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Posted 4/14/2013 10:23 PM (GMT 0)
I'm really great at replying to everyone else's posts, but every time I've tried to make my own thread and post how things have been going lately...the words just don't come out right.

Last Sunday (the 7th) I went into a gas station bathroom (it was one of those unisex single ones) and as I went to sit down on the toilet, both feet slipped out from under me. I tried to catch myself, but my pants were down and there wasn't anything to grab onto.

I ended up hitting my back on the front of the toilet, and pretty much sitting in someone elses pee. (I DID manage to make sure my bare butt didn't hit the floor) But it did get all over my clothes.

Long story short, I got the run around about filling out an incident report and was told to come back and talk to the manager "if you start hurting".

I ended up going back a few hours later because I was in a lot of pain and wanted to file the report and speak to the manager, but noone in the store was *able* to fill out the report so all I could do was give my name and number and hope the manager would call me when she got in.

I went to the ER and they took xrays of my back. They also offered me a low dose vicodin to "take the edge off". In reality it did very little but I just wanted to get out of there and go home. The xrays came back *normal* ie no damage caused by the fall and I was sent home with a two day script for tramadol, a muscle relaxer, and an antiinflammatory, with discharge instructions on how to care for a back contusion.

I didn't bother to fill any of the scripts because I didn't need them in addition to what I already have.

I had a follow up appt with my doc on friday (the 12th) and we decided to split my script of time release medication in half, so that we could increase the strength of one pill but leave the other pill at the current dose. She wanted to increase both pills to the 60mg strength, but that would be adding a mandatory 40mgs every day, and I feel like that's a really big jump. So we compromised and now it's increased by only 20mgs.

She encouraged me to use my wheelchair more often AND she wants me to get a walker. She also scolded me a bit for being so reluctant to take more pain medication, even when I need it. She says it's not often she has to talk a patient into taking MORE pain medication for their own good.

I really didn't need this additional injury and I'm struggling to come to terms with what she's advising. I'm terrified that I'm losing the ground I fought so hard for in the first place.

 

Posted 4/14/2013 11:26 PM (GMT 0)
Good evening Lexi!

…accidents!…they happen, and I had my share while recovering from double lumbar fusion surgery. It can be scary especially if you re injure something that was just repaired.

To tell you the truth, I got pretty confused as to what meds are being changed with you. Care to name them? Since you do not have the information in your signature…I don't know or remember what you are on…but you had a lot of numbers and changes going on in your post. Maybe a little clearer information, so we can understand it better? Sorry…maybe its just me! LOL

Take care, and I hope your back gets to feeling better,…and if you need the meds, then certainly take them. Somedays we take a couple steps forward and then the next day, its three back. Eventually you will gain some ground….so don't be too hard on yourself. Hopefully the new injury will heal, and you will be back on track to the way you were before the accident.

Life can be a bit overwhelming at times, and constant pain can draw us down. You can get through this, and were here to listen and offer our support.

SE
Posted 4/14/2013 11:53 PM (GMT 0)
Hello, so sorry about your accident, but once again the issue of the meds and the increasing of the meds has become an issue. Please for the sake of your having a good of quality of life as you can being a cp patient, take the meds your doctor has prescribed to you.

You are doing nothing wrong, by not taking the meds this may cause the accidents to happen. I strongly encourage you to make your life more comfortable for yourself by taking the meds you have been given due to the fact that you have chronic pain.

None of us want to take them, its not a questions of wanting its a statement that they a needed to have the best quality of life you can,

Take care and good luck,

Kathy
Posted 4/15/2013 12:22 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks :)

Let me try and make things less confusing.

My extended release med is Oxycontin and I was on 40mgs every 12 hours. 80mgs total.

The next jump in dosage is 60mg tablets. But if I did that then I would be on 120mgs total, which to me is a big jump.

So I asked her if we could compromise and just increase the dose of one pill and leave the other pill the same. So my first dose is 40mgs and my second dose is 60mgs. That way the daily time release total is only 100mgs instead of the 120.

It might seem like a small difference but to me its huge.

I also take Percocet 5-325 and Oxycodone IR 10mgs for break through pain as needed.

How would I make a signature?

Thanks for the support, it just feels like if its not one thing its another and ugh.
Posted 4/15/2013 6:45 PM (GMT 0)
Lexi, I'm sorry about your fall and additional pain.

This might be a silly question, as I know our meds are scripted differently to yours, but could your doctor not add a low strength OxyContin tablet to your meds? Like instead of going from 40mg to 60mg ... could you ask about taking a 40mg and a 10mg together so that you're still evenly split?

Hope the extra pain settles soon - take care

Laura
Posted 4/16/2013 12:14 AM (GMT 0)
So very very sorry about your accident, those can be traumatic, maybe consider getting updated mri's, cause even though the xrays showed nothing there still could be a worsening of you existing pain and go back to that gas station and tell them you did get hurt and had to go to the ER, the gas station should pay you for the hospital ER, reguardless...Sure hope this new medication increase provides you with relief, many many well wishes and prayers.
and think about the walker...maybe do a google search on those.
Posted 4/16/2013 12:19 AM (GMT 0)
Lexi, so sorry to hear about your toilet accident, just what you didn't need in your condition. Hurt just to read about it.

Know what you mean about losing forward progress. Next month, I will have been in oncology rehab for 2 full years, and they still are reporting that I have made zero forward progress. It's all they can do for me, to keep me slipping backwards, which is a scary thought.

THey keep getting me approved for me PT, and I keep going, because I am scared of the alternative.

Good luck as you heal from that, and hope you seen the worse of it.

david
Posted 4/16/2013 1:24 AM (GMT 0)
I really appreciate the support everyone. It was a pretty yucky and embarrassing fall to say the least.

I filled out an incident report with the gas station manager and am talking with a lawyer because of the way the whole situation was handled.

I've always been relucant to take medication of any sort. And when it comes to pain medication it gets even worse.

I feel like just needing pain meds in the first place means that I've lost a big chunk of control over my life. My physical and mental efforts are no longer enough by themselves.

Oddly enough, I have no fear of *addiction* whatsoever and I do my best to minimize dependence. Instead, my fear comes from knowing my condition will continue to worsen, but yet probably won't kill me outright.

My worst fear is being in 8 to 10 pain, with no effective treatment options left. Additionally, I've heard so many horror stories of patients who work with a doc for many years and then that doc retires, moves, or passes away and when the patient tries to continue current therapy with another doc...that doc says no way.

So every dose increase is stressful. Logically I know it's necessay for a decent QOL but fear is fear.

Laura, my insurance company is really stingy with the amount of pills I can get per month. My doc had to do a peer to peer review to get them to cover it at all.

If we did it that way, at the very least I would need 90 Oxycontin a month (ie 60 of the 40mgs and 30 of the 10mgs) and they're not willing to go to that amount yet, so the smallest increase we could do was what we did.

I have no idea how to get my life back on track. I feel like it's taking all my energy just to exist...and then things like this fall happen...it's hard to put into words how utterly disconnected I feel.
Posted 4/16/2013 3:41 AM (GMT 0)
Lexi I'm sorry to hear that you're feeling so overwhelmed. You certainly didn't need that fall in the restroom.

It's terrible that the clerk treated you so poorly, but I'm glad that you were able to file a report with manager. I also think you did the right thing by getting an attorney. You may need an MRI or more tests done.

I know it's hard to accept our changes in our health and medications. You are young and it's got to be so disappointing to accept that you need more pain meds.

I totally understand your fear, I have several fears that are real possibilities. With my pain now, I'm sitting solid most days at an 8 by noon. I'm not certain where I go from here.

You'll be in my prayers and I hope that the increase makes a difference for you and that it holds you for a long time.

Hugs,
Barbara
Posted 4/16/2013 4:17 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Lexi, I'm so sorry about your accident, bathroom falls scare the heck out of me. One time I slipped in the shower and landed (hard)chest first on the edge of the tub, (in between my breasts) it hurt just to breathe. Anyway, I hope your feeling a little better today. And I also agree that it was a good idea to get a lawyer, you never know what complications that fall might cause so its good to make sure your protected, as Barbara said, you may end up needing more tests, but I will pray that you don't and for a speedy recovery.
Posted 4/16/2013 5:19 PM (GMT 0)
Barbara, you're in my thoughts and prayers every day. I think about everyone here, and how we're all just trying to cope. Knowing that I have a place to come and let everything out helps so much, but I always wish there was more I could do for everyone.
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