Thursday, March 27, 2008
Better Day
I felt I should report in that I had a much better day today. Maybe slightly better than "normal". I was able to go and run several errands. It didn't wear me out quite as bad as usual. Maybe the chiropractor is helping more than I realize. I haven't been noticing the relief from adjustments like I used to. I went yesterday afternoon so maybe that played a part in helping me feel better today. I also slept great last night. That always helps. I still hurt some but I consider that part of normal. But it was a good day...
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Rough day
Today was not a good day pain wise. Numerous pain locations were screaming at me. I don't know what triggered it. Usually I can pinpoint why it's an especially bad day but not this time. I could not get comfortable last night to go to sleep and did not sleep well and woke up in a lot of pain. It got better through the day and I change my chiropractor appt to this afternoon and I think that helped some too. I'm trying to focus on the fact that I had several relatively good weeks and not focus on (what I hope is) one bad day.
After talking to a friend with chronic fatigue issues it could have been the cold weather last night. DS6 had a baseball practice game and it was chilly. The wind was what made it bad. She told me that cold weather can aggravate conditions like that and after she said that I remembered reading it. But it could have an a few other things as well.
After talking to a friend with chronic fatigue issues it could have been the cold weather last night. DS6 had a baseball practice game and it was chilly. The wind was what made it bad. She told me that cold weather can aggravate conditions like that and after she said that I remembered reading it. But it could have an a few other things as well.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Pain Update
I haven't posted since I finished catching up on the past (almost) year. There's not really anything significant to report.
I think the new medicine is helping. It is not significant but I have not had the shooting pain in my leg for several weeks. I did have a little bit early this evening but that was the first in several weeks. I think they will suggest that I increase the dosage but I need to talk to them. I think I am having some minor swelling in my feet and hands as they just feel tight.
It seems the pain just moves around and nags in a different location every few days. The last few days I seem to have a "catch" in my hip or something. Not sure how to explain it. It is painful to have to bend over to pick something up. The spot near my shoulder blade has let up the last few days but was back again today. It's really hard to figure out how to treat something if the focus of pain varies so much.
Overall, I've had a couple of good weeks. I feel like I'm continuing to deal with the pain better and cope better. I do the things that I have to do (errands, DS6 to and from school, church, etc.) but I don't do much extra that involves any physical exertion. I have to spread errands out over several days instead of tackling them all in one day. Going to the grocery store or a major Target trip is very tiring physically because of the amount of walking. I don't do a lot of housework because of my back. I wish I could more because I do feel guilty at times that DH has to do it after working all day.
My ear has been hurting again this week. It hasn't really felt any different but it hasn't been hurting. I'm not supposed to go back until Apr 2 but I may call this week. I'm bummed that it has started hurting again.
I think the new medicine is helping. It is not significant but I have not had the shooting pain in my leg for several weeks. I did have a little bit early this evening but that was the first in several weeks. I think they will suggest that I increase the dosage but I need to talk to them. I think I am having some minor swelling in my feet and hands as they just feel tight.
It seems the pain just moves around and nags in a different location every few days. The last few days I seem to have a "catch" in my hip or something. Not sure how to explain it. It is painful to have to bend over to pick something up. The spot near my shoulder blade has let up the last few days but was back again today. It's really hard to figure out how to treat something if the focus of pain varies so much.
Overall, I've had a couple of good weeks. I feel like I'm continuing to deal with the pain better and cope better. I do the things that I have to do (errands, DS6 to and from school, church, etc.) but I don't do much extra that involves any physical exertion. I have to spread errands out over several days instead of tackling them all in one day. Going to the grocery store or a major Target trip is very tiring physically because of the amount of walking. I don't do a lot of housework because of my back. I wish I could more because I do feel guilty at times that DH has to do it after working all day.
My ear has been hurting again this week. It hasn't really felt any different but it hasn't been hurting. I'm not supposed to go back until Apr 2 but I may call this week. I'm bummed that it has started hurting again.
Friday, March 14, 2008
March 2008
Almost done with the updating...
My ear continued popping. The first three days of the month it popped a lot. Still nothing in the way it felt overall. It has popped occasionally since then but nothing major and still no change.
As far as my back goes, I've had somewhat of a set-back and I've had to "recover" from it. The consignment sale was this month. The shopping night really did me in. It took me a couple of days to feel better. It just takes a long time to look through the stuff and then make sure they will fit and they aren't stained and so forth. It would not have been so taxing on me if it didn't take so long. Then the day after I worked my shift (to get to shop early) I was pretty worn out again. Also, probably just from the amount of time. I am doing better. I have my usual pain but it seems to be tolerable most days.
I don't really know if the medicine is helping or not. I've been taking it for 2 weeks now. I'm not having the shooting pain in my leg so maybe it is helping. I will call the pain clinic sometime after I've been on it 3 weeks and talk to them again about it.
I am having a spot of pain in my shoulder blade. It's really been bothering me for a while but it wasn't so bad until lately. My chiro has tried adjusting it but it's just excruciating when he does. When that lets up it feels good for a little bit. He wants to do an MRI of my middle back and see if there is something going on there. Not sure when that will be yet.
In general, I am able to function fine. I can do most of the things I want. Sometimes I do things I shouldn't but then that's probably true of all of us. I just really try to be careful to not do too much. Sometimes errands need to be spread out over several days instead of tackling it all in one. Getting out and spending time with friends or being at church or whatever is good therapy and often helps me forget my ailments.
So now I'm all caught up and will do occasional posts when I have something to report.
My ear continued popping. The first three days of the month it popped a lot. Still nothing in the way it felt overall. It has popped occasionally since then but nothing major and still no change.
As far as my back goes, I've had somewhat of a set-back and I've had to "recover" from it. The consignment sale was this month. The shopping night really did me in. It took me a couple of days to feel better. It just takes a long time to look through the stuff and then make sure they will fit and they aren't stained and so forth. It would not have been so taxing on me if it didn't take so long. Then the day after I worked my shift (to get to shop early) I was pretty worn out again. Also, probably just from the amount of time. I am doing better. I have my usual pain but it seems to be tolerable most days.
I don't really know if the medicine is helping or not. I've been taking it for 2 weeks now. I'm not having the shooting pain in my leg so maybe it is helping. I will call the pain clinic sometime after I've been on it 3 weeks and talk to them again about it.
I am having a spot of pain in my shoulder blade. It's really been bothering me for a while but it wasn't so bad until lately. My chiro has tried adjusting it but it's just excruciating when he does. When that lets up it feels good for a little bit. He wants to do an MRI of my middle back and see if there is something going on there. Not sure when that will be yet.
In general, I am able to function fine. I can do most of the things I want. Sometimes I do things I shouldn't but then that's probably true of all of us. I just really try to be careful to not do too much. Sometimes errands need to be spread out over several days instead of tackling it all in one. Getting out and spending time with friends or being at church or whatever is good therapy and often helps me forget my ailments.
So now I'm all caught up and will do occasional posts when I have something to report.
Feb 2008
So I started the month with having a tube put in my ear. The procedure wasn't bad. The didn't put me to sleep. In fact it was done in the office. He put a shot or something in my ear to numb it and then cut the hole and put the tube it. It didn't hurt but it felt weird and even more it sounded weird. I could "hear" everything amplified because it was right there in my ear. It did hurt some after the procedure and everything I heard seemed amplified. He said it could take a couple of weeks to really see a difference.
Several people at church asked how I was doing the following Sun. I don't know if any of them knew about the tube being put in so it was a general question. While I had to tell them that I was about the same I was able to tell them that I was coping better. That is a miracle in itself. Honestly, I have felt like I have a better handle on dealing with my ailments. I know it's because people are praying for me and specifically that has been my main prayer. Yes, I pray that I will be completely healed but I also pray that God will give me the perseverance through this time and I believe that He is answering that. It is encouraging to be able to say that I am seeing an answer to prayer. I believe that how you are able to handle and cope makes a big difference on how you feel. Like it's half the battle or something. I am very grateful to be able to say that I do feel that God is with me even if I'm still in the "pit". Knowing I am not alone is a wonderful thing.
I went back to the ENT on Feb 20 for a check after the tube. I wasn't able to tell any difference. It wasn't really hurting anymore but it still felt stopped up. In a nutshell, he said we wait some more. It was very frustrating. I go back in 6 weeks which ends up being Apr 2. At that point he may take the tube out and/or he may refer me to an ear specialist (someone who only deals with hears instead of someone like him who deals with ear, nose, and throat). Apparently the eustation tube can just take a while to get better.
Why does my body have to be so difficult to respond to treatment and get better???
On Wed night, Feb 27 my ear started popping. It popped once that night and again the next day. It started hurting a little right after but it eased up. It popped a whole lot Fri morning, probably 5-6 times within an hour or so. So far no permanent difference but I can't help but think this is a good thing... There is often an annoying sound in my ear and it drives me much.
Also on Wed, Feb 27 I went back to the pain clinic on Wed to talk about what's going on and to see where I could go from here. In a nutshell, they really suggested another injection but I just don't have a lot of hope in that right now. I may try it again but not right now. So we decided I would try the medicine route. There's a fairly new drug that they use for seizures and fibromyalgia. Basically it helps relax the nerves from what I understand. It should help the nerves not recognize pain and send pain signals. At least that was how I understand it from what she said. But I'm hopeful about the prospects. It can take a couple of weeks to see if it helps. I'm not a big fan of having to take something every day but if it works...
Several people at church asked how I was doing the following Sun. I don't know if any of them knew about the tube being put in so it was a general question. While I had to tell them that I was about the same I was able to tell them that I was coping better. That is a miracle in itself. Honestly, I have felt like I have a better handle on dealing with my ailments. I know it's because people are praying for me and specifically that has been my main prayer. Yes, I pray that I will be completely healed but I also pray that God will give me the perseverance through this time and I believe that He is answering that. It is encouraging to be able to say that I am seeing an answer to prayer. I believe that how you are able to handle and cope makes a big difference on how you feel. Like it's half the battle or something. I am very grateful to be able to say that I do feel that God is with me even if I'm still in the "pit". Knowing I am not alone is a wonderful thing.
I went back to the ENT on Feb 20 for a check after the tube. I wasn't able to tell any difference. It wasn't really hurting anymore but it still felt stopped up. In a nutshell, he said we wait some more. It was very frustrating. I go back in 6 weeks which ends up being Apr 2. At that point he may take the tube out and/or he may refer me to an ear specialist (someone who only deals with hears instead of someone like him who deals with ear, nose, and throat). Apparently the eustation tube can just take a while to get better.
Why does my body have to be so difficult to respond to treatment and get better???
On Wed night, Feb 27 my ear started popping. It popped once that night and again the next day. It started hurting a little right after but it eased up. It popped a whole lot Fri morning, probably 5-6 times within an hour or so. So far no permanent difference but I can't help but think this is a good thing... There is often an annoying sound in my ear and it drives me much.
Also on Wed, Feb 27 I went back to the pain clinic on Wed to talk about what's going on and to see where I could go from here. In a nutshell, they really suggested another injection but I just don't have a lot of hope in that right now. I may try it again but not right now. So we decided I would try the medicine route. There's a fairly new drug that they use for seizures and fibromyalgia. Basically it helps relax the nerves from what I understand. It should help the nerves not recognize pain and send pain signals. At least that was how I understand it from what she said. But I'm hopeful about the prospects. It can take a couple of weeks to see if it helps. I'm not a big fan of having to take something every day but if it works...
Jan 2008 Part 2
This is something I wrote on Jan 22. Bear with me, it's long but good.
I hate when I do a Bible Study and it starts to meddle. OK, really it's a good thing. We started a new study at church. It really started last week but this was the first week of "discussion" on it. You do 5 days worth of lessons and these happen to be very short. Then the next week you discuss it. The study is titled "Get a Life" by Vicki Courtney. It's about debunking myths about contentment. From the back of the book - "In John 10:10 Jesus said, 'I have come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly.' (NKJV) In spite of his bold proclamation, many Christians have settled for 'just a life' rather than the abundant life Christ intended. Some wonder if it is even possible for abundant and life to appear in the same sentence. Was Jesus talking to someone else? ... Vicki asks participants, 'Are you experiencing an abundant life? Or have you settled for just a life? It's never too late. The life you've always wanted is within your reach. Don't settle for less. Jesus claimed it. He meant it. now, go and ... get a life!"
The first lesson was titled "Smooth Life, Cherry on Top, Hold the Pits". Myth - "If I follow Christ, my life will be trouble free." Honestly, I know that's a myth but it's easy to fall into the thinking that as a Christian I won't have as many trouble or they won't be as bad or whatever but again I know that's not true. I can name countless people that are Christians and have faced great trials. I really should have aware from the title that this lesson was going to hit home. Cause it's right where I am and honestly where I've been for the last 9 months. The lesson was about the story of Joseph. He experienced what we would say was more than his fair share of trials and still came out the winner. If you aren't familiar with the story, here it is in a nutshell (my digest interpretation). Joseph was the favored of 12 brothers and his brothers plotted to kill him. They ended up selling him as a slave but he found favor with his master and was put in charge of everything. Then he was wrongly accused and put in prison for a long, long time. During this time he remained strong and faithful that God was going to use him and he did. While in prison he found favor with the warden and was put in charge there. Eventually he was released and again found himself in charge of great things. No matter what Joseph knew that God was with him and God would prevail. He never gave up hope. Really there is a lot more to the story and that really is a nutshell.
This lesson really hit home with me. I joked with them this morning that I did not like this study because it was already meddling and it was just the first week of the study. But seriously it was good meddling and just what I needed. Day 3's lesson was the big one for me. Genesis 39:2 says "The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered." That's a good reminder that God is with us and with that we have the ability to push through our trials. As she stated in the lesson, "He simply rested in the fact that though his circumstances seemed out of control, his God was not. Many of us have a head knowledge of this truth, but it hasn't taken root in our hearts." That is so where I'm at right now. In my head I KNOW that God is still right here with me. I KNOW He hasn't left me. But I just don't "feel" it in my heart. The journey has been long and I'm worn out and I just don't "feel" the things I know in my head are true. I shared that with them this morning and I got some real encouragement that I needed. Several of the ladies said that they can see that I still have faith and that even if I don't "feel" it, I'm still living it because I continue to get out of bed each day. I continue to take care of my kids/family to the extent I can and maybe even more than I feel like I can. I continue to be involved in church and Bible Study. I continue to get out of the house and do things. That was very encouraging to me. Good things to hear. That has really boosted my emotional state today and helped me feel good overall, despite the pain.
WOW!!!
To finish the Jan updates...
I went back to the ENT on Wed, Jan 23 for a re-check. They repeated the pressure and hearing tests and both came back normal this time - very good in fact. That was nice to hear but discouraging because based on those results he doesn't know why my ears were still hurting and still felt stopped up. His best guess was that it's related to the TMJ. This time he pushed on my jaw and said that I have severe TMJ. Thanks to him my jaw started hurting. It wasn't hurting before he pushed on it. He's ordered a CT of my sinuses to see if anything is going on in there. I've never experienced sinus problems so I was going to be surprised if there was something wrong. I had the CT the next Wed, Jan 30. The scan was clear, no problems from there. He repeated the pressure test and once again I measured on the stopped up range. It was bad. I don't know how I went from the first pressure test on Jan 2 being bad to the next one being normal to this one being bad again when I haven't felt any different. He decided since it was stopped up that a tube would be a good thing. He couldn't guarantee it would fix the problem but there was a good shot. That got scheduled for Fri morning - Feb 1.
I hate when I do a Bible Study and it starts to meddle. OK, really it's a good thing. We started a new study at church. It really started last week but this was the first week of "discussion" on it. You do 5 days worth of lessons and these happen to be very short. Then the next week you discuss it. The study is titled "Get a Life" by Vicki Courtney. It's about debunking myths about contentment. From the back of the book - "In John 10:10 Jesus said, 'I have come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly.' (NKJV) In spite of his bold proclamation, many Christians have settled for 'just a life' rather than the abundant life Christ intended. Some wonder if it is even possible for abundant and life to appear in the same sentence. Was Jesus talking to someone else? ... Vicki asks participants, 'Are you experiencing an abundant life? Or have you settled for just a life? It's never too late. The life you've always wanted is within your reach. Don't settle for less. Jesus claimed it. He meant it. now, go and ... get a life!"
The first lesson was titled "Smooth Life, Cherry on Top, Hold the Pits". Myth - "If I follow Christ, my life will be trouble free." Honestly, I know that's a myth but it's easy to fall into the thinking that as a Christian I won't have as many trouble or they won't be as bad or whatever but again I know that's not true. I can name countless people that are Christians and have faced great trials. I really should have aware from the title that this lesson was going to hit home. Cause it's right where I am and honestly where I've been for the last 9 months. The lesson was about the story of Joseph. He experienced what we would say was more than his fair share of trials and still came out the winner. If you aren't familiar with the story, here it is in a nutshell (my digest interpretation). Joseph was the favored of 12 brothers and his brothers plotted to kill him. They ended up selling him as a slave but he found favor with his master and was put in charge of everything. Then he was wrongly accused and put in prison for a long, long time. During this time he remained strong and faithful that God was going to use him and he did. While in prison he found favor with the warden and was put in charge there. Eventually he was released and again found himself in charge of great things. No matter what Joseph knew that God was with him and God would prevail. He never gave up hope. Really there is a lot more to the story and that really is a nutshell.
This lesson really hit home with me. I joked with them this morning that I did not like this study because it was already meddling and it was just the first week of the study. But seriously it was good meddling and just what I needed. Day 3's lesson was the big one for me. Genesis 39:2 says "The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered." That's a good reminder that God is with us and with that we have the ability to push through our trials. As she stated in the lesson, "He simply rested in the fact that though his circumstances seemed out of control, his God was not. Many of us have a head knowledge of this truth, but it hasn't taken root in our hearts." That is so where I'm at right now. In my head I KNOW that God is still right here with me. I KNOW He hasn't left me. But I just don't "feel" it in my heart. The journey has been long and I'm worn out and I just don't "feel" the things I know in my head are true. I shared that with them this morning and I got some real encouragement that I needed. Several of the ladies said that they can see that I still have faith and that even if I don't "feel" it, I'm still living it because I continue to get out of bed each day. I continue to take care of my kids/family to the extent I can and maybe even more than I feel like I can. I continue to be involved in church and Bible Study. I continue to get out of the house and do things. That was very encouraging to me. Good things to hear. That has really boosted my emotional state today and helped me feel good overall, despite the pain.
WOW!!!
To finish the Jan updates...
I went back to the ENT on Wed, Jan 23 for a re-check. They repeated the pressure and hearing tests and both came back normal this time - very good in fact. That was nice to hear but discouraging because based on those results he doesn't know why my ears were still hurting and still felt stopped up. His best guess was that it's related to the TMJ. This time he pushed on my jaw and said that I have severe TMJ. Thanks to him my jaw started hurting. It wasn't hurting before he pushed on it. He's ordered a CT of my sinuses to see if anything is going on in there. I've never experienced sinus problems so I was going to be surprised if there was something wrong. I had the CT the next Wed, Jan 30. The scan was clear, no problems from there. He repeated the pressure test and once again I measured on the stopped up range. It was bad. I don't know how I went from the first pressure test on Jan 2 being bad to the next one being normal to this one being bad again when I haven't felt any different. He decided since it was stopped up that a tube would be a good thing. He couldn't guarantee it would fix the problem but there was a good shot. That got scheduled for Fri morning - Feb 1.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Jan 2008 Part 1
So I had to reschedule my injection so that I could go to the ENT and hopefully get the ear problem straightened out. Since I didn't know what they were going to do and what kind of medicine they might put me on I couldn't reschedule until after I went to the ENT.
I went to the ENT on Jan 2. He said that my eustation tube looked fine but there was pressure in my ear. They did two ear things - a pressure test and a hearing test. There was a lot of pressure in my left ear and a little bit in my right ear but there is no fluid build-up or anything. My eardrum just wasn't moving good to allow the air to move through or whatever. I also had some hearing loss in my left ear right but none in my right. He stuck a camera thing into my nose (very strange feeling) and discovered that it's crooked (deviated septum? he didn't call it that but I'm thinking that's what it'd be?). The right side looked great but the left side had some mucus but nothing to be concerned about - no polyps or anything. So he gave me about 7 different things to take to see if we could clear it up. He told me to come back in three weeks to see how it was going. He didn't want to do anything procedure-wise for several months to see if it could be cleared up other ways. From what the referring dr had said I expected to go in and him to something to immediately fix the pressure so I was extremely bummed. I actually started to loose it and began crying. I was just tired of hurting whether it was my back, my leg, my ear, whatever. I had already mentioned my back to him and the fact that I was taking pain med regularly for that so he knew what I was dealing with. Through more talking he decided to also treat me for TMJ (which is part of the 7 different things I mentioned above). He seemed pretty sure that I was clenching my teeth from the stress whether I realized I was doing it or not. It was very overwhelming to have that on top of everything else. They told me to cut out crunchy, hard, tough, and chewy foods. I also had to stop playing my flute. (I'm hoping that is temporary but so far I haven't been back to orchestra.)
I had a couple of good weeks as far as my back goes. I think the fact that DH was home over Christmas and New Year's really helped a lot. I just didn't have to do as much. When school started back and I got back into the normal routine and tried to so returns/exchanges, I started hurting again. My ear wasn't getting any better either. BUT, I started doing better emotionally. I think I just got to a turning point and starting coping better.
HOWEVER! The coping well ended when I finally called to reschedule my injection. It's a long story but I'll try to give you a Reader's Digest version...
I finally called to see about scheduling something on Fri, Jan 11. I found out that there was an 8:30 opening on Mon morning that I could have. I just needed to find out if I could be off all the meds for a few days. So I called the ENT to see but they did not call me back until the end of the day on Fri and I immediately tried to call the pain clinic but the scheduling person was already gone.
So Mon morning I operated under the assumption that I would be able to call first thing Mon morning and still be able to get there are 8:30. I stopped all the meds for the weekend and made arrangements to have a driver and didn't eat that morning. I called Mon morning and she said sure, come on. After I got there and tried to check in they were reviewing my chart or something and I had to wait. I checked again about 20 mins later and she goes to track it down. She then comes back and says we have a slight problem. They needed a referral from my primary dr. We cannot figure out why they needed it when they had already had one before (although it seemed to be missing from my file). They called my dr to request it asap and I also called to see if they knew how long it would take and if it was worth it for me to stay or just go home. She told me to stay, she thought they could have it in a few mins. An hour passed and nothing so I called again and she said they had just been swamped. So I left and went home very discouraged and frustrated. The way it all transpired I think I would have had the same problem no matter when I went. They said they would get it to them by the end of the day.
Tues morning I ended up having to call back and forth to both places several times to find out where the referral was. I nearly got chewed out by my dr office for not having gotten the referral and blah, blah, blah. It wasn't even my fault since I didn't even know. It was a very frustrating few days to say the least. I had once again started out Tues morning like I was going to be able to go in and it worked out this time. They were able to get me in. I went back 1 1/2 hrs after my appt time and it was another half hour before I went to the procedure room. I did fine again but was a bit more sore. I iced it frequently for several days to help. That was Jan 15.
I forgot how long this would end up being so I'll make two posts out of it. The next post is good - God really starts talking to me or rather I really start listening...
I went to the ENT on Jan 2. He said that my eustation tube looked fine but there was pressure in my ear. They did two ear things - a pressure test and a hearing test. There was a lot of pressure in my left ear and a little bit in my right ear but there is no fluid build-up or anything. My eardrum just wasn't moving good to allow the air to move through or whatever. I also had some hearing loss in my left ear right but none in my right. He stuck a camera thing into my nose (very strange feeling) and discovered that it's crooked (deviated septum? he didn't call it that but I'm thinking that's what it'd be?). The right side looked great but the left side had some mucus but nothing to be concerned about - no polyps or anything. So he gave me about 7 different things to take to see if we could clear it up. He told me to come back in three weeks to see how it was going. He didn't want to do anything procedure-wise for several months to see if it could be cleared up other ways. From what the referring dr had said I expected to go in and him to something to immediately fix the pressure so I was extremely bummed. I actually started to loose it and began crying. I was just tired of hurting whether it was my back, my leg, my ear, whatever. I had already mentioned my back to him and the fact that I was taking pain med regularly for that so he knew what I was dealing with. Through more talking he decided to also treat me for TMJ (which is part of the 7 different things I mentioned above). He seemed pretty sure that I was clenching my teeth from the stress whether I realized I was doing it or not. It was very overwhelming to have that on top of everything else. They told me to cut out crunchy, hard, tough, and chewy foods. I also had to stop playing my flute. (I'm hoping that is temporary but so far I haven't been back to orchestra.)
I had a couple of good weeks as far as my back goes. I think the fact that DH was home over Christmas and New Year's really helped a lot. I just didn't have to do as much. When school started back and I got back into the normal routine and tried to so returns/exchanges, I started hurting again. My ear wasn't getting any better either. BUT, I started doing better emotionally. I think I just got to a turning point and starting coping better.
HOWEVER! The coping well ended when I finally called to reschedule my injection. It's a long story but I'll try to give you a Reader's Digest version...
I finally called to see about scheduling something on Fri, Jan 11. I found out that there was an 8:30 opening on Mon morning that I could have. I just needed to find out if I could be off all the meds for a few days. So I called the ENT to see but they did not call me back until the end of the day on Fri and I immediately tried to call the pain clinic but the scheduling person was already gone.
So Mon morning I operated under the assumption that I would be able to call first thing Mon morning and still be able to get there are 8:30. I stopped all the meds for the weekend and made arrangements to have a driver and didn't eat that morning. I called Mon morning and she said sure, come on. After I got there and tried to check in they were reviewing my chart or something and I had to wait. I checked again about 20 mins later and she goes to track it down. She then comes back and says we have a slight problem. They needed a referral from my primary dr. We cannot figure out why they needed it when they had already had one before (although it seemed to be missing from my file). They called my dr to request it asap and I also called to see if they knew how long it would take and if it was worth it for me to stay or just go home. She told me to stay, she thought they could have it in a few mins. An hour passed and nothing so I called again and she said they had just been swamped. So I left and went home very discouraged and frustrated. The way it all transpired I think I would have had the same problem no matter when I went. They said they would get it to them by the end of the day.
Tues morning I ended up having to call back and forth to both places several times to find out where the referral was. I nearly got chewed out by my dr office for not having gotten the referral and blah, blah, blah. It wasn't even my fault since I didn't even know. It was a very frustrating few days to say the least. I had once again started out Tues morning like I was going to be able to go in and it worked out this time. They were able to get me in. I went back 1 1/2 hrs after my appt time and it was another half hour before I went to the procedure room. I did fine again but was a bit more sore. I iced it frequently for several days to help. That was Jan 15.
I forgot how long this would end up being so I'll make two posts out of it. The next post is good - God really starts talking to me or rather I really start listening...
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Dec 2007
(last post for today... but we are almost up to date...)
The beginning of the month started out good. I was having another good week with my back. I did end up at the dr on the 5th with an ear infection. This was actually the 3rd one I had since Sept. I hadn't struggled with this before (at least not since I was a small child) so it was weird. I ended up back at the dr on the 12th because my ear was still hurting. The infection was gone but he said I had an eustation tube imbalance and gave me something for that.
I had a long journal entry about my frustrations at this point. I guess it had all just built up inside and I let it all out. Looking back I think this may have been a crucial first turning point though.
Here's what I wrote:
First, I'm going to try to be thankful/grateful for where I am at. Then I'm going to let it out...
I am thankful that I am able to get up everyday. I may not feel the best and I may hurt some but at least I CAN get up and function. I am able to take care of most of the things I need to for my family. It may not feel so good if I have to clean up something on the floor or sweep or whatever but I CAN do it. I can still drive, I can still do the things I want to do (most days), and I can function. Sometimes it just hurts more.
I'm also thankful for a wonderful husband who is extremely helpful around the house and always has been. He's a wonderful dad and husband.
All that said, I do need to vent just a little bit... Some days it is all I can do to make myself get out of bed to take care of the kids. If it wasn't for having them, I don't think I'd function at all. I think I would be in a permanent pity party (aka - depression). Some days I'm not far from it but they do keep me going. I hate being like this. I hate not feeling good and hurting. I hate that some days I can wake up and feel pretty good and then a few hours later I'm completely done in and I haven't even done much. I hate that I can't do as much as I used to. I hate that I have to say no to some things. I hate that I have to tell my kids that mommy doesn't feel good. I can't commit to stuff because I'm not really sure how I'm going to feel when the time comes. I hate that when I do feel good I feel the need to 'conquer the world' cause I might not feel good tomorrow. Of course I'm not because I just tried to conquer the world. I hate that I have to see the dr so much and drag DS3 around with me. (Thankfully, he is a great sport about it.)
As if the back trouble isn't enough, I had an ear infection a few weeks ago. It didn't seem to be any better so I went back to the dr. The infection is gone but there I have a eustation tube inbalance so he put me on something for that. I'm not totally sure that is better but we'll see.
I'm really glad that I had two good weeks from the last injection but I hate that that is all. I'm not nearly as bad as I was but I don't want to wait until that point to do anything about it. I JUST WANT TO FEEL LIKE MYSELF AGAIN!!!!
I had a visit with the pain dr this morning (Dec 17). I am going to have another injection like the last one I had. In hopes that it can feed off the other one somewhat and see if we can get even better results lasting longer than a few weeks. I have it scheduled for Jan 2. I could have tried to get something this week but I didn't think it would work out well schedule wise and I'm not that bad off to make it work. I did try to schedule something for the 26th or 27th but they were already full. I think having it after Christmas, when life naturally slows down, will also help me see if I've just been overdoing it or whatnot. He laid out possible things we could do and gave a couple of scenarios and all that. Figuring out how to treat pain is really a trial and error kind of thing to find out what works for me. I'm going to try this injection again and go from there. May even a few more. Sounded like it was something that I could likely do every few months or at least some people do that. That a few months of relief from that block (injection) is considered good. Of course, everyone would love it to be longer and it may turn out that way. If I get tired of doing this or feel it's not working good enough for me, then we will probably try a thing where they go in burn the nerve root. Apparently they can do that through the same type of needle used for the injection. One thing really good about this dr is that he has back issues and has injections as well so I feel like he sorta understands some and knows (to a degree) what it's like.
Keep praying for relief, for endurance to run this race, and wisdom on how to proceed.
Wow... It really was a breaking point.
On Dec 20th, I woke up in a lot of pain in my upper abdomen and I had not slept well all night. I ended up at the dr. He suspected I was passing another stone and told me to just strain and see if it passed. I never caught anything but the pain subsided in a few days so I don't know if he was right or not.
I survived Christmas. We only had our immediate family Christmas and then Christmas with my side of the family at this point. It wasn't too bad on me.
BUT... on Friday the 28th, my ear pain had gotten so bad that I was back at the dr. He said that I did not have an infection and referred me to an ENT. At first the soonest they were going to be able to get me in was Jan 7th but they called back and pleaded my case and got me an appt for Jan 2, which meant I had to postpone my injection.
More on that to come. This is as much as I'm going to update today/tonight and I doubt I'll be able to do any tomorrow...
The beginning of the month started out good. I was having another good week with my back. I did end up at the dr on the 5th with an ear infection. This was actually the 3rd one I had since Sept. I hadn't struggled with this before (at least not since I was a small child) so it was weird. I ended up back at the dr on the 12th because my ear was still hurting. The infection was gone but he said I had an eustation tube imbalance and gave me something for that.
I had a long journal entry about my frustrations at this point. I guess it had all just built up inside and I let it all out. Looking back I think this may have been a crucial first turning point though.
Here's what I wrote:
First, I'm going to try to be thankful/grateful for where I am at. Then I'm going to let it out...
I am thankful that I am able to get up everyday. I may not feel the best and I may hurt some but at least I CAN get up and function. I am able to take care of most of the things I need to for my family. It may not feel so good if I have to clean up something on the floor or sweep or whatever but I CAN do it. I can still drive, I can still do the things I want to do (most days), and I can function. Sometimes it just hurts more.
I'm also thankful for a wonderful husband who is extremely helpful around the house and always has been. He's a wonderful dad and husband.
All that said, I do need to vent just a little bit... Some days it is all I can do to make myself get out of bed to take care of the kids. If it wasn't for having them, I don't think I'd function at all. I think I would be in a permanent pity party (aka - depression). Some days I'm not far from it but they do keep me going. I hate being like this. I hate not feeling good and hurting. I hate that some days I can wake up and feel pretty good and then a few hours later I'm completely done in and I haven't even done much. I hate that I can't do as much as I used to. I hate that I have to say no to some things. I hate that I have to tell my kids that mommy doesn't feel good. I can't commit to stuff because I'm not really sure how I'm going to feel when the time comes. I hate that when I do feel good I feel the need to 'conquer the world' cause I might not feel good tomorrow. Of course I'm not because I just tried to conquer the world. I hate that I have to see the dr so much and drag DS3 around with me. (Thankfully, he is a great sport about it.)
As if the back trouble isn't enough, I had an ear infection a few weeks ago. It didn't seem to be any better so I went back to the dr. The infection is gone but there I have a eustation tube inbalance so he put me on something for that. I'm not totally sure that is better but we'll see.
I'm really glad that I had two good weeks from the last injection but I hate that that is all. I'm not nearly as bad as I was but I don't want to wait until that point to do anything about it. I JUST WANT TO FEEL LIKE MYSELF AGAIN!!!!
I had a visit with the pain dr this morning (Dec 17). I am going to have another injection like the last one I had. In hopes that it can feed off the other one somewhat and see if we can get even better results lasting longer than a few weeks. I have it scheduled for Jan 2. I could have tried to get something this week but I didn't think it would work out well schedule wise and I'm not that bad off to make it work. I did try to schedule something for the 26th or 27th but they were already full. I think having it after Christmas, when life naturally slows down, will also help me see if I've just been overdoing it or whatnot. He laid out possible things we could do and gave a couple of scenarios and all that. Figuring out how to treat pain is really a trial and error kind of thing to find out what works for me. I'm going to try this injection again and go from there. May even a few more. Sounded like it was something that I could likely do every few months or at least some people do that. That a few months of relief from that block (injection) is considered good. Of course, everyone would love it to be longer and it may turn out that way. If I get tired of doing this or feel it's not working good enough for me, then we will probably try a thing where they go in burn the nerve root. Apparently they can do that through the same type of needle used for the injection. One thing really good about this dr is that he has back issues and has injections as well so I feel like he sorta understands some and knows (to a degree) what it's like.
Keep praying for relief, for endurance to run this race, and wisdom on how to proceed.
Wow... It really was a breaking point.
On Dec 20th, I woke up in a lot of pain in my upper abdomen and I had not slept well all night. I ended up at the dr. He suspected I was passing another stone and told me to just strain and see if it passed. I never caught anything but the pain subsided in a few days so I don't know if he was right or not.
I survived Christmas. We only had our immediate family Christmas and then Christmas with my side of the family at this point. It wasn't too bad on me.
BUT... on Friday the 28th, my ear pain had gotten so bad that I was back at the dr. He said that I did not have an infection and referred me to an ENT. At first the soonest they were going to be able to get me in was Jan 7th but they called back and pleaded my case and got me an appt for Jan 2, which meant I had to postpone my injection.
More on that to come. This is as much as I'm going to update today/tonight and I doubt I'll be able to do any tomorrow...
Nov 2007
The epidural injection did not work as I'd hoped. I had some relief but it really was minimal. Mostly it helped the leg pain but did nothing for the back pain. I am grateful for the relief I had in my leg and for the fact that I had more energy than before. I think that's a (good) side effect of the steroid in the injection. But I was still disappointed to not have more relief.
I went back to see my "new" orthopedic dr on Nov 5. It had been two weeks since my injection. Since I had seen a little bit of improvement he recommended another injection. This time I was able to get something scheduled quicker and I went in Nov 16 for the second injection. They were running very behind and that about sent me over the edge that day. Mostly because I was very hungry and getting a bad headache. That combination makes me moody!!! The last time I had eaten was about 6:15 that morning and it was 4:00 when I was finally being prepped for the procedure. After talking to the dr, he decided to do something slightly different. Since the previous injection did help my leg/groin pain he felt like that was a success and wanted to focus more on what was probably causing the majority of my back pain and he felt that was from my scoliosis. Same general idea just different location of the injections.
He did two things. One was a facet block injection. Here's what I found online about that. "The facet joints are paired joints in the back that have opposing surfaces of cartilage (cushioning tissue between the bones) and a surrounding capsule. Twisting injuries can cause damage to one or both facet joints, and cartilage degeneration associated with aging may also cause pain. In a facet block procedure, a physician uses fluoroscopy (live x-ray) to guide the needle into the facet joint capsule to inject lidocaine (a numbing agent) and/or a steroid (an anti-inflammatory medication). If the patient’s pain goes away after the injection, it can be inferred that the pain generator is the specific facet joint capsule that has just been injected. If the facet block procedure is effective in alleviating the patient's low back pain, it is often considered reasonable for the procedure to be done up to three times per year. There are very few risks associated with this technique." The twisting injury in my case would be the scoliosis. He did three pairs on this injection. Then he did a caudal epidural injection. (At least I think that was the name of it.) Sounds like this is what I had before just in a different location. Caudal referring to tailbone as opposed to the one before being lumbar referring to low back.
I had very little pain right after the injection although the site of the tailbone injection was extremely sore for several days.
I did not do well overall the week following the injection but that could be due in part to how busy I was. DH finally took a 10 yr anniversary trip (anniversary was in Aug...). We went shopping in an outlet mall and also went to see the Rockettes. Between too much walking and sitting in a hard church-like pew for several hours, I was a little worse for wear. And then we got back and jumped right into Thanksgiving and "celebrating" three times. That wasn't smart planning...
However, the next week (the last week of Nov) proved to be a very good week. I really felt good for a change. I still had some pain but it was really minimal and very tolerable.
I went back to see my "new" orthopedic dr on Nov 5. It had been two weeks since my injection. Since I had seen a little bit of improvement he recommended another injection. This time I was able to get something scheduled quicker and I went in Nov 16 for the second injection. They were running very behind and that about sent me over the edge that day. Mostly because I was very hungry and getting a bad headache. That combination makes me moody!!! The last time I had eaten was about 6:15 that morning and it was 4:00 when I was finally being prepped for the procedure. After talking to the dr, he decided to do something slightly different. Since the previous injection did help my leg/groin pain he felt like that was a success and wanted to focus more on what was probably causing the majority of my back pain and he felt that was from my scoliosis. Same general idea just different location of the injections.
He did two things. One was a facet block injection. Here's what I found online about that. "The facet joints are paired joints in the back that have opposing surfaces of cartilage (cushioning tissue between the bones) and a surrounding capsule. Twisting injuries can cause damage to one or both facet joints, and cartilage degeneration associated with aging may also cause pain. In a facet block procedure, a physician uses fluoroscopy (live x-ray) to guide the needle into the facet joint capsule to inject lidocaine (a numbing agent) and/or a steroid (an anti-inflammatory medication). If the patient’s pain goes away after the injection, it can be inferred that the pain generator is the specific facet joint capsule that has just been injected. If the facet block procedure is effective in alleviating the patient's low back pain, it is often considered reasonable for the procedure to be done up to three times per year. There are very few risks associated with this technique." The twisting injury in my case would be the scoliosis. He did three pairs on this injection. Then he did a caudal epidural injection. (At least I think that was the name of it.) Sounds like this is what I had before just in a different location. Caudal referring to tailbone as opposed to the one before being lumbar referring to low back.
I had very little pain right after the injection although the site of the tailbone injection was extremely sore for several days.
I did not do well overall the week following the injection but that could be due in part to how busy I was. DH finally took a 10 yr anniversary trip (anniversary was in Aug...). We went shopping in an outlet mall and also went to see the Rockettes. Between too much walking and sitting in a hard church-like pew for several hours, I was a little worse for wear. And then we got back and jumped right into Thanksgiving and "celebrating" three times. That wasn't smart planning...
However, the next week (the last week of Nov) proved to be a very good week. I really felt good for a change. I still had some pain but it was really minimal and very tolerable.
Oct 2007
Somehow, I got through the month and survived our trip to the beach over fall break. I know that I survived only through the grace of God. It was discouraging to be at the beach and not feel like playing with the boys like I wanted. One day I just decided to put it all aside and I got down in the sand and played with them. DS6 was shocked that I was playing with them. That really made reality set in on how much I had been telling the boys mommy didn't feel good and couldn't play with them. I did pay for being down in the sand but I do not regret it at all.
So the 22nd comes... My appt was not until 1:30 and I couldn't have anything to eat 8 hours before and nothing but clear liquids up until 4 hours before. That was a long day... I got up about 5:30 to have a "last" meal. That's really early for me, but I went back to bed and had a nap until time to take DS6 to school and then came back and took another nap.
Fortunately I did not have to wait long when I got there. After they took me back, the nurse and I talked about what was going on and so forth. Then she hooked up an IV and said the dr would be in in a few minutes. Then the dr came in and we chatted for a few mins and then they wheeled me off to the procedure room. I laid on a table face down with a pillow under my stomach. Then the dr came in and gave me something in my IV to put me to sleep. I vaguely remember him asking me something while he was putting the medicine in my IV and I vaguely remember answering him and then the next thing I remember is waking up in the recovery room. I'm not sure how long all that was. I do know that they use a x-ray during the procedure to be sure they get the injection where they want it. That's pretty nifty. After I woke up, they gave me something to drink and I guzzled it. I was so thirsty. I was actually more thirsty all morning than I was hungry. When I was able to get up without being dizzy I was able to dress and go home. My only restrictions were that I could not drive that day and I couldn't take a shower until the next day.
When the dr and I were talking about my pain and all, he said that depending on how it goes, they will probably want me to come back in for a repeat in a month and possibly do one in my hip instead of my back. They did not set up an appt when I left but said they would call me. Mon evening and Tues I felt pretty good but my back was sore. I'm pretty sure it was soreness from the injection site because it was a soreness type pain and not the pain I'd had before. I had a few days where I was feeling some pain in my leg again. My back was hurting some last night but it was more of a stiffness than the pain I had before. I did put ice or a cold pack on it regularly the first 24 hours and some the rest of Tues and just a little bit Wed. That seemed to help so I will probably do that some more today. I was a bit discouraged but a friend told me that she remembered them saying it could take up to a week for it to reach it's maximum potential. That gave me a little bit of hope. I was not sure what we would do if I did get another injection and still didn't have significant results. It was very hard to cope with pain all the time. I was having some relief at that point, just not significant. One good thing was that I had a little more energy than I had before. I'm sure that was a side effect of the steroid. I was a little bit antsy and unless I was actually doing something while I was sitting around I wanted to get up and find something to do. It was very hard to not overdo it. Part of that mindset that I felt halfway decent so I needed to do something.
So the 22nd comes... My appt was not until 1:30 and I couldn't have anything to eat 8 hours before and nothing but clear liquids up until 4 hours before. That was a long day... I got up about 5:30 to have a "last" meal. That's really early for me, but I went back to bed and had a nap until time to take DS6 to school and then came back and took another nap.
Fortunately I did not have to wait long when I got there. After they took me back, the nurse and I talked about what was going on and so forth. Then she hooked up an IV and said the dr would be in in a few minutes. Then the dr came in and we chatted for a few mins and then they wheeled me off to the procedure room. I laid on a table face down with a pillow under my stomach. Then the dr came in and gave me something in my IV to put me to sleep. I vaguely remember him asking me something while he was putting the medicine in my IV and I vaguely remember answering him and then the next thing I remember is waking up in the recovery room. I'm not sure how long all that was. I do know that they use a x-ray during the procedure to be sure they get the injection where they want it. That's pretty nifty. After I woke up, they gave me something to drink and I guzzled it. I was so thirsty. I was actually more thirsty all morning than I was hungry. When I was able to get up without being dizzy I was able to dress and go home. My only restrictions were that I could not drive that day and I couldn't take a shower until the next day.
When the dr and I were talking about my pain and all, he said that depending on how it goes, they will probably want me to come back in for a repeat in a month and possibly do one in my hip instead of my back. They did not set up an appt when I left but said they would call me. Mon evening and Tues I felt pretty good but my back was sore. I'm pretty sure it was soreness from the injection site because it was a soreness type pain and not the pain I'd had before. I had a few days where I was feeling some pain in my leg again. My back was hurting some last night but it was more of a stiffness than the pain I had before. I did put ice or a cold pack on it regularly the first 24 hours and some the rest of Tues and just a little bit Wed. That seemed to help so I will probably do that some more today. I was a bit discouraged but a friend told me that she remembered them saying it could take up to a week for it to reach it's maximum potential. That gave me a little bit of hope. I was not sure what we would do if I did get another injection and still didn't have significant results. It was very hard to cope with pain all the time. I was having some relief at that point, just not significant. One good thing was that I had a little more energy than I had before. I'm sure that was a side effect of the steroid. I was a little bit antsy and unless I was actually doing something while I was sitting around I wanted to get up and find something to do. It was very hard to not overdo it. Part of that mindset that I felt halfway decent so I needed to do something.
Sept 2007
Well, the therapy seemed to help and it continued into the beginning of Sept but ended about a week before my appt with the orthopedist. I was actually kinda glad so I could see just how it was doing. I went back to the orthopedist on Sept 5 and he told me to continue with the exercises and come back in 6 weeks to see how I was doing. Unfortunately, the pain returned and pretty quickly. I'd even been good about doing the stretches at home after therapy ended. On Thurs Sept 13, I called his office about the pain being back. He was out of the office so they conferred with another dr and he suggested trying a steroid pack and also made me an appt for the following Mon. On Mon, the 17th I went and he did another x-ray and didn't see anything abnormal so decided to order an MRI. Since it was football season, they are open on Sat morning for football injuries so I was able to schedule it for Sat morning. That worked out great since DH would be home to keep the boys.
I actually ended up having a very bad night that Fri night/Sat morning. The pain was really bad and woke me up a bunch. It was so bad that I ended up having DH take me after all because I was concerned about driving as tired as I was. That was my first experience with an MRI so I didn't know what to expect except that a friend had told my you had to lay really, really still and that it was loud. When the guy took me back, he gave me some ear plugs and told me to lay down and be real still. He said he'd be back in 25-30 mins. I think I did really well being still. I was so tired I just wanted to go to sleep. I probably could have if it hadn't been so loud. At times it sounded like a jack-hammer right by my head, other times it sounded more like a woodpecker, other times it sounded like someone hammering and a drum cadence at the same time. It really was loud!!!
I had a follow-up appt about the MRI the following Monday, which was Sept 24. The MRI showed a tear in the outer disc of L5. The orthopedist I'd been seeing came in and told me that and then said he was sending in the spine dr to talk to me and basically was turning me over to him. He said I was in luck because he was in the office at that time and I didn't have to come back to talk to him. (I've quickly learned from someone else that he is viewed by many at "THE" back/spine dr in our area so that made me feel good.)
So he came in and we talked about the tear and what could be done. Course of treatment would be an epidural injection and exercises at home and see him again in 6 weeks. He said we could also try a brace but he wanted to try the epidural first. He discussed surgery but really didn't want to suggest it for a number of reasons. Surgery would mean fusing and recovery would require 3 months in a brace. He said that is not conducive to raising kids. (I can agree with that.) He also said that surgery would only minimize the pain, taking it from severe to mild/moderate, and that I would always have some pain. It could also mean stress on the surrounding spine resulting in more fusing later. Basically, it sounded like that should be a last resort measure.
I was relieved to have an answer to why I was hurting but at the same time I'm discouraged to know there is really no fix to eliminate the pain. I guess I've always figured I was going to have back pain but hearing it is something a little different.
A few days later I called the pain clinic where my injection would be done since they had not called me yet. It was going to be a while before they could get me in. I got it scheduled for Oct 22. In the meantime, I had pain med to manage the pain. The did little to help other than take the edge off it.
I actually ended up having a very bad night that Fri night/Sat morning. The pain was really bad and woke me up a bunch. It was so bad that I ended up having DH take me after all because I was concerned about driving as tired as I was. That was my first experience with an MRI so I didn't know what to expect except that a friend had told my you had to lay really, really still and that it was loud. When the guy took me back, he gave me some ear plugs and told me to lay down and be real still. He said he'd be back in 25-30 mins. I think I did really well being still. I was so tired I just wanted to go to sleep. I probably could have if it hadn't been so loud. At times it sounded like a jack-hammer right by my head, other times it sounded more like a woodpecker, other times it sounded like someone hammering and a drum cadence at the same time. It really was loud!!!
I had a follow-up appt about the MRI the following Monday, which was Sept 24. The MRI showed a tear in the outer disc of L5. The orthopedist I'd been seeing came in and told me that and then said he was sending in the spine dr to talk to me and basically was turning me over to him. He said I was in luck because he was in the office at that time and I didn't have to come back to talk to him. (I've quickly learned from someone else that he is viewed by many at "THE" back/spine dr in our area so that made me feel good.)
So he came in and we talked about the tear and what could be done. Course of treatment would be an epidural injection and exercises at home and see him again in 6 weeks. He said we could also try a brace but he wanted to try the epidural first. He discussed surgery but really didn't want to suggest it for a number of reasons. Surgery would mean fusing and recovery would require 3 months in a brace. He said that is not conducive to raising kids. (I can agree with that.) He also said that surgery would only minimize the pain, taking it from severe to mild/moderate, and that I would always have some pain. It could also mean stress on the surrounding spine resulting in more fusing later. Basically, it sounded like that should be a last resort measure.
I was relieved to have an answer to why I was hurting but at the same time I'm discouraged to know there is really no fix to eliminate the pain. I guess I've always figured I was going to have back pain but hearing it is something a little different.
A few days later I called the pain clinic where my injection would be done since they had not called me yet. It was going to be a while before they could get me in. I got it scheduled for Oct 22. In the meantime, I had pain med to manage the pain. The did little to help other than take the edge off it.
Aug 2007
So on Aug 1 I went back to the orthopedic dr. He sent me back for 3 more weeks of physical therapy since it was helping a little bit. It really did help some. The pain was not entirely gone but it was significantly reduced. I had a week after finishing my therapy before going back to the dr. That re-check with the dr was in Sept...
July 2007
With the lack of symptoms for anything else, my dr decided to send me to see an orthopedic dr thinking it could be something with my back. The pain was still the same as it was when I first went in to the dr in April but it started shooting down my leg occasionally. At this point I was thinking that finding the kidney stone was just coincidence although it would have been found when that increased pain occurred.
On July 12, I went to see the orthopedic and he said that it very well could be my back. There are certain spot along the spine that trigger pain in various places and x-rays showed that the apex of my scoliosis was right at the spot to trigger pain where mine was. He put me on an anti-inflammatory and physical therapy for three weeks. My therapy consisted of some electrical stimulation therapy, ultrasound therapy, and some stretches to do at home every day. The therapy seemed to help a little bit but not a whole lot.
My 3 week appt back to the orthopedic was Aug 1...
On July 12, I went to see the orthopedic and he said that it very well could be my back. There are certain spot along the spine that trigger pain in various places and x-rays showed that the apex of my scoliosis was right at the spot to trigger pain where mine was. He put me on an anti-inflammatory and physical therapy for three weeks. My therapy consisted of some electrical stimulation therapy, ultrasound therapy, and some stretches to do at home every day. The therapy seemed to help a little bit but not a whole lot.
My 3 week appt back to the orthopedic was Aug 1...
June 2007
So Friday was June 1, and I reported to the hospital for them to look and see if there was another stone in there that wasn't showing up on the tests. Turns out there wasn't a stone in there but the tube was still swollen from the last stone and extraction and all that. The swelling could be the cause of the pain but my understanding is that we aren't sure. So the dr put in another stent to stay in about 1o days. If I was still hurting after that stent was taken out then we were going to have to move on to look at other causes.
On Mon, Jun 11 I had the stent taken out. By Tues I was already starting to hurt again. They told me to give it a week to adjust to it having been there and being taken out. The rest of June was spent testing several things with everything coming back normal. They did an ultrasound to check my organs and put me on a medicine for spasms - just a trial and error kind of thing. I had another IVP which showed nothing again.
So the saga continues...
On Mon, Jun 11 I had the stent taken out. By Tues I was already starting to hurt again. They told me to give it a week to adjust to it having been there and being taken out. The rest of June was spent testing several things with everything coming back normal. They did an ultrasound to check my organs and put me on a medicine for spasms - just a trial and error kind of thing. I had another IVP which showed nothing again.
So the saga continues...
Thursday, March 6, 2008
May 2007
I felt pretty good for a couple of weeks but then on Mon, May 14 I started hurting again. It didn't let up and I was still hurting on Tues so I called the urologist and got an appt for Wed morning. He said I was probably trying to pass one of the stones that was still in my kidney. He didn't do any tests or anything this time. He told me to strain my urine to "catch" it if I did pass it and to come back the next week if I didn't pass it.
I went back the following Mon with nothing different and he immediately sent me for another IVP. Tues they called me back and said there was not a stone blocking the tube. He suggested that I call my regular dr so I did and had an appt on Wed morning (May 23) to start over trying to figure out what was going on.
Some thoughts I had jotted down at this point in the journer were that I was really tired of hurting and not feeling good. I was also tired of telling the boys that mommy was hurting and couldn't play with them. I sorta chuckled when I read that because of how long it's now been going on. It was nothing at that point...
So Wed morning I went back to my regular dr and he felt like it probably was a stone that wasn't revealed in the test for whatever reason. He said sometimes they are hard to locate. So he scheduled me for another CT the next morning. and that I was to wait at the hospital for them to call him. I was really frustrated with the mix of diagnosis. That test showed there are stones in my kidney but they are not obstructing anything so there is nothing they can do. I just have to wait it out. Call them back in a week if nothing has changed...
So I went to the urologist Thurs morning, May 31 but he still didn't seem convinced that the pain was from another kidney stone. The CT report said there was one in my kidney and those do not cause pain. However, the stones can be small enough to miss on tests. The dr said the most definitive thing they could do was to put me to sleep and go in with a scope and take a look so that was scheduled for Fri morning.
(to be continued in the next post...)
I went back the following Mon with nothing different and he immediately sent me for another IVP. Tues they called me back and said there was not a stone blocking the tube. He suggested that I call my regular dr so I did and had an appt on Wed morning (May 23) to start over trying to figure out what was going on.
Some thoughts I had jotted down at this point in the journer were that I was really tired of hurting and not feeling good. I was also tired of telling the boys that mommy was hurting and couldn't play with them. I sorta chuckled when I read that because of how long it's now been going on. It was nothing at that point...
So Wed morning I went back to my regular dr and he felt like it probably was a stone that wasn't revealed in the test for whatever reason. He said sometimes they are hard to locate. So he scheduled me for another CT the next morning. and that I was to wait at the hospital for them to call him. I was really frustrated with the mix of diagnosis. That test showed there are stones in my kidney but they are not obstructing anything so there is nothing they can do. I just have to wait it out. Call them back in a week if nothing has changed...
So I went to the urologist Thurs morning, May 31 but he still didn't seem convinced that the pain was from another kidney stone. The CT report said there was one in my kidney and those do not cause pain. However, the stones can be small enough to miss on tests. The dr said the most definitive thing they could do was to put me to sleep and go in with a scope and take a look so that was scheduled for Fri morning.
(to be continued in the next post...)
April 2007
Right after Easter I started having a pain in my lower abdomen/groin area and had some blood in my urine. I ended up at the dr on Tues, Apr 10 and he confirmed that I had lots of blood in my urine and suspected a kidney stone. He sent me for a CT scan on Wed afternoon. Very easy thing and it took the exact amount of time they told me. I was amazed. They were very prompt and I didn't wait long. The dr office called me Thurs afternoon with the results. He said that the scan and everything looked fine. I went back to the dr office on Fri to do another urine test to see if anything had changed but it was still the same. There was actually a different dr filling in and he read the report and said there were two small stones in my kidney but they should not be causing any symptoms or pain. He referred me to a urologist and wrote me a Rx for some pain med. Turns out I really needed them by Sat. I had a bad attack of pain on Sat that put me in the bed for an hour or so. The timing of all this was really bad since then-DS6's birthday party was that Fri night as well. Somehow I made it through...
I made it through the next few days and reported to the urologist Wed morning, Apr 18. Let me just say that I felt out of place there. All of the people there were older than me and most were quite a bit older than me. On top of that almost everyone else was a man. I finally got in to see the dr and we chat about what is going on and he thinks it's kidney stones too. I mentioned my CT scan and he doesn't have that report (why didn't my dr send it to them with the referral???) so he had to go request it from the hospital so I had to wait even longer. In then-DS3's words "This taking forever". (Too bad writing it can't convey exactly how he said it.) The dr came back and agreed with the report that the ones they saw should not be causing symptoms but he said that he would be surprised if it wasn't kidney stones. Based on the ones they found he guessed there was one that had started moving through and it shouldn't be very big either. He sent me to have an IVP test done the next morning. In the meantime he told me to just drink lots and lots to help move it along and basically I'd just have to wait it out.
Thurs morning I went for the IVP. The test was easy on my part. They injected a dye and then took a series of moving x-rays. It was a long test because of having to wait a little while for the dye to go through some and then to take all the different x-rays. Then I had to wait a little while longer to make sure all the picture turned out. But once again it was all done in the time frame they said. I was there for 2 1/2 hrs. They told me that it would be 1-2 business days before the dr had the report.
I had not heard from the dr by Tues so I started calling the urologist. I finally got them to call me back and they reported that I had a stone or some other obstruction in the ureter (that's the tube connecting the kidney to the bladder) and they scheduled me for a "procedure" (in their words) for Wed morning to go in and see what it was and get it out. Let me back up just a second to say that on that Tues I was in a great deal of pain. It was incredibly bad. I can still remember how bad it was. Much worse than what I experienced a few Saturdays before. The pain med I had took a little of the edge off but not much. I figured out if I could get somewhat comfortable with a heating pad on my lower back and one on the front, I could tolerate it. I called DH to come home early from work. I managed to make it through getting then-DS6 from school and turned on a Diego DVD (a long one!) so that the boys could glue themselves to it and not argue so I didn't have to function. DH came home sometime during that DVD. At that point I was still waiting to hear back from the first call I had put in to the dr office that morning. When it was getting close to closing time I called again and was told the dr had not come into the office until 1:30 (must have been a hospital morning) and would review the report after clinic hours and get back to me either later this afternoon or in the morning. I then told her how much pain I had been in all day and she made note of it. I heard back from them not too much longer. That is when they told me about the obstruction and the procedure. The nurse said what the procedure was and what all they would do but of course I was hurting to much to remember by the time I got off the phone. I was a bit nervous but I didn't really care cause I just wanted to stop hurting.
I was still hurting the rest of the day/evening but thought I could tough it out until morning since the pain med did take the edge off it and it helped to be still. Of course I couldn't have anything to eat or drink after midnight so I assumed that meant the pain med too. (Turns out I could have had enough water to take the pain pill.) I woke up several times in severe pain. I woke DH up to reheat the heating pads and it helped the first time. The second time it didn't touch it and I had him take me to the ER. We got there about 5:00. (Keep in mind that I was to report to the hospital at 9:00 anyway.) They saw me pretty quickly in the ER even though it felt longer with the pain. The ER doc reviewed my case and the reports from the other tests, gave me a shot of Demoral (for pain) and Zofran (for nausea), waited a little while to make sure it was working and sent me home. We left there about 6:45 I think and got home a little after 7:00. I'm not totally sure why they didn't just keep me there but I'm sure there was some insurance reason. I slept for about an hour and got ready (which was very little) to go back up there. When I got back to outpatient and registered and all that I started getting more nervous because they were calling it surgery and I was going to be put to sleep and all that. They took me back for blood work and then sent me out to wait again. After a little while they called me back again to begin pre-op stuff which was really just asking me a bunch of questions, many of which they had already asked a couple of times, and to change into the lovely hospital gown and some lovely stockings (to help with circulation), and some nice socks to help keep my feet warm. Then some more waiting... The anesthesiologist came in to chat about his part of the process and said he'd give me something to take the edge off the pain too. Then some more nurses and another anesthesiologist came in asking the same questions (turns out they ask some of the questions to help make sure they have the right patient and we are all in agreement on what they are doing which really is a comforting thought). Someone came in and gave me some pain med and not too long after that I went to sleep and don't remember anything until I woke up in what was apparently the recovery room.
They told me that I had a very large stone. It was HUGE, HUGE, HUGE. I felt so much better. I'm sure some of it was still the meds at that point but my back wasn't hurting at all. After a little while there, they take me to the step 2 recovery and brough my family back. DH told me what the dr said and my dad said the stone was larger than any he'd had. They told me as soon as I could go to the bathroom and get dressed I could go home. I was ready to go home! They said I'd have some discomfort for a few days as I healed but that I was fine to do whatever as I felt like it. The dr put a stent in to help with the healing and I would go to him on Mon to have it taken out.
Did I mention that I got to bring the stone home? I measured it and it was about 7.5mm long and 4mm wide. Apparently that is a very large stone so I'm guess that tube isn't very big since it was stuck. Glad that's over and hopefully the other two they have seen in my kidneys from the first scan will pass easily since they say they are small (about 2mm).
I went to the dr Mon afternoon, Apr 30 to have the stent removed. I was so glad to have that thing out although I was a bit nervous about the process since I really didn't know how that would happen. The stent had a string connected to it that they had taped to my leg to make it (apparently) easy to get the stent out. The stent had been uncomfortable but not painful. It made it hard to sit unles I could recline. The tape on my leg bothered me the most. And oddly enough, the worse part of having the stent removed was having the tape pulled off. It was a little odd having the stent pulled out but it was not uncomfortable or painful. So it was gone and I felt almost normal. The dr said I'd be a little sore for a few more days and I could have a bout of pain from an internal spasm but that's normal. I was to go back in a month to see how I was doing and to talk about what to do about the 2 stones that were still in my kidney.
(to be continued in next post...)
I made it through the next few days and reported to the urologist Wed morning, Apr 18. Let me just say that I felt out of place there. All of the people there were older than me and most were quite a bit older than me. On top of that almost everyone else was a man. I finally got in to see the dr and we chat about what is going on and he thinks it's kidney stones too. I mentioned my CT scan and he doesn't have that report (why didn't my dr send it to them with the referral???) so he had to go request it from the hospital so I had to wait even longer. In then-DS3's words "This taking forever". (Too bad writing it can't convey exactly how he said it.) The dr came back and agreed with the report that the ones they saw should not be causing symptoms but he said that he would be surprised if it wasn't kidney stones. Based on the ones they found he guessed there was one that had started moving through and it shouldn't be very big either. He sent me to have an IVP test done the next morning. In the meantime he told me to just drink lots and lots to help move it along and basically I'd just have to wait it out.
Thurs morning I went for the IVP. The test was easy on my part. They injected a dye and then took a series of moving x-rays. It was a long test because of having to wait a little while for the dye to go through some and then to take all the different x-rays. Then I had to wait a little while longer to make sure all the picture turned out. But once again it was all done in the time frame they said. I was there for 2 1/2 hrs. They told me that it would be 1-2 business days before the dr had the report.
I had not heard from the dr by Tues so I started calling the urologist. I finally got them to call me back and they reported that I had a stone or some other obstruction in the ureter (that's the tube connecting the kidney to the bladder) and they scheduled me for a "procedure" (in their words) for Wed morning to go in and see what it was and get it out. Let me back up just a second to say that on that Tues I was in a great deal of pain. It was incredibly bad. I can still remember how bad it was. Much worse than what I experienced a few Saturdays before. The pain med I had took a little of the edge off but not much. I figured out if I could get somewhat comfortable with a heating pad on my lower back and one on the front, I could tolerate it. I called DH to come home early from work. I managed to make it through getting then-DS6 from school and turned on a Diego DVD (a long one!) so that the boys could glue themselves to it and not argue so I didn't have to function. DH came home sometime during that DVD. At that point I was still waiting to hear back from the first call I had put in to the dr office that morning. When it was getting close to closing time I called again and was told the dr had not come into the office until 1:30 (must have been a hospital morning) and would review the report after clinic hours and get back to me either later this afternoon or in the morning. I then told her how much pain I had been in all day and she made note of it. I heard back from them not too much longer. That is when they told me about the obstruction and the procedure. The nurse said what the procedure was and what all they would do but of course I was hurting to much to remember by the time I got off the phone. I was a bit nervous but I didn't really care cause I just wanted to stop hurting.
I was still hurting the rest of the day/evening but thought I could tough it out until morning since the pain med did take the edge off it and it helped to be still. Of course I couldn't have anything to eat or drink after midnight so I assumed that meant the pain med too. (Turns out I could have had enough water to take the pain pill.) I woke up several times in severe pain. I woke DH up to reheat the heating pads and it helped the first time. The second time it didn't touch it and I had him take me to the ER. We got there about 5:00. (Keep in mind that I was to report to the hospital at 9:00 anyway.) They saw me pretty quickly in the ER even though it felt longer with the pain. The ER doc reviewed my case and the reports from the other tests, gave me a shot of Demoral (for pain) and Zofran (for nausea), waited a little while to make sure it was working and sent me home. We left there about 6:45 I think and got home a little after 7:00. I'm not totally sure why they didn't just keep me there but I'm sure there was some insurance reason. I slept for about an hour and got ready (which was very little) to go back up there. When I got back to outpatient and registered and all that I started getting more nervous because they were calling it surgery and I was going to be put to sleep and all that. They took me back for blood work and then sent me out to wait again. After a little while they called me back again to begin pre-op stuff which was really just asking me a bunch of questions, many of which they had already asked a couple of times, and to change into the lovely hospital gown and some lovely stockings (to help with circulation), and some nice socks to help keep my feet warm. Then some more waiting... The anesthesiologist came in to chat about his part of the process and said he'd give me something to take the edge off the pain too. Then some more nurses and another anesthesiologist came in asking the same questions (turns out they ask some of the questions to help make sure they have the right patient and we are all in agreement on what they are doing which really is a comforting thought). Someone came in and gave me some pain med and not too long after that I went to sleep and don't remember anything until I woke up in what was apparently the recovery room.
They told me that I had a very large stone. It was HUGE, HUGE, HUGE. I felt so much better. I'm sure some of it was still the meds at that point but my back wasn't hurting at all. After a little while there, they take me to the step 2 recovery and brough my family back. DH told me what the dr said and my dad said the stone was larger than any he'd had. They told me as soon as I could go to the bathroom and get dressed I could go home. I was ready to go home! They said I'd have some discomfort for a few days as I healed but that I was fine to do whatever as I felt like it. The dr put a stent in to help with the healing and I would go to him on Mon to have it taken out.
Did I mention that I got to bring the stone home? I measured it and it was about 7.5mm long and 4mm wide. Apparently that is a very large stone so I'm guess that tube isn't very big since it was stuck. Glad that's over and hopefully the other two they have seen in my kidneys from the first scan will pass easily since they say they are small (about 2mm).
I went to the dr Mon afternoon, Apr 30 to have the stent removed. I was so glad to have that thing out although I was a bit nervous about the process since I really didn't know how that would happen. The stent had a string connected to it that they had taped to my leg to make it (apparently) easy to get the stent out. The stent had been uncomfortable but not painful. It made it hard to sit unles I could recline. The tape on my leg bothered me the most. And oddly enough, the worse part of having the stent removed was having the tape pulled off. It was a little odd having the stent pulled out but it was not uncomfortable or painful. So it was gone and I felt almost normal. The dr said I'd be a little sore for a few more days and I could have a bout of pain from an internal spasm but that's normal. I was to go back in a month to see how I was doing and to talk about what to do about the 2 stones that were still in my kidney.
(to be continued in next post...)
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Turning 34!
I'm just about an hour from actually turning 34 and already I feel like I'm physically falling apart. I've toyed with the idea of starting this blog for a few months because I can never remember to update everyone on how I'm doing and what's going on and so forth. Or I can't remember who I've told what. So I figure I'll put it all here and you can read it as you can and hopefully I can keep you better informed if you are interested.
Just a short overview and how I plan to get you caught up...
I'm going to start back at the beginning and fill you in as best as I can. I've kept a rough journal/health log of sorts and will refer back to that for dates and what not. This will take me a few days to catch you up so bear with me.
The last 11 months have been rough for me physically. It all started last April right after my older son's birthday party. (For those not up on the terms I will be referring to my children as DS# - DS stands for dear son and # will be their age. DH will be dear husband. And I'll try to clarify others if they come up.) I was thankful to make it through his sixth birthday party before I started really falling apart. I'll let you know how it all started with a post tomorrow.
For now I want to say that I have been feeling ok for the past month which is a huge improvement. I'll take ok! Last night I overdid it shopping at a major consignment sale and I've really been paying for it painwise today. But despite the pain I had a great birthday with the help of my family and friends. I love that I have some friends who threw me a party today. I think everyone should have a party no matter how old or young you are.
Just a short overview and how I plan to get you caught up...
I'm going to start back at the beginning and fill you in as best as I can. I've kept a rough journal/health log of sorts and will refer back to that for dates and what not. This will take me a few days to catch you up so bear with me.
The last 11 months have been rough for me physically. It all started last April right after my older son's birthday party. (For those not up on the terms I will be referring to my children as DS# - DS stands for dear son and # will be their age. DH will be dear husband. And I'll try to clarify others if they come up.) I was thankful to make it through his sixth birthday party before I started really falling apart. I'll let you know how it all started with a post tomorrow.
For now I want to say that I have been feeling ok for the past month which is a huge improvement. I'll take ok! Last night I overdid it shopping at a major consignment sale and I've really been paying for it painwise today. But despite the pain I had a great birthday with the help of my family and friends. I love that I have some friends who threw me a party today. I think everyone should have a party no matter how old or young you are.
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