Nearly eight years ago my Primary care Physician of thirty years, Dr. Winkler, ask Dr. Lee of the Advanced Pain Institute to consult with me while hospitalized at North Oaks hospital. I am a, c4c5c6 cervical fusion, quadriplegic and I was involved in a life-altering accident that left me paralyzed from the neck down in 1985. In 1987, I returned home after eighteen months of physical rehabilitation. I suffer from all the usual things most paralyzed quadriplegics suffer, multiple bed sores, several fractures as a result of falling from my wheelchair, torn rotator cups in both shoulders, bladder, abdominal, and multiple surgeries to correct my worsening condition over the past thirty-five years. Despite attentive and competent care by a team of physicians over the years, I continued to be hospitalized on a yearly bases suffering from obvious and not so obvious ailments. Despit my many stays in hospital, teams of doctors were only treating my obvious systems and never diagnosing the cause. This continued on and off for twenty-five years, cycling in and out of the hospital for necessary surgical procedures became routine. Nearly eight years ago I was back in North Oaks for two weeks of test that included the insertion of a Super Pubic tube to drain my bladder and treatment of reoccurring bed sores that are debilitating for anyone who has ever had to live with them. But my most serious of medical issues remained an impediment to me returning home and living as normal a life as possible, and despite the help of many consulting physicians I went undiagnosed for many many years. I could tell you what was wrong with me but like many physicians over many years, my problem went undiagnosed. But at the request of Dr. Winkler, Dr. Lee of the Advanced Pain Institute stopped in to consult with me on one of my emergency stays in North Oaks. Instead of peering into my room, Dr. Lee thoroughly examined me and diagnosed the condition I was suffering from and that had went undiagnosed for nearly twenty-five years. Autonomic Dysreflexia - Hyperflexia Syndrome. Hard to pronounce and rarely seen, it's a rare disorder found mostly in people with high spinalcord injuries. As I understand Autonomic Dysreflexia/Hyperflexia Syndrome, its a disorder caused by a misfiring of the Anaflactic and Sympathetic Nervous System. It's triggered by many medical issues from bed sores to bladder problems, all of which I have and still suffer from after thirty-five years. Despite its many triggers, it cause cannot be cured only treated. It causes fluctuating extremes from very low to high blood pressure, extremely painful headaches, back and neck. Its continued presence in my life can be the cause of strokes and death. Since diagnosing and treating my Autonomic Dysreflexia/Hyperreflexia, I have only been hospitalized three times for bed sores and other ailments in eight years. The very smallest to the worse of my daily medical problems are contributing factor to my syndrome. If not for the proper diagnosis and a multitude of treatments overseen by Dr. Lee of the Advanced Pain Institute, my overall health at the age of fifty would certainly be worse. As a layperson suffer from Autonomic Dysreflexia/Hyperflexia syndrome, I would go as far in saying if not for Dr. Lee's diagnosis and treatment I may not be telling you my story. From the welcoming staff of Mrs. Rochelle who greets you at the door to the nursing staff, my overall experience and treatment from Dr. Lee and the Advanced Pain Institute has been a positive one! read more
