Here’s my question I developed a tumor on my thoracic spine and they removed about 70 percent of it in surgery and now I’m doing chemo. The tumor did some damage but no one knows how much, the problem I am having is when I walk it feels like I have an extra 20lbs on each leg and on my stomach and it also feels like I’ve already walked 3 miles my muscles are all real tight and I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of this before. Thanks a lot for any help you can give me Tom Non Hodgkin’s lymphoma is what I have now
Are you open to investigating alternative therapy, roofer? I love the remedies that I learned from Hulda Clark. For non-Hodgkin’s, she recommended using a SyncroZap (electronic device) and killing ones parasites with herbs. www.drclark.net/en-us/infective-agents-and-pollutants/parasites/we-all-have-parasites “...If any of these short pieces of Dirofilaria manage to escape both the immune system and your digestive enzymes so that it can grow long, it produces a snarl. Such a snarl is the starting point for Hodgkin's Lymphoma, but non-Hodgkin's abdominal tumor masses, grow with Onchocerca, another filaria. Heartworms have gained ground in us by growing longer, even inside the bowel, so their clear glass-like threads make loops in the bowel contents, easy to recognize. Onchocerca has gained ground too. Its stages hide in our vein valves, giving us blue varicose veins. It gives us small hard nodules under the skin.”
Here’s my question I developed a tumor on my thoracic spine and they removed about 70 percent of it in surgery and now I’m doing chemo. The tumor did some damage but no one knows how much, the problem I am having is when I walk it feels like I have an extra 20lbs on each leg and on my stomach and it also feels like I’ve already walked 3 miles my muscles are all real tight and I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of this before. Thanks a lot for any help you can give me Tom Non Hodgkin’s lymphoma is what I have now
Hello roofer, welcome and I'm sorry that you have had to seek us out. In answer to your question, yes, walking with a spinal cord injury does feel heavy, I've always said that it feels like gravity is stronger nowadays but you analogy works just as well. The tightness of the muscles is due to an increase of tone, I was told many years ago that its because of that increase of tone to why I am walking, without it, I would be in a wheelchair.
Thank you for your reply, does it get any easier or is it something I might have to live with and do you know of any exercises that might help me. Thanks again I really appreciated it
Roofer- all exercise helps and it is important to stretch before, after and during exercise. My life is a constant effort to remind cramped muscles to let go when they are supposed to. I do use baclofen and gabapentin, both of which, for me, act to reduce the tone somewhat. Without those my muscles are so tight I cannot do things. My voluntary control is too weak to overcome the one. Each of us is different.
For me, its something I have had to learn to live with, doing exercise always helps and as Tetra said, everyone is different. If you like the gym, going there is a good idea, for me, I do sit to stands, I do push offs against the wall where I stand a distance away from the wall which stretches my ham strings and do push offs which is hard for me because I am a C5/6 quad and my arms are weak. Because walking is difficult, that is always a work out for me. There are many youtube exercise videos for para's and quads, I'm sure some of them can give you some ideas of what would suit you.
tetra, tarabev, We are going to see a Somatic Movement therapist later today. This is about relaxing the muscles rather than strengthening. I heard her talk recently at a wellbeing event and what she was saying about carrying around bad postural habits etc made much sense " the body starts to hold itself in a way to save it from further injury, which in turn causes other muscles to become tight and tense. Therefore, to tackle this, we work with movement patterns; relaxing more muscles and encouraging the body to let go in general". I went along to a workshop to learn a bit more (for me initially). We did some really simple exercises (they were on the floor so wouldn't be suitable for Peter). 2 hours later I felt much more relaxed, looser and much lighter. I didn't realise how many bad posture habits I had! So, following a chat about Peter and his tight spastic muscles we have booked to see what she can do for Peter. She works with several people who have similar issues and has helped them find techniques for relaxing their muscles that take into account their movement limitations. She also does hands off massage and gets some good results with that. We aren't expecting anything dramatic, but it would be wonderful if she could help Peter to find some relief. Her initial consultation is only £30 (just under $40) for 90 mins so we aren't risking too much money if it doesn't help. Peter does stretching exercises daily which help - but this is about getting muscles to neutral rather than stretching. I'll let you know how it goes. Here's a bit more info if you are interested. Susan explains it much better than I do! www.susanrobertsbodytherapy.co.uk/somatic-movement
moco, Thankyou for that, it was very interesting and confirms many things for me. Not so easy to find a somatic movement therapist where I am though! I will google somatic movements and try them out
Does Peter have issues sleeping because of his muscles? About 7 years ago I had increase of tone in my legs when I was trying to go to sleep which stopped me from falling asleep.... after seeing a specialist who didn't help at all, I bought myself an acupressure mat. I found that I could trick my brain into forgetting about my legs because when I laid down on the mat with my bare back, the sharp points of the mat caused pain and consequently made my brain forget about my legs which then stopped the increase of tone.
It's probably a very long shot that the mat may help Peters muscles because he is a lot worse than me but a mat costs about $20 from Ebay and for myself, I thought, well if it doesnt work, then no harm done.
tarabev, That sounds interesting. Peter doesn't have problems falling asleep these days. He used to but we have found a way of making him comfortable in bed with a memory foam mattress and rolls and cushions to get his body into a position which enables him to fall asleep easily (mostly!). I worry as he doesn't change position at all during the night (unless he gets up to pee). He has always been a champion sleeper - we used to joke that it was his super power. He used to travel a lot for work and I think he trained himself to fall asleep on planes, trains and anywhere he found himself . It might be worth trying the acupressure mat though for exercise. He is always being told to pay more attention to what his body is doing/feeling. So thanks.
The session with the therapist yesterday was promising. We spent most of the 90 minute session talking about what Peter can and can't do and why. She likes to thoroughly understand the history of her clients traumas and limitations. She then analysed his posture/walk and immediately focused on his forward stoop (lots of other issues but for her his most impactful issue. Peter walks with his bottom sticking out and his back and shoulders curved forward (for balance/comfort). The physios have been working with him to try and get him more upright with things like standing against a wall and just thinking about posture. He finds this hard as walking itself requires enormous concentration and effort and he does it as well as he can but posture is often sacrificed. He tires very quickly and his forward stoop blocks some of his movement anyway which makes it harder. She took him through some simple exercises (sort of tightening all his muscles down the front and then slowly releasing them and "melting" a few times) - not to straighten his back and shoulders but to release the tight muscles at the front of his body. They are really simple and can be done in sitting. The change in his posture was quite dramatic when he stood up afterwards. She said he will go back to his usual stance quite quickly as that is what his body is accustomed to.But by practising these moves frequently, several times a day he will eventually become a more upright person. She did that to demonstrate what can be done. She is quite keen to work with him doing some more "pandiculation exercises" and some hands free (deep tissue) massage. She said she is not sure how long it will take Peter to make long lasting improvements because of his wonky nervous system but she seemed pretty confident that she could make a difference. Certainly the improvement in walking after the exercises was quite dramatic for a few hours. She suggested reading this book by the guy who came up with Somatics Somatics: Reawakening The Mind's Control Of Movement, Flexibility, And Health Paperback – 4 Aug 2004 by Thomas Hanna or this by Edward Berrera who is an ex (US football?) athlete. He very successfully managed his injuries and fibromyalgia with Somatics Move Like an Animal: Feel Comfortable, Be Flexible, Move Well for Life in 3 Simple Steps: Volume 1 Paperback – 18 Mar 2015 by Edward Barrera (Author) Sorry for long post -just thought it was worth reporting back.
tarabev , He finds this hard as walking itself requires enormous concentration and effort and he does it as well as he can but posture is often sacrificed. He tires very quickly and his forward stoop blocks some of his movement anyway which makes it harder.
Only one thought to add, Mo. I've gone at my walking exercising differently this hear. I have focused hard on strength training for abdominal, back muscles, and all those on the back of my legs. There is a handy weight frame in my gym where I do lifts/squats that has been miraculous for helping me focus on using the gluteals equally, left and right. My posture and habits became horrid due to weakness on the left, which was partly due to poor alignment in the hip, I've worked out. As I've learned to straighten the hip more in it's socket the nerve weakness on the left has improved a lot, which makes sense to me. It was never really nerve weakness, it was the hip and leg being misaligned during my accident. That was invisible to docs though I could feel it and complained often. Anyway, that frame happens to be just the right height for me to reach up and use it to stretch. That helps me.
I digressed. My one point is that as I've gotten somewhat straighter it takes MUCH less energy to walk.
tetra, Ah interesting Pat! This was one of the things Susan the therapist suggested to Peter. She said that what we assumed was weakness due to nerve damage may instead be where something is misaligned and buggering up (my phrase, not hers) his alignments. That aside,I am so pleased to hear that you have found a way to get stronger. Do you find that your spasticity is better or worse since you started this? Peter still gets extra spasticity if he works too hard. It has hobbled him on more than one occasion. I will pass on your observation about walking being easier as you straighten. He needs much encouragement to focus on posture. roofer, Apologies as I seem to have hi jacked your thread this wasn't my intention. I have a short attention span and an active mouth so often get carried away. I guess it is all exercise related though - so not 100 miles away. Hope you have found something in the thread to help you.
moco, I wouldn't be concerned about Peter not moving when he's asleep. You may not see him moving from his back to his side but he would be moving a bit removing pressure from areas. And its great that he's a good sleeper!
I have similar posture to Peter when I walk in that I lean forward, I know I shouldnt because it affects my gait but I do it because I tend to look at the ground in front of me looking for anything which may trip me up. When I am on completely even ground like a shopping centre I can still tend to lean forward but most of the time I try to remember to correct my posture. I think thats one of the hardest things about being an SCI walker is the constantly always having to remember how to walk, its never easy and having to concentrate is tiring in itself.
tarabev , He finds this hard as walking itself requires enormous concentration and effort and he does it as well as he can but posture is often sacrificed. He tires very quickly and his forward stoop blocks some of his movement anyway which makes it harder.
Only one thought to add, Mo. I've gone at my walking exercising differently this hear. I have focused hard on strength training for abdominal, back muscles, and all those on the back of my legs. There is a handy weight frame in my gym where I do lifts/squats that has been miraculous for helping me focus on using the gluteals equally, left and right. My posture and habits became horrid due to weakness on the left, which was partly due to poor alignment in the hip, I've worked out. As I've learned to straighten the hip more in it's socket the nerve weakness on the left has improved a lot, which makes sense to me. It was never really nerve weakness, it was the hip and leg being misaligned during my accident. That was invisible to docs though I could feel it and complained often. Anyway, that frame happens to be just the right height for me to reach up and use it to stretch. That helps me.
I digressed. My one point is that as I've gotten somewhat straighter it takes MUCH less energy to walk.
tetra, How did you know that you had poor alignment in your hip? Is there usually pain associated with poor alignment? I'm just wondering if there can be misalignment to a lessor degree than what you had which could be caused by a poor walking gait ....and if so, how would I know?