Political decisions and chronic pain

500 years later: Henry VIII, leg ulcers and the course of history - PMC

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Persistent chronic leg ulcers have been shown to seriously adversely affect quality of life even in the age of modern medical treatment and analgesia.17 For Henry, racked with pain and repetitive infection, his ulcers regularly cauterized with red-hot irons, the situation must have been intolerable. The effect of chronic pain on the temperament is well recognized and the actions of many a historical figure have been linked to their personal physical misery. Judge Jeffries (1645–1689), widely known as the ‘Hanging Judge’ for his merciless punishment of King James II's enemies after the Monmouth Rebellion, was reputed to be in such a foul temper because of the bladder stones bouncing up and down on his trigone while travelling to the Bloody Assizes in a poorly-sprung carriage over potholed roads;18 and Napoleon Bonaparte's painful haemorrhoids left him sullen and quick to anger, unable to survey his troops by horseback at the Battle of Waterloo.19 Henry's vile temper was undoubtedly influenced by his clinical situation. Although he did not bear his suffering with fortitude, and his latter years were characterized by frequent tempestuous rages and cruelty, viciously turning on those that he had once patronised, he was courageous in his refusal to lie a-bed, allowing a fleeting glimpse of the valiant prince he used to be.

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At Each Kilometer said:

Lenin suffered his first stroke in May 1922. The illness progressed unevenly, there were short remissions, followed by deteriorations. He suffered a second stroke followed by right sided paralysis in December 1922. Despite his condition, he continued to dictate notes and articles on party affairs. Lenin asked again and again for poison in order to commit suicide, alas in vain, and in March 1923, a third stroke followed, which left him speechless vegetable, although he lived for another ten months.

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By May, he appeared to be making a slow recovery, regaining some of his mobility, speech, and writing skills.

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Soon he began to walk with assistance. In the beginning of August he commenced exercises for the restoration of speech. Lenin was so much better that Rozanov, as he writes in his memoirs, went on a month’s vacation.
Lenin now objected to medicines, drove away the nurses, and refused to be examined by the physicians.

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In September the doctors, aided by shoemakers, fitted Lenin with orthopedic shoes and he started to walk in his room using a cane for support. The next month he showed further improvement. Krupskaya, with infinite patience, tried to teach him to utter a few simple words. He looked at the newspaper and indicated the items he wanted read to him.

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While Skvortsov-Stepanov told Lenin about the elections to the Moscow Soviet he paid little attention and looked at books lying on the table. But when the visitor mentioned the extension of streetcar service to the outlying proletarian wards of the city and the closing of beer saloons, Lenin “began to listen attentively” and uttered “the only word he had mastered well: ‘Vot, vot,’ ”"—That’s it, that’s it.

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The same month he began, with great difficulty, to write with his left hand.

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