CONQUERING SPINAL PAIN

In 2007, Alisha Martin was in the prime of her life. At 28 years old, she was married to the man of her dreams, had just received her master’s degree and started an exciting new job. It seemed that her entire life was ahead of her—until a semi-tractor-trailer swerved into her and her husband Victor’s car on the interstate.

The crash left her with several crushed vertebrae and damaged discs and in excruciating, relentless pain.

“Doctors kept telling me that I was young and that I would heal, but instead, I just continually worsened,” she says. “My legs would go numb, and I would fall. My husband had to literally carry me into the doctor’s o ce and explain to them that I couldn’t walk anymore.”

Alisha could only move about with the aid of a wheelchair, walker or cane. She underwent spinal fusion, several discectomies, nerve ablations, nerve blocks—all in all, she had 11 major pain intervention procedures—yet she continued to worsen. The pain became virtually unbearable.

“The pain was so intense that I was diagnosed with PTSD and major depressive disorder,” Alisha says. “At one point, I was on 22 medications, and I would sit and pray for just five seconds of relief. I became extremely suicidal, and to be honest, if things hadn’t changed, I don’t think I would be here today.” or any type of debilitating nerve trauma. He says they also want to focus their e orts on helping American veterans who have su ered neurological losses.

While talking on the phone with her aunt in Arizona, Alisha discovered that her uncle worked as an engineer for Medtronics, a company that produces devices called neurostimulators.

“When I was fi rst injured, I became very, very depressed,” Ian says. “Some days it was just hard to get out of bed. I still have good days and bad days, but now life has changed. I have hope. Hope for the future, and I thank the people at Ohio State and Battelle for this opportunity. I hope that through all of our e orts, other people su ering from spinal cord injuries around the world will one day be able to have Neurolife included as part of their rehabilitation immediately after they are injured.”

Ian is now a student at Ohio State University where he studies accounting, and he coaches the Dublin Jerome High School boys’ lacrosse team. He also created the Ian Burkhart Foundation to help others who su er from spinal cord injuries. It can be accessed at ianburkhartfoundation.org.

Sources: nature.com. https://wexnermedical.osu.edu

Neurostimulators can be implanted near the spinal cord to help reduce pain. These rechargeable, battery-driven devices contain an electrical stimulator with attached electrodes that can be threaded into the epidural space next to the spinal cord. When the stimulator is activated, a continuous stream of very low voltage electricity masks pain signals being sent to the brain and pain intensity can be greatly diminished.

“I found a doctor in Brandon who implanted the stimulators, and he implanted two, one in my neck and one in my midback,” she says. “I immediately felt a di erence—it felt weird, and then I realized that the weirdness I felt was a lack of pain.”

Two months after her surgery in 2011, Alisha began to work out at a local gym. Today she is 70 pounds lighter and is an Olympic power lifter and CrossFit competitor. In 2014, she gave birth to her son, Gabriel, a feat doctors told her she would never be able to do following the accident. Today she works as a team leader at BB&T bank and leads a very active life. And she no longer takes any pain medication.

“I control the stimulator with a device that allows me to determine the intensity of how much stimulation I need and where it needs to be directed,” she says. “I can adjust the stimulator to mask any pain that I feel. If I have a headache, I can mask the headache pain, and if I have a pain in my foot, I can adjust it for my foot. It gives me a tingling feeling in my body, like you might feel if your arm or leg went to sleep, and that diminishes any pain. I wirelessly recharge the batteries every couple of weeks, and I’m good to go. Everywhere I go, I tell people about this amazing device that has changed my life. If you’re in pain or know someone who is in chronic pain, tell them about spinal cord stimulation. I control my pain, and my pain doesn’t control me. I call myself a bionic woman, and I have literally been given a new life.”