In June, 1994, actually the day that O.J. Simpson went on his wild driving spree after the death of his wife, Nicole, I was involved in a serious accident. I had picked up my daughter from work and we were going home when a young girl, 15 years old driving on a permit with a 17 year old licensed driver in the pickup truck with her was speeding and ran a stop sign hitting my van in the middle of an intersection. The impact threw my van up and over the northwest corner breaking the tire away from the wheel, back across the street and up over a curb and it stopped at the front door of a house on the southwest corner.
I was dazed and in shock and kept yelling for someone to call the police. My daughter was not seriously injured was able to get out and the people who lived in the home had called the police. It was a nightmare and the officer never really talked to me until after the other driver had left and then he spoke briefly to me. The EMS was called but I didn't think my injuries were severe that I needed a ride in the ambulance and that I would have a friend of my daughter come pick us up and take me. We arranged for the van to be towed to a friend's garage.
I was checked out at the hospital and sent home even though I kept telling them I felt as if I had some broken ribs or something had happened to my left shoulder, arm and chest area. My neck was already stiffening up and I had a cut on my leg where I hit the gear shift plus a small cut on my left hand which we never really did figure out how it happened unless the impact which threw me towards the driver's door which took the hit on the post, somehow caused it.
I went home and tried to rest but the pain would not go away and the following weeks were frequent checks to the doctor's office and even the emergency room when I thought I was having a heart attack. I couldn't lift my left arm up to even comb my hair or to get dressed was so painful it brought tears. My neck continued to get worse and after countless x-rays, MRI's they did a cat scan and showed nothing. The only diagnosis was that I was badly bruised and had some pulled muscles. I suffered Whip Lash which no one considered an injury at the time, however since then, they are looking at this type of injury and its long term effects.
I was sent for therapy which only aggravated the condition and I begged my doctor to let me stop. I was fitted with a tens unit to help control the pain however I couldn't use it near the heart area so only in the rib area and shoulder and neck and even then I had to be careful where I placed it.
I was seen and examined by over a half a dozen doctors, went to the emergency room and everyone seemed to think I was exaggerating and that I wasn't hurt as bad as I seemed to think. They insisted that the therapy and tens unit would cure me and that it took time for "pulled muscles" and bruises to heal.
After several months, I was able to lift my arm again but there was still pain but I continued to use it as I didn't want it to freeze up on me. I was unable to work and lost my job. To supplement our income, as my husband was driving a floral delivery truck and making wood crafts on his off time which I would paint and finish so we could do craft shows to bring in the extra money.
I worried about him driving during the winter months and in September 1995 we had the opportunity to buy a farm in south west Arkansas. My insurance company was giving me no support and told me I should settle with hers as I really didn't have a case. So when we decided to move and leave the Joplin, Missouri area we made a settlement with her insurance company. There again, when I asked about future medical they almost laughed and then had the gall to have my husband sign the papers since his name was first on our insurance. He was not at the accident, not in the vehicle and was at work and never found out about the accident until 7 hours later when he came home and found me and I told him.
But it was done and I knew that I would have future bills. The statute has run out now and after years of explaining to doctors, I was always told the same thing or that it was something else and that it wasn't related. It didn't seem to bother them that I can only turn my head part way to the left and when I'm driving or need to look over my left shoulder, I have to turn my body to see. When I complained about the soreness and pain in my chest, I was told I had Pleurisy and possible inflammation from Bronchitis. I was treated with antibiotics and suffered through it even after the symptoms disappeared for a few days, they would return.
But since I was also experiencing allergy conditions, he checked me over and said he thought I had an allergy related asthma and prescribed an inhaler and gave me some antibiotics and meds to help me get through the initial siege. But all summer I have suffered with the allergies, runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes, coughing and of course a heaviness in my chest making it hard to breathe at times. I've worn a mask when I'm out and the pollen count is high but I still had all the problems as if I'd never wore one.
About a month ago, I began to notice some changes. The pain in the chest was worse and the coughing made it awful. It caused a sharp severe pain in the chest, muscle spasms which felt as if I had a belt tightening around my chest and then a pain down the left arm. I admit I was worried that I could be having a heart attack. It would come and go and finally I made the appointment to go see my doctor.
First of all he said it was not a heart attack and after I told him about the accident and the pain, soreness and tenderness and that sometimes it felt as if my lung might be collapsed or something, he looked at me and told me that I have a condition called Costochrondritis. It involves the cartilage connecting the rib cage to the breast bone and is an injury that never really heals. It will get better but can also become inflamed from colds, allergies, viruses or any upper respiratory infection.
He even gave me a print out of the condition, its symptoms, the causes and what treatment is available. It had taken 16 years but I found a doctor who knew and understood and now I will be undergoing treatment with anti inflammatory (non-steroidal) for the rest of my life. He said it will be the only way to control the pain and soreness and the severe pain I experience.
This has been the biggest relief to me. I know it is there and I will have pain and discomfort but I also know how to take care of it now and I can relax knowing it isn't my heart or that I am having a heart attack. Not to say that some day I could but for now, we know my heart is good and isn't the cause.
I will be undergoing Pulmonary Function tests in a week to see what we can do about the Asthma which he thinks is the main cause of my problems with congestion and breathing.
It is also nice to know that I can do my chores without having to worry if I'll be in so much pain later that I can't sleep or even sit for long periods as sometimes all I can do is walk or stand and try to stretch or do anything to make the spasms and pain go away.
Why after all the examinations and doctors I met with immediately after my accident and those I have had all these years, that they couldn't diagnose this for me and give me something, I don't know but I do know that I have been blessed with a knowledgeable doctor who has diagnosed it and is treating it.
This is a man who is more than just a Doctor. He is caring and he listens and he knows his medicine. He is a Doctor, one that can be trusted and I know one day he will retire and I will be lost as I've never met a doctor who I've had this much confidence in. He cares more about taking care of his patients than how much money he will make. I think back about some of the doctors I've seen with their fancy offices and all the latest equipment and the money that I've spent or when I had insurance, that was paid and then I look at my doctor now with a nice but older office, with equipment that is needed for the office and with our local hospital, he can order x-rays, lab work or whatever he needs.
He not only corrected my blood pressure medicine, but discovered my cholesterol levels were high and is treating me for that problem as well. No other doctor had done that or even checked me for it.
Yes, there are Doctors and then there are real Doctors and my Doctor is the later. Thank you Dr. Farrow.
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