About

Background

I am a 37 year old bloke living in East Lothian, South East Scotland.  I spent most of my senior school years spending as much time on the sea as I possibly could.  I was very active, racing yachts on Saturdays, dinghies through the week and training with the rest of the local Lifeboat Crew on a Sunday.  After these school years, I moved on to University in Aberdeen.  I never finished my course there and flitted about for a few years before qualifying as a Psychiatric Nurse in 2000.

Whilst training as a nurse I had married and welcomed my first daughter into the world, so it was quite a relief to get my first properly paid job.  I joined the staff of Scotland’s first and (still) only Medium Secure Unit for Mentally Disordered Offenders.  I enjoyed the enthusiasm of my colleagues and the opportunity to work with a client group often thought of as “challenging” but this career direction came to an abrupt halt in September 2002.

My Disability

I had been off work for a week or so with an unexplained abdominal pain.  My doctor thought it might be Epidimitis and gave me some antibiotics but when I collapsed due to pain at the end of the week, they worried enough to send me to hospital.  That night was quite bizarre, I kind of drifted in and out of consciousness, not having a clue what was going on.  Indeed, none of the staff seemed to know either!

At lunchtime the following day, a consultant came round to see me.  During his examination, we found that my left leg had doubled in size (I hadn’t noticed!).  He immediately thought of a Deep Vein Thrombosis and sent me for some more tests.

They soon confirmed that I had a massive DVT blocking the veins of my abdomen and left leg.  I was to stay in bed with my legs raised and told not to weight bare at all.  No danger really, the pain was tremendous.  I stayed in hospital for a total of three weeks and then discharged with a pair of highly attractive compression stockings and a prescription for Warfarin.

When at home, I was advised to walk as much as possible and to raise my legs when I wasn’t walking.  Under no circumstances was I to stand still or sit with my feet on the ground.  I followed these instructions to the letter, despite finding walking incredibly painful.  Unfortunately these precautions didn’t stop me from developing Post Thrombosis Syndrome (sometimes called Post Phlebitic Syndrome).

In the main, my problem is one of Chronic Pain.  The clot stops blood draining out of my legs.  The more I exercise, the more blood goes into my legs but it can’t get out again.  This creates a back pressure which causes pain (plus the veins on my feet go hard and stand out.  It feels like someone wearing stilettos is stamping on my feet.).

Treatment

Anyone with Chronic Pain will tell you that management is the most important part of treatment.  I seem to be able to walk a fixed distance in a day, so I use a wheelchair when I’m out and about.  I take handfuls of painkillers and in the last couple of years I’ve had a Spinal Column Stimulator implanted.  I’m prepared to try anything once!  If it helps, it stays in my regime.

The Future

I was re-deployed at work and luckily this has taken me down a therapy/group-work route.  I am still a Psychiatric Nurse but I don’t work on a ward.  I reduced my hours to four days, taking Wednesday off and the difference was huge.  I’d certainly prefer to work the four days than none at all.  I have been fortunate, I have a very understanding and forgiving team around me.

My life changed in a huge way and I found that change quite lonely.  I found that nobody would tell me anything.  Everyone was happy to answer my questions but I had to know what the question was to get the information I needed.  That’s something I would like to make easier for others.

DisabledPeople.org

With this site I hope to provide a first step resource.  I am not going to try and answer all the questions because I believe that the information is already out there.  It’s just that sometimes having to search is a little too daunting.  What I hope to do is create a site that you can come to with your question, this site will then help you find the answer.

To do this, I need a little help.  I need to know what the questions are.  I know what mine were and that’s where I’ll start but that will only help people with similar circumstances to my own.  If I know what your questions are, we can spread the net.

I also need help with the answers!  If you’ve found answers, tell me where.  What resources have been invaluable to you.  That includes answering questions, offering support or providing some respite, maybe just having a laugh.

Comments are the most important factor in a new project like this.  What am I doing right?  What am I doing wrong?  How would you do it differently?  Let me know.  Either add your comments below, after any post on the site or use the Contact Page.

If you would prefer to keep things a little more private, you can find my full contact details at:

http://JamieMorris.tel