Community rallies to help victim of chronic pain

His world, for the most part, is confined to four walls and a hospital bed.

And he hates it.

It's not the life for a 30 year old.

But it's the only life Terry Spurrell has had for the past several months.

Six degenerative discs in his back have caused him to become bedridden. Two of the discs are herniated.

Pain medications have been part of his daily diet for the past three years. And sometimes the pain is so intense his regular medications are not enough. For two weeks earlier this month Spurrell was hospitalized so he could be fed morphine to help take the edge off the pain.

It's not only the immobility and constant pain that frustrates Spurrell.

He's also plagued by the thought that he is a burden on his family.

Spurrell was working in Alberta - he moved there about 10 years ago - when the back pain began to get worse.

He figures his trouble started when he suffered an accident when he first went to the West. He had been working on a condo project and was on top of a wall nailing on joist hangers when the wall collapsed.

Bruised and shaken, he was taken to hospital and spent a couple of weeks healing. Workers Compensation paid him during his time off.

However, he was soon back to work, confident that his youthful body had completely healed.

Three or four years later, he began to have back pain flare-ups.

"Sometimes the pain would last three or four days and I'd have to call in sick to work."

He managed to continue working seasonal jobs.

About three years ago, however, the back pain started to be constant.

"It was a gnawing, aching pain," he describes.

Three years ago Spurrell developed leukemia. Fortunately it was the curable version. But it was thanks to an MRI and CT scan at that time that doctors discovered Spurrell's degenerative discs.

Two years ago, when the back pain became constant and unforgiving, Spurrell had to give up work altogether.

"It's gotten to the point where nothing (medications) really works anymore," he says.

However, because he had spent years at seasonal work in Alberta, returning home to Little Heart's Ease in the off-season, he did not qualify for assistance under Alberta's health plan.

His family - sister Kim, and his parents Clyde and Florence, who were working in Calgary - had no choice but foot the bill for his medications and other health-related expenses.

They have exhausted their savings.

Last year they decided to come home to Little Heart's Ease.

Possible solution

Desperate for pain relief, Spurrell and his family began consulting with doctors in the hope of finding a solution.

Conventional surgery - requiring an invasive operation to allow surgeons to go into the spinal area and grind down the discs - was one option. But the waiting list was about two years.

Then Spurrell learned another possibility, laser surgery offered at a United States clinic.

And he chanced to meet someone who had already been down that road.

Clarenville resident Reilly Fitzgerald was forced to give up his teaching career when the pain from degenerative discs grew too intense for him to function.

He spent months confined to his bed, barely able to walk due to the intensity of the pain.

Like Spurrell, Fitzgerald was desperate for a cure. And a search of the Internet gave him what he was looking for.

Fitzgerald underwent laser surgery at the Laser Spine Institute in Florida in the summer of 2008. The procedure is a day surgery, involving a two-inch incision along the spine, to allow doctors to insert a laser and treat the deteriorated discs.

Today, Fitzgerald is nearly pain free, back to teaching full time and enjoying most of his favorite activities; softball, snow shovelling and lawn mowing are out, however.

Still, it's a far cry from being bedridden and racked with constant pain.

Spurrell, who's talked with Fitzgerald to learn more about the laser surgery, hopes his story will turn out the same.

In addition to the benefit of Fitzgerald's own experience, Spurrell says the other man has been good to just talk to.

"It's nice to have someone to talk to who understands what you're going through," he says.

His surgery in the US is scheduled for March 24. If everything goes well, Spurrell hopes to be on his feet again, and relatively pain free, within weeks.

"Even if it takes away only 60 percent of the pain, it will be better than being like this," he says from the hospital bed in the basement rec room of his parents' home.

"My hope is to get my life back, to get my spirit back, to get more sleep and to be able to do the things I've always done; to go back to work and to not feel like I'm just a bum, a drain on my family."

Community helping

Like Fitzgerald, Spurrell has to rely on the generosity of friends and strangers to enable him to get to Florida.

The federal and provincial government's refuse to cover the cost of the treatment. Even though many Canadians have had success with the procedure - some paying the $30,000 or more cost out of their own pocket - the government considers the treatment 'experimental.'

The initial call for help came from his 11-year-old nephew, who lives in Alberta.

James Pond started a Facebook group called "Save a Relative" to let people know his uncle's situation.

Spurrell's sister, Kim, who gave up her job in Alberta to come home and provide emotional support for her brother and parents, says the local community is also providing great support and help.

The local Lions club, Army Cadets, and family friends like Viola Benson and Berkley Stone, have been busy these past few weeks organizing fundraisers.

Their aim is to try to raise the $50,000 that may be needed to cover the cost of Spurrell's surgeries - he may need two.

On the weekend Benson and others held a bake sale in Gooseberry Cove.

This weekend the South West Arm Army Cadets are holding a bottle drive and the South West Arm Lions are holding a sing-a-long at 7 p.m. at their club in Hodge's Cove. Donations will be accepted at the door.

The following weekend, on March 12, Berkley Stone and friends are holding a sing-along at the Salvation Army in Clarenville. The admission fee of $5 will go to the Terry Spurrell Trust Fund. Tickets for that event are on sale at Needs Convenience Store and the Salvation Army Thrift Store in Clarenville.

Rebecca Dean is organizing a volleyball tournament for March 13 at Southwest Arm Academy. The registration fee of $10 per player will go to the Spurrells. To register a team, contact Dean at becca.ms@hotmail.com

The Lions Club of Hodge's Cove has a benefit dance planned for that same evening; donations will be taken at the door, and a goods bingo tentatively planned for March 17. Donations are being accepted; contact Donna Smith at 548-2531.

An account has also been set up at Scotiabank in Clarenville. Anyone who would like to contribute should ask for the "Terry Spurrell Trust Fund."

The efforts of local people give the Spurrells at least a little bit of relief in a situation that has taken a toll on them - emotionally and physically.

"It's been a great help," says Kim Spurrell, adding, "All we want is for Terry to have a life."

editor@thepacket.ca