Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Arm spasticity while driving

This year I've started trying to place my left arm between the car seat and the door, wedging it in place. This is all trying to stop the irrational bicep spasticity. During the summer it worked fairly well. I would only have to push it back in place when moving around in my seat a lot. Now that winter is approaching I'm lucky if I can get the arm past 90 degrees, and I have to quite often push it back down. There is nothing to hold on down there and even if there was I would never be able to get the fingers extended enough to grab it.

Damnable spasticity. I still blame Dr. William M. Landau and his blasted opinion;

Spasticity After Stroke: Why Bother?

For stopping or slowing down spasticity research.  Is there any way schadenfreude could occur?

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5 comments:

  1. Barb PolanNovember 18, 2014 at 5:45 PM

    But I think what you want is actually karma - yes, Landau should get his. What a pompous, unfeeling jerk.

    Yes, schadenfreude would definitely occur. It would be a party - you and I will provide the booze - at my house!

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    1. J.L. MurpheyNovember 20, 2014 at 6:47 AM

      Don't forget me!!!!!!!!!!!! But make mine a Coke since I haven't had a drink in 30 years.

      Landau should get and suffer spasticity for the rest of his life and see if his opinion changes.

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  2. Marcelle GreeneNovember 19, 2014 at 1:33 PM

    I am still harboring hope and accumulating evidence that there is a difference between spasm and spasticity. I have been treating my spasms and my tendons are slowly releasing and my muscles reshaping. An arm or hand with the intense rigidity that you describe is in spasm. My understanding is that spasticity is velocity-induced -- meaning the tension occurs with movement. I plan to blog more about this in the New Year. The medical opinion expressed in this article once again shows a complete lack of understanding of this important difference. These medical types are simply overwhelmed by the hard work and patience it requires to treat us. They lump all the problems together under the wastebasket diagnosis of "spasticity," then throw us away.

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    1. oc1deanNovember 19, 2014 at 2:55 PM

      Thanks, I've given up on getting anything useful from doctors, I think intelligent survivors are much more likely to understand and describe the problem better.

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    2. J.L. MurpheyNovember 20, 2014 at 6:56 AM

      There is a huge difference in spasm and spasticity. One of the major differences is the time element involved. For me the spasms can last for hours, but spasticity element is measured in days and weeks of hypertonic muscle spasms to the point of any movement away from the spasm is both impossible and extremely painful.

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