Sumner Peirce:
CLASS OF 1975
Westford AcademyClass of 1975
Westford, MA
University of LowellClass of 1979
Lowell, MA
North Middle SchoolClass of 1971
Westford, MA
Florence Roche Elementary SchoolClass of 1968
Groton, MA
Riverside SchoolClass of 1968
Lowell, MA
Sumner's Story
Fellow Citizens, it's been quite a long time since this section was updated and I am still on the compis mentis side of the evening so here goes.
This year took a turn for me on May 3 when arising from bed I felt a slight twinge in my left thigh, deep in the thigh muscle. I thought, "Well, I have a chiropractic appointment on Wednesday after work, it'll be worked out then." What a mistake that thought turned out to be because it got steadily worse up to and even after the appointment. It got so bad that I was unable to sit or lay down or stand with any degree of comfortability. In between the unbearable aching moments, I had times when the pain from hip down the left leg felt as though it would vanish then some small movement either in bed or in the bathroom would set it off as though I hadn't had a chiropractic appointment at all. The chiropractor was wonderful in that he would see me three times a week and even open up on weekends for me. The pain was robbing me of my sleep throughout the month of May -- alternating ice and heat was not working, numbing the left pelvic joint and left outside calf and left ankle across the top of the foot was not achieving any relief from the aggravating pain.
I took a week of vacation and met with my chiro almost every day, still to no avail, and then on Saturday, June 12, Milton drove me to the chiro at 9:30 AM. The doc tried everything but this time I was unable to get off of the table without a pain down the entire left leg from hip to toes which felt as though an acid wash was poured upon my flesh! I would lay back upon the table shaking uncontrollably and it would eventually stop after a while with the soles of my feet flat on the table and my knees bent. Milton drove home to get a hydrocodone pill for me and a sandwich so I could take it while still at the chiro office. We tried to stand and again the shaking and unbelievable pain took over my body. My blood pressure was also unbelievable so I had Milton take me to Holy Cross Hospital ER. The chiro doc called my primary and the primary met me in the ER to admit me. I was given two shots of dilantin (sp?) before the pain subsided and I immediately dropped off to sleep, something I had not had in a week.
A week in Holy Cross in a bed with a staff which doled out the pain meds per doctors' orders but wasn't doing anything to keep me out of pain. Wednesday rolled around and I was extremely uncomfortable, no matter how I layed in bed it hurt, no matter how I moved it hurt, and it hurt audibly, so audibly that I scared a visiting friend out of the room and that my day RN called my primary and the pain management doc to get my meds changed and I finally got out of pain enough to catch some sleep. The pain mgmt doc gave me an epidural which was minor, very minor relief. A spinal neurosurgeon was brought in, an MRI was done, more X-rays taken, and the outcome was that lumbar discs 4 and 5 were herniated, well, damn near flattened -- who knows where the jelly in the donuts went. I panicked and it showed in my face because the surgeon mentioned that the most conservative treatment would be rehab and physical therapy. Surgery upon my spine was a scary thought so I opted for the rehab. Holy Cross whisked me out of the bed and into the rehab bed of my choice that Friday near 5 PM.
Neve...Expand for more
r leave a hospital for rehab on a Friday around 5 PM because nothing happens to patients in rehab over weekends. I had more than a few gargantuan battles with staff and nurses starting that Friday, June 18. I was in rehab until July 29, almost 6 full weeks. When I started barely walking on a walker still having pain despite three Oxycontin per day and a Percocet as needed and a Lidoderm patch for my pelvic joint, had a second epidural, began some minor exercises still having pain, and then an attempted third epidural which failed because the bones were too tight to even allow a needle in between I knew that surgery was going to be the only, possibly, relief from the pain I was still in. August 3 was surgery and on August 4 I found out that there had been a bone fragment resting on the nerve root and held in place by tendons causing this 10-over-10 pain I was experiencing heretofore. I was back at home, shakily so and on a walker, by August 6.
I needed help to get out of bed and into bed, getting dressed, couldn't reach for anything or bend, and on top of it all I had the after effects of the anesthesia to deal with for a good three days. Every morning saw me on the walker, immediately upon getting out of bed, making my rounds from the kitchen sink to the front door and back again, constantly moving all the day through until the meds would slow me down and I had to nap, sometimes sitting up in a high-backed chair because being alone and getting into and out of bed again would have been impossible. I had an RN visiting the house every three days and a physical therapist visiting three times per week. I started on a cane around the second week of September and then back to work on Monday, September 20. I went to work with a great deal of trepidation because I wasn't sure how long my stamina would last during the day, if I'd remember what I needed to remember to do my job, if the temp had left things a jumble or not, and would I be able to sit in my old chair and be comfortable yet be able to walk around and not sit too long. It all vanished when I entered the office and my co-workers had planned a danish, coffee, and decaf breakfast for my return! My fears were gone and I was one of the team again.
Before I close I want everyone to know that seeing me through all of what occurred to me was Milton, he was beside my bed every night for as long as possible and every weekend day's afternoon and night. He accepted my misery, my annoyance, my tears of depression, and my physical ailment with exquisite aplomb and unconditional love. There was a moment when I was thinking, "This is it, I'm broken, a toy that can't be fixed," and there was Milton telling me, "Don't worry, we're going to get through this," -- the "we're" was all that I needed to hear.
And I must thank Ken Crocker for coming to the house and staying with me both before and after the surgery. I could not have a finer friend than Ken. And a loving thank you to my Venezuelan friend, Victor Hugo Rodriguez, who cooked the most delicious dishes for me while I was in rehab, visited with me to chat about everything for hours and keeping my spirits from flagging. He has turned out to be a wonderfully gracious and loyal friend.
More to come! Until then . . .
Vote Democratic, act Socialist, think Anarchist!
Ciao for now.
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