Still in pain 3 months help

[cinherenow]

Hi, my daughter Tara 17yrs old had spinal fusion and thoracoplasty on Jan 12,2005 ( 8 vert fusesd and 3 lower ribs removed). Two weeks latter her incision was oozing brown stuff. Back to surgery they opened her up cleaned out the incision and all her hardware. The infection was a gamma strep that cultural grew Enterococcus Faecalis. That got into the bone because of the hardware being infected.She is on a 12 week course of antibotics which has made everything worse. Her pain has never improved and we are seeing a pain specalist.
She is on so many meds and feels lifeless, has anyone got any suggestion are pain meds that have helped?

[Carmell]

I don't have any suggestions (thankfully I don't have experience with this infection stuff). I just wanted to send my best wishes your way. I can only imagine how frustrated you and your daughter must be. It really hasn't been very long since the original surgery, so expecting to feel much better by now, given the complications, may be unrealistic. Hang in there! I hope the pain management people will help her. Keep us posted.

[LindaRacine]

Hi cinherenow...

I'm sorry to hear that your daughter's surgery has been such a disaster. Is Tara seeing an infectious disease doctor?

Regards,
Linda

[susannajon]

cinherenow,

My heart goes out to you! You are living my worst nightmare right now. It sounds to me like you're doing all the right things, seeing a pain management specialist. I would just make sure they are aware that your daughter is still experiencing a great deal of pain. If they haven't already done so, perhaps they can give her pain patches (duragesic or the like) that give her a continuous dose of meds. That way she can catch up on her sleep, which she so needs to help the healing process. Also, perhaps a TENS unit would help? What hospital are you going to, and who was your surgeon?

Hugs to you and your daughter,

[cinherenow]

I don't have any suggestions (thankfully I don't have experience with this infection stuff). I just wanted to send my best wishes your way. I can only imagine how frustrated you and your daughter must be. It really hasn't been very long since the original surgery, so expecting to feel much better by now, given the complications, may be unrealistic. Hang in there! I hope the pain management people will help her. Keep us posted.

I am new to this forums and not sure on how everything wroks. Thanks for your thoughts , so times I wonder if I am being unrealstic, but it is so hard to watch your child suffer. Her body has been so weaken by all the side effects of the drugs. She does have a few good days and then a lot of bad oness. Was not prepare for this at all. I just remarrired in Nov. and her surgery was in Jan. and she takes most of my time and energy.

[cinherenow]

Hi cinherenow...

I'm sorry to hear that your daughter's surgery has been such a disaster. Is Tara seeing an infectious disease doctor?

Regards,
Linda
Yes she is. Since they open her up on Jan 30th they brought one in. He treated the infection very aggresive. She started with Gentamicin 90 mg every 8hrs and Ampicillin 3gms every 6 by IV for the infection. Then after 6 weeks Cipro and amoxiocillin. Took her off of the cipro because it was becoming to toxic in her body and now we have 8 more days of the amoxicillin. Her blood work is finally starting to come back into noral range. Thank god. She has had bad side effects with all medicinces.

[cinherenow]

cinherenow,

My heart goes out to you! You are living my worst nightmare right now. It sounds to me like you're doing all the right things, seeing a pain management specialist. I would just make sure they are aware that your daughter is still experiencing a great deal of pain. If they haven't already done so, perhaps they can give her pain patches (duragesic or the like) that give her a continuous dose of meds. That way she can catch up on her sleep, which she so needs to help the healing process. Also, perhaps a TENS unit would help? What hospital are you going to, and who was your surgeon?

Hugs to you and your daughter,
Thanks for your hugs, what is a TENS unit? We have tried the duagesic patch it made her sick. She has so many side effects from all the medicine she is on. This week they have put her on 5mg methadone every 6 hours, she also takes 40mg of elavil and 900 mg of neurontin, plus she is still on amocillion 1000mg every 6 hours. Its tearing her stomach up and she is so dizzy. She does get up and we go somewhere everyday cause she cant just lay in bed. The surgery was done at ALL childrens hosp. in St Petersburg, fl. Her x rays look good and the infection is cleared we only have 8 days left of antibotics, her blood work is finally coming into normal range. We have 6 doctors involed and trying to get them all on the same page and balancing the med reguries a lot of patience and manyphone calls.

[LindaRacine]

Hi Cin...

If she's not already taking it, you might want to check out acidopholus:

http://aolsvc.health.webmd.aol.com/drugs/drug-9686-Acidopholus+Oral.aspx?drugid=9686&drugname=Acidopholus+Oral

I had to take IV and oral antibiotics a few years ago. They totally messed up my stomach until I started acidopholus.

Regards,
Linda

[susannajon]

Hi Cin,

Here's a little info on the TENS unit. A Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulator, or TENS, unit is designed to relieve post-operative, acute and chronic pain. It is used for pain caused by peripheral nerves and not central. TENS units are prescription-only devices. TENS units work in a couple of ways. The first way they are thought to work is by a method called the Gate Theory. The Gate Theory states that our brains can only handle one stimulus at a time. When you have chronic pain, this pain signal is constantly being sent to our brains and recognized as pain. When an electrical stimulus is added to the area of pain, this electrical stimulus is felt by the body and since the brain can only handle one thing at a time, the pain is not transmitted to the brain. The second method thought to be part of TENS units success is by way of stimulating our own bodies to release its own natural pain killers. TENS units do not work for everyone and results may vary. Anyway, especially with the side effects she's experiencing, maybe this is a drug-free treatment that could help her.

I agree 100% with Linda about the acidopholus. It is a wonderful, natural, and very effective way to help you intestines return to a normal balance after being treated with heavy duty antibiotics.

Again, good luck to you, and I hope her blood work continues to look good, and she gets some relief from her pain.

Susanna