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The Untouchables
Posted in The Kitchen Sink on Fri, October 03, 2008
I’ve had neck trouble and pain for years. Nothing you can really point to other than age and too many hits in football. On a daily basis I live with a pain level of about 6 (10 being really bad). Sometimes it ramps up to 9, and brings a migraine with it. Occasionally it’ll back down to 4 or 5. Oftentimes my right hand tingles. Umpteen x-rays and MRI’s have confirmed absolutely nothing. A little stenosis (tightening of the space around the nerve) and a little arthritis, loss of curvature, but nothing that you can put your finger on and say, “If we cut that out it will take your pain away.”
Quite frustrating.
Anyway, I finally broke down yesterday and went to a ‘pain management’ doc to get a cortisone shot. Good guy, spoke my language, I liked him. He said, “Do you have a ride home?”
I shook my head.
“You might want to get one.”
I called Christy, “Hey Honey, can you come get me…?” We’re trying to get out of town tomorrow so that’s just what she wanted thrown into the middle of her day. I told him, “Got a ride.”
He said, “Lay here, face down…You’re going to feel a little prick…”
The rest of this is a little fuzzy.
I remember sitting up and noticed the world started spinning a little faster. He looked at me kind of funny. “You okay?”
“Yeah…just a little whoozy. I’m good.” He gave me some medicine, free samples for our trip, and we scheduled my return appointment. I even typed in that appointment into the calendar of my phone. He said something like, “If this works, we might want to add a ‘booster’ shot when you come back.” I nodded in agreement.
I waited a few minutes, “Just to be sure I was okay” and then walked myself to the elevator. I remember pushing the button and seeing it light up.
You ever see the movie ‘The Untouchables?’ Remember that scene when they’re on the elevator, riding down with the accountant. Kevin Costner opens the door to find his buddy’s body, riddled with bullets and blood. Well, that’s what Christy found when she opened the door, minus the bullets and blood. Next thing I knew I was lying on a bench in the foyer sweating like I’d just run a marathon. Not sure how I got from the elevator to the bench. Ten minutes later I found myself in the doc’s office breathing O2 and trying to stop the world from spinning.
I spent most of yesterday afternoon in bed. My kids kept walking in, ”Daddy…you okay?”
“Yeah.”
Woke up this morning thinking about writing a story about a writer who goes to a ‘pain management’ doc for pain relief. Thinking it might be a murder mystery. Maybe Costner could star.
I’ll keep you posted.
Hi Charles, My wife and I went to a Christian marriage retreat this weekend and your name came up when we were talking about Christian favorite authors. I came home and did a search to become more familiar with your work so that I could buy one of your books.
After reading your personal expeience in “The Untouchables,” I felt I should at least share that I had the very same problem for years. Every day, especially around 5 pm, I would have neck pain that steadily got worse. I had MRIs and xrays, which also showed nothing. I finally found relief after seeing an upper cervical doctor (NUCCA) for a few months. It was a very gentle treatment that I couldn’t believe was doing anything, but incredibly my neck pain became less frequent and when it did start to bother again, I would just go back for a little adjustment. It has been several years now and I can now go months at a time without having to get those readjustments. Blessings and best wishes.
Haha my dad would probably like that book :) Hope you are feeling better.
I just read my first of your books (Rain) and absolutely loved it. Please be very careful about taking cortisone, or any other drugs - - research their side effects. As a kid, my favorite saying was, “pain in the neck,” and guess what I ended up with - - pain in my neck. Buy and read Charles Capps’ book about the authority of your words, THE TONGUE-A CREATIVE FORCE. Changing my words to line up with God’s words, and regular visits to a good chiropractor, have taken care of my neck. Your writing skills are a gift from God. The devil is trying to stop you. As Ella would quite, “no weapon formed against you shall prosper.”
Hey, I just got back from St. Augustine/Palatka. A good friends wedding. But the whole time I thought of you as we did a lot of driving and the river is everywhere!
Have you ever tried Whole Body Vibration? A local gym might have a machine you could try out.
I sell them, but not across the border.
Sorry to hear your trip to the pain doc was a pain in the rear.
I read, a lot. Anything, everything on most every subject. I’ve just finished “Where the River Ends” and in truth my words couldn’t begin to describe the way I feel. I have never in all of my 66 years of life been so touched and overwhelmed by a book. The tears continue to flow, my throat is completely stopped up where I can’t speak, my emotions are right ‘out there’ for all to see. Thank you Charles Martin for opening my eyes. That you for giving me the gift of knowing that no matter what, life is good, and worth living for. Thank you for your amazing talent and gifts. I will never doubt my own heartfelt feelings again.
The first book of yours I read was “When Crickets Cry”. I picked it up at a bookstore and saw that you lived “a stone’s throw from the St. John’s River”. I did not want it to end. I have since bought all of your books. You are truly a gifted writer and I feel the way Sue Marsh feels about your gift. I am now reading “Wrapped in Rain”. It is the last one until you publish another although I know I will re-read some of them. The first page sent me back to my past. I lived on Cunningham Creek for ten years. I would sit on the bank and read and watch the manatees, gators, and the otters play. Cunningham Creek is one creek up from Julington Creek, I believe. I skied on Cunningham with friends who lived on it and went to Clark’s many a time. I know Julington Creek Marina well. Friends of mine had and still have a sailboat there and other friends would play music there from time to time. Myofascial release developed by John T. Barnes is a treatment for chronic pain. My sister-in-law Linda, who grew up in Jacksonville, practices it and was trained by him. She worked on both of my horses recently. The change in one treatment convinced me of its value. You might try reading “The Renegade’s Wisdom” by John. That is the book she recommended when I wanted to learn about it.
Just finished reading’ Where the river ends’, so pleased to have dicovered you and look forward to reading the rest of your work.
I found your first book that I read “Wrapped In Rain” at the back of Southern Living magazine and I have read all of your books. You are a gifted writer. Your heart shows though every book. I look forward to your next book. It is not often you find an author that shares his soul.
So glad you have a blog! :) Read Crickets a while back, my all time favorite book right now. Good job. It takes a lot for me to say that. But in regards to the post… yeah, I can relate. Weird. I think mine comes from holding baby’s too much. But the migraine thing… I hate that. And then I feel like I’m going to throw up.
You are a Christian author like no other! I work in a public library, so I see most of the best seller fiction that is published, and so much of it is unapplealing due to language or content issues. On the other hand, a great deal of Christian fiction seems insipid to me. My library has purchased your books and one audio book. Thanks for a completely fresh approach and for engaging characters!
I’m kind of surprised, but so far no one has posted a comment regarding prayer for your chronic pain! This year my pastor challenged us to pray for 1 person 1 minute at 1 o’clock for 1 month. God has given me wonderful outcomes!! I will pray for you, Charles, during the month of December 2008, and I hope others will see this comment and pray for you also.
The first book of yours that I read was When Crickets Cry. I wasn’t looking for a book; I was just window shopping when I happened to look down and saw your book on the bottom book shelf. The title intrigued me because I had a sister whose nickname was Cricket; she died quite young.
I picked up the book and read the first paragraph and was hooked and have been hooked ever since! I have read all your books, given them as gifts, and can’t wait for the next one. You are such an eloquent writer and your message lingers in one’s heart. Without a doubt, you are my favorite author so please keep them coming.
You are with the same publisher as me and when I saw your book ‘Where the River Ends’ in their catalogue ordered it. Fabulous, I couldn’t put it down!
re your pain and non conventional diagnosis. I suggest that you contact Dr James Oschman, a leading US researcher and lecturer in energy medicine. He knows lots of people who may be able to help you. I have had a lot of pain myself due to numerous injuries mostly falling off horses, but have been greatly helped by people who find the focus of that pain in my body .
I can send James Oschman’s email address if you email me.
with best wishes
Margrit Coates
I was just checking out your website and looking for information on your next book, when I found your blog. I *never* post on blogs, but felt compelled to tell you to that there are options out there for the pain you describe. My husband was just treated for similar neck pain with migraines and has finally found relief through a nerve block , which I believe is different from a cortisone shot. Since that was successful, he will be undergoing final treatment with radio frequency to kill the nerve tomorrow. If you haven’t had treatment like this yet, you could find a practice that is similar to this one: http://www.cc4pm.com/
I hope that I haven’t embarrassed myself publicly by posting this :) , and this is *not* meant to be an advertisement for this medical practice.
Jean
A few months ago I read When Crickets Cry, I am now in the middle of Wrapped in Rain- you are now one of my new favorite authors. I really enjoy your writing style and can relate to the issues and emotions in your characters , they are completely believable . . . this is a difficult thing to find in Christian fiction.
I agree with Betsy a few posts above me. I think we easily attribute celebrity status to those with certain giftings, put them on a pedestal and take for granted how vulnerable they are to the attacks of the enemy. I pray that you would experience God’s healing power in your life, that you would remain encouraged and strengthened to continue to bless and edify others with the gift God has given you. I pray that you and your family would be strengthened and refreshed in your times of rest. May God bless the words of your mouth and the works of your hands and that you would receive 10 fold what you pour out to others.
I look forward to jumping into your other books!
I just found you as an author about 6 months ago and I have since read everything that you have written… twice. I know you probably get a lot of comparisons to that other southern romance novelist, Nicholas Sparks, but to me there is no comparison. The depths of emotion, the purity of the prose and the non-linear way the stories play out on the pages grabs the reader and makes you NOT want to dash to the end of the book but to slowly savor it and re-read passages or chapters immediately to feel once again the emotion, the truth, the beauty. I have dashed to the end of Nicholas Sparks’ novels and have never read any of them again. In my library, if you are a “two-timer” author that is a very good thing. Thank you Charles for pursuing your dream and sharing your talent with us. In every word of Where the River Ends I thought only a writer who truly loves could make a reader believe that Doss is just one crack from a completely shattered life, but that Abbie is what holds him together. So, most of all, thank you Christy for sharing your husband with the world.