Hello Y'all...FWIW I'm still learning how to navigate and where to post. After reading the "Monday Check-In" I wanted to offer my support to those of you who are still fresh out of surgery. Kudos for your strength and perseverance. I certainly share in your chaos of commutes to appointments. I live in a small town, which is nice, but I'm 2 hours from major hospitals and specialists. I understand the difficulty of the drive/ride just to access your doctors and/or treatments. It's most often difficult to decipher cost/benefit ratio, as it takes sometimes a week to recuperate from appointment chaos. I must agree with the comment on electronic files. I'm old school, but forced to keep current with technology. If it were up to me, I'd still be writing like our forefathers...quill in hand. I love the lost art of handwriting and loathe the use of TEXT. I'm a paper trail kind of gal, so I don't trust what I cannot hold in hand or place in binder...I'm just sayin=)
My doctor took a personal call on his cell phone in my presence last week, while tapping on his IPad. He didn't even examine my eye/face for shingles. He nonchalantly commented that it's rare for shingles to infiltrate the eye. I had to throw the BS flag on that one. Shingles in the eye is a clear and present danger to one's eyesight. It can cause permanent blindness. I've seen my ophthalmologist twice in 12 weeks. According to him, I've dodged a bullet of infiltration. He says my eyesight is safe. However the eye continues to have blood red streaks and weeping. He says it's just going to take time...who knows how much time?
I am a newbie to PM also, so I'm struggling with adjustments to meds. I've learned things I never knew I needed to know since enrolling PM in 1/14. I had attempted PM in 2005-06 with injections, epidurals, even the Fentanyl patch. I was so conflicted with pain vs. opiate intolerance vs. zombie status that I unfortunately chose pain in order to (I thought) function. Last Fall during check-in for colonoscopy, the nurse referred to my issues as "chronic pain". I thought "No, that's not me...You're making a blanket generalization". I took offense, because I thought my issues weren't being taken seriously. Wake up call...duh? Acceptance is new, though suffering is not. I have waived the white flag of surrender acknowledging that I cannot white-knuckle through the rest of my life. My PM doctor is trying ONE medication at a time until we can establish a protocol that works best for me. Oh my mercy it's been rough with horrid night sweats, nightmarish itching to the point of Benadryl to the obvious repercussions of opiate and antihistamine-induced constipation. As for relief...I'm still waiting for that one.
I'm thankful I found y'all and I hope that y'all have a week of less pain and frustration, with perhaps some sunshine and belly laughs sprinkled in along the way=)