SANDRA HINTZEN hardly moves out of bed because it is too painful.

by MELISSA ROLLOCK

Even if my mother and father forsake me, God will take care of me. – Psalm 27:10.

IMAGINE HAVING IT ALL – family, friends, good health, a nice house – and then losing everything in the blink of an eye.

Sandra Hintzen doesn't have to imagine, she's living it.

Once a lively, outgoing woman, she has almost been reduced to a cripple, a recluse who spends her days confined to a bed and shut up in a tiny apartment, depending on strangers to help her perform simple tasks.

She woke up one morning in February this year, and tried to get out of bed only to realise she couldn't move her legs.

"I had to push myself from off the bed and onto the ground using my hands. It started with a numbness at the bottom of my feet," she told the SUNDAY SUN.

Frightened and alone, Sandra visited a polyclinic and one doctor suggested that her condition could be sciatica – pain, tingling or numbness produced by an irritation of the nerve roots that lead to the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve is formed by the nerve roots coming out of the spinal cord into the lower back. Branches of the sciatic nerve extend through the buttocks and down the back of each leg to the ankle and foot.

It could've been brought on by an old injury to her back. This made sense to the 52-year-old former businesswoman who sustained a back injury at the age of 13 in a car accident.

The doctor prescribed some medication for the pain, advising her to return if her symptoms did not improve.

Sure enough, four days later, Sandra was back in the doctor's office writhing in pain.

She was sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for tests, but doctors are still trying to figure out the exact cause of her pain. An MRI last month eliminated the possibility of tumours on her spine. But not knowing what is really wrong with her is torture in itself.

"The pain starts from my feet all the way up to my neck," explained Sandra as her body jerked periodically throughout the interview from the jolting pain.

"It's like having lightning bolts go through your body."

Initially, she could move around with a walker, but now just standing results in extreme discomfort, so she is confined to bed most of the time. Her feet are swollen and discoloured and the slightest thing – even cold air or air-conditioning – brings on excruciating pain.

That explained why all of the windows in her small apartment were clamped shut. She keeps both feet mummified in bandages to keep out the cold air.

What makes going through such an ordeal even more difficult, is having to do so all alone.

Sandra's family, most of whom live overseas, have cut off all communication with her because of a family squabble.

She has no children nor any other relatives here. She is the only Barbadian in her family, who all originate from Guyana.

Her parents' eight-bedroom home was taken away a few years ago because of financial difficulties, so she had to find alternative accommodation.

And, the one place Sandra thought she could turn to for help – the church – also forsook her.

"I called 17 pastors to help me. Many of them asked me why don't I get Government to help me? They never showed up or helped.

"I didn't want money. Besides prayer, I wanted them to call and encourage me. I was thinking that if a member of the church was going in Town because I can't go, they could call and ask: 'Well Sandra, do you need anything?' You know, meaningful support.

"I visited many of their churches when I was well. I made monetary donations. I even used to put them up where I used to live and so on. One pastor told me he doesn't want to get involved. I said to myself, 'You know what? They are right because I don't know why I am calling them'. The only one who helped me was Pastor Lowe.

"They know I can't get to church but not one of them said they would send someone to collect me to take me to church," said a wounded Sandra.

In the meantime, she is trying to put her faith in Government. She receives help from the National Assistance Board's Meals On Wheels programme and a home helper who shops for her toiletries.

While she has some savings, that "will soon run out" so Sandra is hoping for some assistance.

"I only started getting assistance recently. I don't get anything from NIS [National Insurance Scheme] even though I paid it when I was working. My biggest fear is losing my feet. If that happens, I will need 24-hour care and I can't afford that," said Sandra.

Her medical journey seems far from over. She has an appointment with another specialist this month who will hopefully bring some ease to her daily suffering.

"You take your whole body for granted until something goes wrong with it," she said, grimacing from another jolt of pain.

melissawickham@nationnews.com