Stroke Survivor Blog

After 3 years of suffering from pain in his dislocated shoulder and in the ankle which was broken 3 weeks before his stroke, Steve is finally getting some pain relief. We tried many different things to eliminate the pain, but had to resort to using a pain medication called Hydrocodone.

This was a reluctant decision because Hydrocodone is powerful and can be habit-forming. But at this point, it’s more important for Steve to get some type of comfort.

A few months ago he saw a shoulder specialist to see if his shoulder could be fused back into the socket. But the doctor said his bones on the left side were so thin and fragile from lack of use that fusing would result in more pain, not less. Many different types of shoulder slings have been used, but nothing eliminates the pain completely.

It’s too bad that his shoulder was so mismanaged while he was in rehab following his stroke. No sling was used to support his arm for four of the six weeks he was there. By that time, his heavy dangling arm caused it to pull even further out of joint. The pain has been unbearable at times and Steve can feel it in his neck and into the side of his head as all those tendons are pulled out of whack by the dislocation.

The other area of severe pain is in his left ankle. Even though the doctor said it healed properly, he said it was necessary for Steve to put more weight on his foot to strengthen the bone in the ankle. Steve didn’t want to shift all his weight to that leg because he didn’t trust it to hold him up. He was very cautious so he wouldn’t fall, and he has never fallen since his stroke, so we’re thankful for that. However, the bone became weaker because of the lack of weight-bearing, resulting in much more pain.

Steve was impressed that the Hydrocodone gave him so much pain relief. It makes him feel slightly dizzy and a little disoriented, so he usually only takes it in the evening, and then he falls into a nice pain-free sleep.

I’m hoping that with him getting some pain relief, he’ll be more encouraged to work toward his recovery again.