“Mom, I can’t live like this.” Those words play over and over in my head like an earworm. “Mom, I can’t live like this.” On Sunday Joey looked up at me with his big blue eyes and his long dark eyelashes and said “It’s not as bad as it’s been before but I’m still in pain. Mom, I can’t live like this.”

My 11-year-old son said those words to me. It broke my heart. I promised him I would do everything possible to make him pain-free again.

He went to school on Monday but the pains became so severe it was taking his breath away. We headed to massage therapy at Lifestyle Resumption. The massage helped but within an hour the pains were back again. He couldn’t go to school Tuesday. I took him to Tiny Needle acupuncture where she did something called the Seven Dragon (needles in back and head). This helped a lot but once again the pains sneaked back up. Thanks to a good friend, we did some hot tub therapy. This also helped but again the pains were back soon after.

He has a constant pain in his hip where the incision from the bone graft is. He also gets shooting pains down his leg. These pains become so severe that he can’t help but scream. Pain medications do not help. He has had several MRIs, x-rays, steroid injections, ultrasound, nerve block, PetScan and more. Joey says that all of the holoistic type stuff – acupuncture, massage, physical therapy and the hot tub – help more than anything. Unfortunately, insurance isn’t paying for acupuncture or massage so three visits a week gets pricey fast. But you know, I’d go without my own necessities if that meant he could be pain-free and not have “live like this.”

Hot tub therapy

The Pain Team at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital has been working with us. They changed his meds up on Tuesday and I hope it helps. I’m going to ask his physical therapist about water therapy at Children’s. This is getting to be a lot for an 11-year-old to handle so he will start seeing a counselor at Children’s later this month. It’s hard for me to handle so I can’t imagine what he’s going through.

Everyone asks what they can do to help. I honestly wish I knew. Prayers and positive thoughts are the only thing I know to ask for right now. And… when you see us out, especially if Joey is with us, don’t ask about it. We know you care and we appreciate that but it’s hard for Andi, Joey and I all to talk about it. We want life to be as normal as it can be… and honestly, our normal changes almost daily. I might call on some of you for help with Joey while I go to Andi’s games, work, etc… We couldn’t get through this without your support. I don’t want my son to have “to live like this.”

Please keep posting positive messages here. Joey loves to read them!

P.S. If you are not following Raising2tweens on Facebook, you should!