Česky
Six children and illness
Vlasta Pokorná practically did not stop her whole life. "I have six children, the last were twins. The middle three were born a year apart. Every day I walked three kilometers to and from the bus, shopping in a stroller. And my back was taking a beating. Pregnancy definitely took its toll on the bone decalcification. And there was no preventive care for expectant mothers back then," recalls the woman who has been on the move all her life. "My first husband got cancer. I took care of him the whole time, for seven years, until he died. That last year was the most challenging, mentally and physically," says Vlasta. She and her husband visited several doctors every day. Lymphatic massages relieved him, so she learned them and massaged him. But with an hour and a half of physically strenuous treatments, her back suffered. "I don't regret a minute of caring for my husband or my children. They are great, as are the grandchildren. And my husband was an absolutely wonderful person," she says.
Lots of time on drips
The pain was so excruciating that it took Vlasta out of her normal life. She couldn't go to work, which she enjoyed, because she was sometimes on sick leave for nine months out of the year. "Sometimes I couldn't straighten up, bend over, turn around. I couldn't stand, walk... Slowly it got worse, three times a year I was in and out of infusions, but still I was lively. An MRI of my spine scared the doctors. Anyway, they were all very nice and tried their best to help me," says Mrs Pokorná. After all these years, relief finally came at Hořovice Hospital, the Pain Treatment Centre.
Pain on the wane
One small needle stuck between her lumbar spine and tailbone, two weak opiates a day, and Mrs Pokorná can even bend over on her own. This was previously unthinkable for her. "I get a shot, lie down for a while and then relief comes. I can stand, I walk on crutches, but the pain no longer ruins my life," says the patient. And the treatment is outpatient, she doesn't have to spend days in hospital for it. Experts say that sometimes you can't treat just the cause of the pain, but the pain itself, so don't be afraid to go for advice even if you've been in pain for a long time.
"After examining my spine, the doctors got scared." How does it work?
The origin of the patient's pain is the oppression of the nerves coming from the spine, most often it is an intervertebral disc, which is called a protrusion into the spinal canal and comes into contact with the nerve structures. A special technique (opichem) is then used to inject a mixture of a local pain relieving drug and an anti-inflammatory drug into the vicinity of the spinal canal. The effect of this mixture is to suppress the inflammation and thus cause relaxation, which is usually accompanied by a reduction in pain.
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Mini interview
MUDr. Michal Průša, Director of Hořovice Hospital
* What was bothering the patient when she contacted you?
Mrs. Vlasta came to our outpatient clinic with persistent back pain with shooting in both lower limbs.
* How did you help her?
We started a comprehensive pain treatment consisting of strong painkillers and medicated sprays. The effectiveness of the sprays was very good, so we were able to reduce the amount of medication quickly. The pain has been controlled for a long time.
* So, is it possible to get rid of long-term pain?
The treatment of long term chronic pain is usually a complex process, where a combination of different treatments is preferably used. The pain specialist usually coordinates this care and, as pain is often a complex problem that interferes with the patient's life through various physical and psychological limitations and complicating conditions, it cannot be done without the cooperation of various specialists, such as rehabilitation specialists, neurologists, psychologists, psychiatrists and other specialists, for example from the surgical field. We need to make use of all the resources mentioned and also to make our patients as comfortable as possible and, above all, to improve their quality of life.
©TISK , Date: 25.11.2019 , Source.
