affected
Guru status reached
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2013
- Messages
- 16,096
- Reason
- Lost a loved one
- Diagnosis
- 05/2013
- Country
- OZ
- State
- AU
- City
- lala land
Oh Megan, I can't explain what goes through me when I read of a PALS falling. 
As Nikki says - it's not all that rare for PALS to die from head injuries in a fall, I've personally known it to happen a few times.
As Greg has just said - PALS don't recover well. The muscles are already dying because the nerve supplying them is dying. So if a muscle is injured, it won't repair, or at least won't repair well depending on how much nerve supply is left.
Quality of life is what everyone strives for, and it does mean different things to different people, but I think everyone would agree that PAIN <> quality of life.
So when my Chris fell onto his 'good' shoulder and ruptured the major tendon, his quality of life decreased for the rest of the life he had left. He only gained back a little movement in the arm and use of the hand, but the shoulder froze severely and the pain stayed with him. Because he refused still to walk with any aids or assistance he went on to have another major fall.
What many PALS do not realise is that every little injury hastens progression. Try to think of it from the view of someone who is going to start doing weights at the gym to build up their muscles. They go and do a session, pushing themselves hard. The weights they lift cause micro-tears in their muscles and their body responds by invading the torn area with blood carrying nutrients and proteins and because the muscle is healthy and has a nerve supply, the result is building up more muscle tissue. Remember these are MICRO tears. So they watch their muscles gain in size and definition over a period of time.
Now think of a PALS and what is happening. As one set of muscles waste, the surrounding muscles have to work harder to pick up the load and make that limb work. This is kind of like working out at the gym, and so those surrounding muscles receive micro-tears. But because the nerve supplying them is dying also, they are not able to repair themselves. So on a micro level, as muscles begin dying and the PALS keeps insisting on 'use it or lose it', in fact they are hastening progression by pushing themselves too hard.
Now imagine there is an injury which could be called a MACRO tear, and the progression is sped up exponentially.
We can't stop progression, we can't stop the nerves dying, but we can refuse to help them do their job as fast as possible.
What I've just written all sounds very 'clinical' to me, but I've just had such a big cry writing this as memories of watching the reality of what this meant in my Chris body flooded me.
As Nikki says - it's not all that rare for PALS to die from head injuries in a fall, I've personally known it to happen a few times.
As Greg has just said - PALS don't recover well. The muscles are already dying because the nerve supplying them is dying. So if a muscle is injured, it won't repair, or at least won't repair well depending on how much nerve supply is left.
Quality of life is what everyone strives for, and it does mean different things to different people, but I think everyone would agree that PAIN <> quality of life.
So when my Chris fell onto his 'good' shoulder and ruptured the major tendon, his quality of life decreased for the rest of the life he had left. He only gained back a little movement in the arm and use of the hand, but the shoulder froze severely and the pain stayed with him. Because he refused still to walk with any aids or assistance he went on to have another major fall.
What many PALS do not realise is that every little injury hastens progression. Try to think of it from the view of someone who is going to start doing weights at the gym to build up their muscles. They go and do a session, pushing themselves hard. The weights they lift cause micro-tears in their muscles and their body responds by invading the torn area with blood carrying nutrients and proteins and because the muscle is healthy and has a nerve supply, the result is building up more muscle tissue. Remember these are MICRO tears. So they watch their muscles gain in size and definition over a period of time.
Now think of a PALS and what is happening. As one set of muscles waste, the surrounding muscles have to work harder to pick up the load and make that limb work. This is kind of like working out at the gym, and so those surrounding muscles receive micro-tears. But because the nerve supplying them is dying also, they are not able to repair themselves. So on a micro level, as muscles begin dying and the PALS keeps insisting on 'use it or lose it', in fact they are hastening progression by pushing themselves too hard.
Now imagine there is an injury which could be called a MACRO tear, and the progression is sped up exponentially.
We can't stop progression, we can't stop the nerves dying, but we can refuse to help them do their job as fast as possible.
What I've just written all sounds very 'clinical' to me, but I've just had such a big cry writing this as memories of watching the reality of what this meant in my Chris body flooded me.
