Chronic Pain

A 51 year old female living and dealing with lumbar back pain and fibromyalgia. Sharing things I do for relief, reduce stress and control weight gain.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

4 days away

So glad we didn't get as much rain as expected.  The day was half decent.  My granddaughters request for breakfast was muffins.  Luckily I had some mix in the pantry.  She patiently waited for them to bake and then enjoyed herself with some milk.  


Tomorrow we will go to my daughters home about 25 minutes from here.  A will get to see cousin P and will have Mothers day lunch there.  Then my daughter will spend the afternoon with the husbands family (the in-laws).  A will go home to Vill Platte.  Always such a sad day.  She is never ready to go but she's fine once she's home.  I hope her daddy will have a place of his own soon so he can spend more time with her.  Once a month is hard for us all.


Last night I told you about losing my dad and my job within 2 weeks of each other.  I also found a spot on my arm I was concerned about.  It seemed like it turned up out of no where.
Shoot, I had the time and I needed to have a peace of mind what it was.  My dermatologist didn't like the look of it since it had a weird shape so he "scraped" it off and sent to the lab.
Meanwhile, I made appointment with the surgeon who did my fusion as advised and he looked at most recent MRI that PM doctor did in March.  (This was May) He didn't see anything.  Just a large cyst on my ovary that he recommended I see my OBGYN about.  Yeah, another appointment to make.  He saw some inflammation around my SI joint but the fusion area looked great.  Could that be causing so much pain?  All he could recommend was some massage therapy or PT which I had just finished.  Wasted appointment.  Again my husband was with me.  So he misses more work for me than himself.  Good think he gets so many sick hours.


I made an appointment with OBGYN to have ultra sound and see him after.  Meanwhile the dermatologist office called and said the tissue came back cancerous and I need to come back in and let him actually cut deeper and around the area.  Great, I'm not looking forward to this.  What else.  Please May come to an end, this is a horrible month.  The OBGYN appointment was no fun either.  Lying on that darn table with your feet in the stirrups while they push around inside is uncomfortable enough but you know all those parts are so closely connected, it was very uncomfortable for my back.  I was so happy to get off of that table.  Then I had to go over to his office and wait to see him.  Yes, you have two cysts that are 4 and 3 cm.  Take some birth control for a month and come back and see me.  Birth control?  Haven't taken that in 10-15 years.  That was weird.


Then later that week I bravely went back to dermatologist alone to let him dig in my arm and send off some more meat.  I couldn't ask D to take off again.  10 days later they called the day before my stitches were to be taken out and said it was melanoma.  Wow, what a shock.  I know others have dealt with worse.  The good news was that the report showed they got it all and I have to believe that.  I just had to go in 6 months to be checked then every year after that.  But this had been a lot in the past month.  I didn't know it at the time but I was seriously depressed.  I was crying over everything. D would just look at me funny and I'd cry.  


The PM doctor had sent off an approval with my insurance company for a trial for the SCS,  I wasn't sure I wanted to do it, but I guess that they were just being ready because some time it takes a while to make it happen and that was the case for me.  They required an evaluation from a Psychologist.  It took two weeks to get an appointment with one.  I won't bore you with the drama of why that was so hard to get accomplished. 


While I was waiting for that to happen I got a call from one of D's college buddies who is sells implant parts to surgeons who do the kinds of surgery I had.  My total hospital bill was 47,000.  The hardware for for the fusion was 20 something.  Wow, that blew my mind.  Any way he had been asking D to get me to see this doctor he was close with at Tulane and he had complete faith in him.  He'd seen him help a lot of people.  It can't hurt he kept telling my husband.  Whats one more opinion.  Problem being he was in New Orleans.  An hour drive.  HATE car rides.  Everyone forgets that.  So one morning when I'm sobbing in bed over the past 6 weeks ( I'll call him K) K called me personally and asked me to go and see his doctor friend.  I know it will be hard for you to make the drive but it is rare to get in to see him.  You should go, he is doing this just for me.  It was not possible for D to go with me and I didn't have time to find anyone to go with me.  It was a decision that had to be made right then and there on the phone.  I'll go, you really think I should do this?  Yes, at least if he tells you same thing as PM doctor you know you've seen everyone you possible can and had all possible tests.  Ok, I'll go tell me how to get there.


D was not at all happy that I was going to try this alone.  Discussed with my Mom too.  She wanted me to wait and her drive the hour to me and then we go together.  Nope, I have to just suck it up and just do it.  I got in my car having no clue where I was going.  I called a great friend who lived thee for years and asked her if she'd be on standby in case I got lost. I took wrong exit and of course I freaked out.  I ended up in a bad neighborhood.  Thank God I reached my friend on first try.  She stayed on the phone with me until I make it to the Tulane parking lot.  I would have never made it if should wouldn't have saved me.  


I really like the doctor.  He was a neurologist.  He looked over all my records.  I had a big organized folder I never left home with out it.  He spent a good bit of time talking with me and taking history.  He was actually the first doctor who even looked at my back/spine.  No other doctor had ever done that.  He said he was sorry I was in so much pain.  No doctor had every told me that either.  He really was puzzled him self but he said that he could only find one test we didn't do and he wanted me to have some specific blood work before I left that check for infection in your bone.  Oh, all the way home I couldn't wait to get home nad look that up.  Thats it, thats whats wrong.  


 Come back tomorrow to see what happened.  To every Mother out there I hope your day is filled with peace and relaxation and your surrounded by everyone you want to be with.  


GNA


Btw, my mom had her injection yesterday.  She's doing well.  She said she is already feeling her leg to start to feel better and she can put a little weight on it.  Just sore from injection.  I'm so happy for her its helping her feel better.  



He is so glad to be back home!

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