January Blessings and Prosthetic Education

 My January goals continue. My current focus is getting ready for my prosthetic arm/hand and to increases my stamina and energy so that I can eventually successfully return to work.


Things are coming together. My twice a week muscle training is paying off and the date for life with a prosthetic has been set for February 1, 2018.  Then I begin the work of the actual learning to use the hand and arm. I have been told that I will need one month of full-time training to get the hang of it.  I am also being referred to an occupational therapist to learn how to get dressed with the prosthetic.

Here a few snapshots from my time spent at muscle training:

Myoboy Traning Tool

The Myoboy training tool  is used for measuring muscle strength and what I was first introduced to. The coloured lights measure the amount of signal that my muscle is sending.







The electrode in the picture is placed on my back and once it is in place, I get to practice flexing that unique muscle. A sensor is placed on my back and another on my pectoral muscle on my front.

Temporarily placed electrode for muscle training

Below is a picture of the computer game that I play.  The object of the game is to drive a car and jump through gates without crashing.  Next week, I will focus on driving two cars, one for each electrode that I am hooked to.

Game for muscle training

 And finally! My new prosthetic  is coming together.  The electrodes are now implanted into the shoulder and this is what I wore for training this week.

My new shoulder and arm coming together

A prosthetic is actually a combination of both art and science that I see as a blessing for me.  Oh, just to have a useful left appendage. 

One of my doctors told me on Friday that I need to start giving myself credit for everything that I have accomplished so far.  Perhaps, it was her way of telling me to remember how far I have come.  I do maintain that it is not me but my faith in God that has gotten me this far.  The journey is not over but I am hopeful.  Today, I will pause and think about what has been accomplished and thank the Lord for being with me on this journey.

Hebrews13:5 "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you."

I hope you all have a safe and blessed week.  I better go work on the increased energy part of my goals now. :) 

2018 Here I Come!

Goodbye drugs! Hello to a clearer mind and hello to my prosthetic arm.

I admit that besides chemotherapy, I do not have a lot of experience with drugs. Since, the amputation and the addition of phantom pain, it has been a different story. The main issue is that the last memories my brain has of my left arm is the pain experienced during surgery. That's correct, I was unconscious but my brain recalls exactly what happen to the point that I can actually articulate what my left arm experienced up to the actual amputation. And now without feedback to my brain that my left hand and arm are ok, my brain sends out pain signals telling me that there is a major problem with my left extremity.  The first way to control the 'phantom pain' is with drugs.

In June, I was told by my rehab doctor to 'get off the opioids, now'! And I was ok with it.  Mind you I did have withdrawal symptoms, however, with my goal being health, I persevered.  Then I was left with gabapentin which I began to drop and drop some more until I was just taking 1/5 of the prescribed dose.  I still was experiencing unfathomable fatigue and what I would call early onset dementia as I was forgetting things like my postal code and phone number. The light in this tunnel was that my referral to the chronic pain clinic came through and so I have been working with all kinds of rehab people as well as a physiotherapist on my own. It was a couple weeks before Christmas that I was switched from the gabapentin to Lyrica in hopes to help relieve my fatigue while still getting pain control.  And that is where four days before Christmas, I found myself in a mall parking lot bawling my eyes out. I had been warned that it could be mood altering (more in the sense of ... 'if you feel like murdering someone' kind of thoughts) however, I was not expecting the total wave of emotional darkness that came over me in the form of sadness with this new drug. The next day, I was sitting in church (and yes, I had been praying and asking God what I should do) when clear as a bell I knew  that I had to stop taking the drugs, if I wanted to be well, I had to stop taking the drugs.  So that is the new plan: NO drugs! Yes, there is pain but at least there is now hope that my head will be screwed on straight.  Praise, the Lord that "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13. 

2018 will be work for me.  I attend many medical appointments at the chronic pain centre, appointments for rehab/prosthetics and follow-up appointments with my cancer specialists. In January I am booked for a CT scan where they are checking for more cancer.  I have been wearing a weighted left shoulder to get used to weight on my left side again and I also start muscle training for my new left arm.  The plan is that I will have the new left arm by the end of January! And yes, I promise to keep my blog updated.

2017 I am so done with you! And I welcome 2018 with much anticipation and hope!  May God continue to protect each one of us and guide our steps. "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28. Thank you everyone for your continued prayers and kind words of support.  Blessings to you all!