“They’re going to turn me into a bionic woman!” – Ex-teacher’s nightmare
By Alicia Lloyd
A devoted dance teacher faces losing her arm after a freak accident at work.
Nicola Mayes, 31, slipped and broke her wrist while teaching her A – level dance class, she was rushed to A&E in excruciating pain, with no idea that from this point on that she had been left disabled.
After weeks of being told it was just a broken wrist, her doctor broke the devastating news that this was much more. She was diagnosed with CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) a rare condition that leaves her in intense pain, leaving her bed ridden on what she calls her “high pain days”.
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Even the slightest touch can aggravate her hand, causing red swelling and immense pain, the strength of the painkillers she has to take is enough to knock her out for hours.
“There’s nothing I can do about it, I just have to accept it, if I stay in bed all day I stay in bed all day. I try to remember that on a high pain day, that these days aren’t every day.” she says.
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Dancing was her whole world, a hobby and her career, this is something she has pursued her entire life, she said: “It’s hard for me to accept. I was a dancer, I was incredibly active, I never, in a million years imagined myself being disabled.”
The diagnosis is only the start of her long journey, the intense nature of her condition and the unimaginable pain she suffers from, Nicola has had no choice but to leave her job of teaching stop dancing altogether, things that she never thought she’d be without.
Her future is looking busy, with a legal case in the pipeline and major surgery lined up, 2017 is looking like a tough year, she said:
“I’ve been awarded in industrial injuries benefits recognised by the Health and Safety executive because I’ve officially been registered disabled due to an accident in my place of work.
“This year there’s going to be a whole heap of medical stuff happening. I’ve gotta have physical and psychological assessments to determine whether my body and my mind-set are up to having such a major operation, I’ve got to do a two week stay at the hospital which will be intense rehab and physiotherapy.
“Then if that as the desired effect I have to have it properly fitted so they fit the device onto the spinal cord, with the wires, then you have a battery pack placed underneath your hip, It’s like they’re going to turn me into a bionic woman; part woman, part robot.”
These major operations and assessments are all there to avoid the final resort; amputation.
She has taken the steps to start a brighter future by starting a new flexible career, working with the sell from home brand, Younique. She says this has opened doors for her and being able to work around her CRPS is a God-sent.
By Alicia Lloyd (@Alicia_Tweeted)