Monday Check-In

Hey all -

It's that time of week again.... time to check in, let us know how you are doing and what you've got planned for the week ahead.

Hope you all have the best week possible --Tina

Doing about the same as usual. Have my monthly check-up tomorrow with my doctor, and I will address a new issue about chest pains. Its not often and I have high BP but I know this pain is not normal.

Other than that, just glad the Ravens won last night. Nice to see the underdog win.

I had an IME last week. When I left I was hurting enough to make an appointment with my regular doc. It's pretty awful now, even after adding Celebrex. I needed a few groceries, but I had to stop shopping halfway through the store.

Helped my daughter out and worked in the kids store sat and sun and paying oh so much for it. Hope she appreciates what it cost me to give her a weekend off!

Had to call my Drs office since I will be out of meds on the 7th and dont have an appointment until the 11th and they have done this to me now 3 times out of the last 7 and they know when they make the appt its late as they always tell me to call for the partial refill Dont they realize its headache enough to get one of them filled a month now and turn around and I have to do the song and dance on a partial 5 days before my regular fill simply because they either are seeing too many patients or he is taking too many days off! He isnt in on weds or fri's anymore and if he has a emergency surgery he is out 3 of 4 days.

Add to that Im paying 2 co-pays instead of one. I think they dont care. I love my Doc but I swear to have as many folks working in that office they can be forever slow about doing things.

Anyway just another trip to town for me this week and then another on the 11th but then Im good to go til April as he does give me two scripts now instead of one and I only see him every other month.

My rant for the week so thanks.

Resting up trying to get my swollen foot to go down,telling me I stood way too much over the weekend and I feel that old hum in my leg that tells me sciatica flare is about to hit,hoping Im wrong but not likely.

Good luck to all having injections and tests this week as well as procedures and those still seeking adequate pain relief I certainly hope you find it.

Vickie

holdonpainends17-

I had 2 removed about ummmmmmmm oh yeah, 16 years ago. I was out for the procedure and woke up with a mouth full of gauze. Mine wasn't too bad until I got a dry socket in the right lower. Helpful tip, if the pain doesn't improve after a couple days contact them asap. They told me to contact them if the pain got worse, they didn't say anything about it just staying the same. So at my 2 week check I learned I had a dry socket and that I should have gotten a hold of them like the 3rd day. Live and learn I guess.

As for me....I am all set for my SCS implant tomorrow at 11am. I even have my 2 wrist bands already. Ge this, they tell me to take a shower in the morning, but don't get the blood wrist band wet or the writing will come off. I am still trying to figure this one out.

Take care,
Bill

Tina...I hope that they don't find anything serious on the MRI and that your PM can help with your upcoming appt.

Praying for everyone else with new pains and Dr. appts. and Matt for your friend and your doggy. That has to be really tough to have these things happen close together. These are the times that walking over and squeezing your beautiful son and telling him that you love him helps a bit.

Kayla, as others have said, I also got all 4 of mine out at once back in my late teens. Your put under for the whole thing and don't remember needing any pain meds but for the first day. As mentioned, it's about the ice packs as they help the best.

Just a thought, but I would double check and see if you can't just go and get all 4 done now as it's really no different from the recovery of doing 2 or 4 so why go through it again if you don't have to?..That's the way my dentist thought as only two were causing great issues.

I had my regular 3 month PM appt. He was very happy that I am now being seen by the free clinic and getting other tests done that are way overdue. He wants me to have them look at my lower back as that has been acting up more often lately. Last MRI was done back in 2006 showing two herniations in the lumbar area but I've been able to keep the pain and flares at bay until these last months. He gets "stern" with me about not speaking up about my pain level when it gets higher.

I am very blessed to have him as my PM!!!

Post Edited (Snowbunny21) : 2/4/2013 5:51:50 PM (GMT-7)

Well Saturday I spent the majority of the day in bed. Sunday, hubby and I drove our daughter back to college. Will really miss her, I've been struggling with serious anxiety issues and depression, from a medication I'm taking to treat my lupus.

Saw Rhuemy today, he put a shots in my sternum, ribcage under left arm pit, and a steroid injection in my left hip too. We decided I will get my lupus infusions for February and March then talk about options then.

Tomorrow I go to NIH first appt is at 09:30 and last appt is at 3:30. Wednesday I get a massage at noon, then eye appt at 3:20, Thursday dental appt at 10:30 and bone density test at 2:00. Hope to get my jeep into the dealer on Friday. So busy busy week for me, I'm already exhausted, I'll be wiped totally off the charts by Friday.

Tina, praying they don't find anything to terrible, but a way to help you.

Matt I'm sorry for loss of your friend and your pet. I know how hard it is with oth situations. (((((hugs))))))

Kayla I'd want to get all 4 removed at the same time. I had all of mine done at age 20, trust me that's was a LONG time ago. I do know to tell you NO SUCKING ANYTHING with a straw. I did that and ended up with a blood clot so big it had to be removed.

David (((((hugs))))) sorry you had such a tough weekend. Isn't frustrating that our bodies are giving out on us so bad. I need our sheets changed but I can't do it, need hubby's help tonight. You're in my prayers.

Good luck to all this week, and praying you all have good and low pain days.

Trust me, I wish I could get all 4 removed at once, lol! But only my top two are grown in and are causing so much pain especially with eating! My bottow haven't grown in and my insurance, medicaid, only covers for pulled wisdoms, no incisional extraction. Originally on x-rays it was showing they would grow in pushing my teeth and causing great misery so I was referred to a dental surgeon. This is where I found out insurance does not cover it & it's so expensive! :(

Matt, so sorry to hear of the losses.. Especially so close together. When my little puppy passed away I balled for weeks all the time & I had only had her for a couple months. It's crazy how close a dog can end up being to you. :( I'll keep you in my prayers!

Also, thanks everyone for the information, you've put my nerves at ease.. Defenitly needed! ;) My question is, will they sedate me at all besides the numbing agent shot into the gums?

Well I have been fighting pain in my left leg, from my hip down, when they weaned me off the Decadron it appears they did it to fast, and all the pain came back that I was having just after I got home from the surgery, so they put me back on the Decadron and are weaning me back off of it at a much slower rate instead of seven days they are doing it over a three week period. I know as soon as I was back on it, all the leg pain went completely away! I just hope that it stays away this time! I would hate to think that after going through this surgery I will be stuck with having this other pain, as it is so much worse than what I had before! Anyway I am keeping my fingers crossed that this will do the trick, At least now I can do the walking that they want me to do, and I feel really good, other than the nasty side affects of the Decadron, I am hungry all the time, and I am not sleeping good, and it always has an emotional component with me.

White Beard

Been very busy with school, so I have not been posting much (although I read here and there when I have time). Overall, I'm quite happy with how things are going so far, although I'm still experiencing increased pain (don't expect that to change any time soon), and bad, and at times, debilitating, extreme fatigue. I did speak to my doc about the fatigue again last week (this has been an ongoing issue that we have been working on for many many months), and we decided to try me on a different stimulant medication, as the last one (like everything before it) did nothing for me. I just got the script in the mail today, but I have yet to fill it.

I've also been dealing with some funky nerve thing since Sunday night (moderate pain, paresthesia, and some partial numbness in certain areas of both arms, from the shoulder all the way down to my fingers). The right arm, which wasn't nearly as bad as the left to begin with, has actually settled down over the last 24 hrs, but the left one has not. In fact, if anything, it is now worse, or at least more widespread. I have not seen a doctor, although I did speak with one over the phone yesterday, and again late this afternoon, when the paresthesia began to rapidly spread to other, previously unaffected areas of the arm & I wanted to make sure it didn't warrant an immediate ER trip.

As scary as this all has been, based on the anatomical, physiological, and medical knowledge that I have, I honestly don't think there is anything too serious going on, or at least not something that will put me in any immediate danger, and from my description of things, the doc tends to agree. I'm thinking that I may have done something minor to my ulnar nerve (very easy to do), as well as my brachial plexus.

It wouldn't be too surprising if I strained the brachial plexus, or have a bit of inflammation in that area, which is causing some minor compression of the nerves. Although, I did not notice anything unusual at the time, I did use my arms -- especially my left arm -- extensively this weekend. I spent 4 hrs on Saturday morning palpating dairy cows. Without going into the details, it does require heavy use of the shoulder muscles of your palpating arm, and prolonged extension of the arm at shoulder level, which does make the brachial plexus vulnerable. Plus you always have the unpredictability factor of the animal, and some of them are not too cooperative and can jerk your arm around a bit. Out of the 30 or so cows I worked on, I did have a few who were not happy.

There really isn't anything that I can do right now, other than try to rest the shoulder & elbow, and maybe apply some heat. Normally, taking an OTC nsaid would be warranted, but because of my liver condition, I cannot take nsaids, and I really can't do steroids either, as I also have had several bad experiences with prednisone in the past & I swore never to take it again unless it was a life or death type of situation & I had no other options.

I'm hoping that this thing will all resolve itself within the next couple of days, but don't worry, if anything changes or worsens, or there is no improvement, I will definitely have it checked out!

Wishing everyone a wonderful, pain-free week!

Oh, and Kayla, you will do just fine. I had all 4 of mine taken out (at the same time) a few years ago, during my senior year in college. My bottom two were partially erupted, and the other two had not erupted, and were mildly impacted. I had planned on waiting until the summer after I graduated to have them taken out, but I ended up getting a nasty, painful abscess around one of them, and the oral surgeon started me on antibiotics, and said that they really needed to come out asap, or they would keep abscessing. I had the option of doing 2 and 2, but I chose to just "get it over with" and do all 4 at once. Both the procedure and the recovery really wasn't too bad. Yes, I was sore for a week or so, but the abscess that I had was actually far more painful! With everything else that you have gone through, this will be a breeze! I had the choice of having some IV sedation + gas, or just the gas. I chose the drugs (I believe they used diazepam combined with something else -- either another sedative, or a muscle relaxer?). I was still awake, but pretty spaced out. I really just remember some strong pressure (not pain -- they also use local anesthesia to numb your entire mouth) & then "all done!"

Skeye

Post Edited (skeye) : 2/5/2013 9:33:26 PM (GMT-7)

WB,

Yup! I've seen it a couple times. My mentor, the vet who owns the practice that I have worked at for the last 10 years, is VERY much like Dr. Pol (they are of similar age, and practice medicine much the same way, as they have very similar knowledge, experience, mannerisms, beliefs, and philosophies).

Our practice is also very similar (it is also a rural "country," or "mixed" practice). We unfortunately no longer have quite as many dairy clients as he appears to, as the (formerly very active) dairy industry in my area has most disappeared, because when the older farmers die, no one wants to take over the dairy -- too much work, not enough money (which is ashame, because I really love working with dairy cattle). When I started working for this veterinary practice 10 yrs ago, we had about 3X the number of dairy clients that we currently have, and at that time, the practice was probably serving 5 - 10X fewer dairies than they did 10 yrs before that... Anyways, other than the smaller dairy industry (we still have a large number of beef cattle farms), the make up of the practice in terms of species ratios is much the same. Our doctors are still on call 24/7/365 as well (we do all our own emergencies for both large and small animals), which is becoming rarer, and rarer, at least on the small animal side of things...

That is exactly the type of practice that I want to work for/the type of medicine I want to practice when I graduate -- it is very hard to do, and is becoming rarer and rarer these days...

Skeye

I've only recently heard of the program, and what I've heard reminds me very much of All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriott, just a different locale and different generation. I'm in love with his books, and husband and I are working our way through the series via netflix.