanse of no meat, dairy products and alcohol – sorry Rene, looks like you lost the bet! Not only that but I can also report that I have continued and plan to continue on with the vegetarian diet.

To be honest the hardest part of the program was cutting out dairy products. We used soy milk, which I quite like, and isn’t too bad in tea, and we got a soy substitute for margarine…but there are just so many things that contain milk, cream or cheese that it makes it quite tricky when eating out. We weren’t sure about eggs, since they aren’t dairy products, but guessed we should eliminate them as well. I take my hat of to vegans, it’s a committed lifestyle choice. It was interesting when we went out for lunch or dinner to find how limited the choices are in most restaurants, although living in the Bay Area we are fortunate enough to have specialized restaurants that cater to all diets.

So, moving forward I’m committed to staying vegetarian, I’ll probably eat fish occasionally and reduce my intake of dairy products, keeping with the soy milk, and reduce my intake of vinegar, processed sugar and such like. The funny thing is Kerry is quite happy to continue eating meat, chicken at least, how’s that for a 180 degree about turn. Oh, and there’s one thing we won’t be eliminating and that’s alcohol, we just like our wine way too much for that.

I certainly haven’t felt any ill effects and generally feel in excellent health. I lost 7lbs and an inch or so from my waist. Now Kerry and I will start our new ex cerise regime so we can both continue on getting back into shape.