Sorry I took so long to introduce myself.  Things are very hectic where we live because we have to move on Saturday April 15.  My name is Dr Patty V (psydchick) and I am very new to msn.  I have my on page on msn, but am not familiar how to add friends to it.  I also started a group also.  I am from yahoo actually where I spent a lot of time in the chat rooms.  Recently, the chat rooms have become inundated with people wanting to boot, be rude, belittle, etc so I wanted to find other ways to give support and vice versa.  I started on the 360 page on yahoo, then one on myspace.com.  I also started similar groups on there.  I thought that because msn is moderated (in the chat rooms) that things might be better.  So, I am here to try it out.  I would love to provide you with my story.  If you get bored, you know you can hit the delete button (lol).  I would love to learn about some of you as well.  Please feel free to email me.  Thank you so much for welcoming me into your group!!

 

As you can see, my name is Dr Patty V (psydchick). I am 43 years old. I am married to a wonderful man that i have known since 1994. We have been married for almost 6 years (July 30, 2000). I was born in Freeport, NY and i lived on Long Island, NY for the first 11 years of my life (no, i don't have my accent still. I graduated high school in 1980 (Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, CA). Upom graduation, i went to college at UCSD. I went there for 1 year. Due to financial difficulties of my family at the time, i did not return to UCSD for a second year. I worked full-time and went to Jr College (LA Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA). I saved money, applied for financial aid and then started UCLA in 1983. I worked really hard to help my mom pay for school. I got 3 jobs at the beginning of my schooling at UCLA. I worked in a law office as a clerk, worked at a preschool as an assistant teacher and also worked in my dorm at UCLA food service. On may 15, 1983 while i was working in food service, i was helping another worker with the dishes (we worked on converyor belt at the time). This other person was getting behind so i gave him some help of moving a tray of silverware to another location. Unfortunately, they never taught proper body mechanics in those days. I felt a pull in my back. I continued with my shift and after i went to my dorm room to lay down. When i awoke i had severe pain in my back and could barely move. I was told by my roommate (who also worked in food service) to go to the hospital. I felt uncomfortable about making a fuss. I thank the Lord i did. I went to the E.R. that night and i was told i had to stay at bedrest for 2 weeks. I was given some pain medication that made me feel so ill. The first shot of narcotics in my life (Demerol). I told the nurse i was going to be sick. She didn't believe me..lol, so i vomited all over the place. Anyway, i was sent home to rest and employee health got ahold of me and sent me to an orthopedic surgeon 2 weeks after my injury. I had been given meds, went to a chiropractor (which made it hurt more), physical therapy, and then eventually an oil based mylogram. It turned out that what they thought i did (sprain), it was a disk herniation at L5-S1. Since then, i went through my first surgery in August, 1983. It was experimental and they no longer do it in the united states anymore. It was called chymopapain. I felt good for 2 years and then i started having horrible pain again. Then after more tests, going into pain management hospital, attempting to tough it out (also moved to Orange, CA to continue school), i had another surgery in 1986. It was a fusion from L5-S1. In 1987 i had a third surgery which was another fusion from L4-S1 (i had trouble fusing from the first one). After each of these surgeries i had to be at bedrest for 6 months. After the first fusion, i had very little pain for 6 months and only had to take aspirin for the pain. After the second fusion i did not get much relief. I was in a body cast for about 6 more months. I remember graduating from Chapman University with a cast under my cap and gown (cute pic huh? lol). After graduation from my bachelor's degree, i decided to apply for a master's in psychology. I wanted so bad to help others who were suffering from pain like i was. I remembered back several years when i was in pain management talking to the psychologist. She had been trying to tell me how to live my life in pain. I asked her "do you have pain" and she said "no". I said then "how can you tell me how to live my life in pain?" From that time on i realized that nobody could ever tell me that if i was a pain therapist. In 1989, i met an orthopedist who thought he would be able to help me. I was told that i had to lose weight (100 pounds) before he would attempt to do surgery. I had tried everything over the years. In 1989 i had a gastric stapling and a gastric intestinal bypass. I lost a lot of weight, to the point where i was vitamin deficient, and couldn't keep any food down. I also had dumping syndrome several times a day (this is where you have a really bad case of the runs). I lost over 100 pounds in 1 year and i had another back surgery in 1990. This was an anterior and posterior fusion (L3-S1). Here, hardware was placed. I had screws and isola rods. Again, i had trouble fusing. After this surgery, i didn't seem to do much better. Yet i continued to do things in my life. In 1994, after losing so much weight and being in so much pain, i had to go to the hospital because i was quite ill. It was recommended that i go through detox because the docs believed in those days that anyone who had to take narcotics every day was an addict (which is so far from the truth). In February, 1994 i entered the detox unit and live there for 1 month. I was horrible because i was cut off cold turkey. I couldn't sleep, eat, and lord i was in so much pain. The only drug i was given for pain was an anti inflammatory. It was called Dolobid. After leaving the hospital, i attempted to go home and deal with this horrible pain without medications. I felt so alone and frustrated because i was in severe pain and i was brainwashed to belive if i took any more narcotics i would explode. After leaving the detox program i decided i wanted to help others. I went back to the hospital to ask some questions and was asked to volunteer. I thought that it would be a great idea. I wanted to try to get my sitting tolerance up so that i could go back to school. I went to physical therapy in the early am's and went to volunteer in the detox unit right after exercising. I was doing great. Then, one day i got up and felt like i had the flu. I was dizzy, not hungry, just feeling horrid. Within a few days i went to my doc for a checkup and found out the i didn't have the flu and that i should not have been able to get up let alone drive. I had some sort of bleed and my hemoglobin went down to a 3. I was immediately put in the hospital for a transfusion and then went back home for the weekend. I returned back to my volunteer work on Monday and started to feel odd again. I decided it was too soon to come back to work, so I decided to go home. I went to say goodbye to one of the nurses and she wouldn't let me leave. Apparently, i was showing symptoms of bleeding inside. I was sent over to the emergency room and went in to shock pretty soon after getting there. It turns out that the Dolobid i was taking ate a hole through my little stomach pouch and i was bleeding to death. I was told that i would have to reverse the gastric stapling and bypass if i needed to stay on anti inflammatories. This was done soon after going in the hospital. I remember this guy visiting me in the hospital. He was chaiman of the volunteer organization that i was volunteering in. One night he bought this big stuffed bear in to me. He was very nice. When i was recovering with my family he used to call and check on me. We had so much in common, but he was 22 years older than I was. We eventually got really close over the years (Now he is my husband). Anyway, after the surgery i decided to go back to school. I went to a private school to finish my master of arts in psychology. In late 1994, i was on a trip with my friend in stateline nevada and my pain started up really bad again. It turned out that i needed another surgery on my back from L5-S1. I had had some broken titanium screws and i had problems fusing again. I had the surgery and attempted to go back to my life. I graduated with my master of arts degree in clinical psychology in 1996 and was scholarshipped for my doctorate, in which i graduated 1 year after my master's because i had a lot of transfer credits. I became a Doctor of Psychology in 1997. I specialized in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of chemical dependency (thought i may need that knowledge while dealing with pain patients) and pain management. While While i was working as a therapist, i learned that not everything is like what is in the books. In late 1997 i began having pain in my shoulder. I went through many many tests but the docs couldn't figure it out. Finally, during that time, i developed a problem with my left pinkie. It was a bone infection called osteomyelitis. I was in the hospital for a short time and was given high dose antibiotics. About 6 months after, i woke up one morning and could not get out of bed. I screamed for my boyfriend who was living with me at the time. I was taken to the hospital and was told that the infection from my shoulder and pinkie spread to my spine. I had gone through several biopsies and tests just to try to get rid of this infection. I was eventually told by my spinal specialist that there was nothing that could be done. What usually happens is that an individual gets the infection, clears if up with antibiotics and then they have surgery. For me, nothing else could be done. I was told that it was too dangerous to attempt to clean the infection out of my spine and the chances of me surviviing were not good. I was also told that i would fuse in a nonphysiological angle. I never listened to the docs because i felt only God knew what was going to happen. Unfortunately, the doc was right. I am now fused at a 90 degree angle, whereby my chin and brow line are parallel to the floor when i try to stand. I am unable to lay flat on my back or on my left side. I am also unable to sit for more than 10-15 minutes without causing my pain to go wild. I was told the only way to deal with the pain is by medications. I have gone to several pain docs. It turns out that my stomach surgery came up to bite me again. I now have a serious malabsorption problem so that my meds (antibiotics, pain meds) have to be administerd through other means such as intravenous. Since 1997, i married in July 2000. I am now bedbound. I figured out how to adapt to using a computer almost 2 years ago. Since i am unable to sit up straight when using the computer, i balance myself on my right elbow, have pillows between my knees, under my elbow, in back of me and i have a keyboard on my lap to type. I has a laptop, but it finally died. I am attempting to use a desktop because it is not possible to get another laptop right now. I am adjusting toward using a regular mouse. Since 1994 i have had multiple diagnoses or other medical problems that have resulted because of my posture. I was diagnosed with FMS, CFS, Epstein Barr, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Bursitis, Atalectasis (where my right lung doesn't expand well), vitamin deficient, lost weight on my own (over 100+ pounds) because after the reversal of the stapling and bypass i gained the weight and some. I now work in my bed as a pain patient advocate and help others suffering from severe pain. I am very happily married to a wonderful man who takes care of me because he says "it is a labor of love!" I am unable to cook, walk, etc. He brings me meals, cleans me up because it is too difficult to go in the shower, goes to the store, pharmacy, drives me to the docs when needed, and the list goes on. SOME OF YOU HAVE ASKED WHAT OUR SECRET IS TO STAYING SO HAPPILY MARRIED. WELL, IF SOMEONE CARED ABOUT YOU AS MY HUSBAND DOES FOR ME THAT IS ENOUGH. He also suffers from chronic pain and is disabled. So, this is my story, actually the short one. I hope this helps anyone get an idea of who i am and what i do...I will go out of my way to help another person in pain...because i never want anyone to have the feelings that i did and want to take their lives because they feel nobody understands!!!!! God is now bringing us together. Things are done in God's timing not ours!!!