Posted on 01/17/2014 6:14:56 AM PST by trussell
I have faith that the implant is going to help me...when they took the trial away it was like taking candy from a baby...it was cruel! And waiting so long for the permanent one is cruel too. I am praying I am making the right decision in getting this done. It’s a huge step and one that I struggled with at first. I remember the few days I had the temporary unit in my spine, my legs didn’t hurt, I could lay on my sides and they didn’t hurt! My right hip still hurt like crazy and my back was horrible and my stomach hated me from the buzzing, it would make me sick when I ate! But when the tech messed with the unit before it was removed, she got the buzzing out of my tummy and all the way up my back to the middle of my back! It felt so good, I hated when they took it away!!
Went to the doctor on Wednesday...he asked me how long have I been having the increased pain...I told him that I had complained to his Nurse Practitioner for a few months now and that she has told me “He’s not going to give you anything stronger, period”. He said “I’ll have to have a talk with her, I don’t like to see you in the much pain”. He asked if the percocet was working at all anymore and I said not so much...even when I take 2 of them at once. He said “quit taking those, I’m going to give you dilaudid instead, and give you a numbing PATCH to put on your back...leave it on for 12 hours then replace it with another” He wants to see me in 2 weeks to make sure my pain is being manage. I started the dilaudid a few days ago (as soon as I got through the pharmacy drive through) and so far it only helps at night when I take 2 of them with my nerve medicine and my sleeping medicine. I get the idea that the Nurse Practicianer could be losing her job for not talking to the doctor when I said I was in pain and she said I wasn’t getting anything stronger. She didn’t even TALK to the doctor, and I told him she said that and he confirmed that he didn’t know!
Just found out one of the meds the doc wants me on is not covered by my insurance and it is $275 for a one month supply....no way I will be getting that one. :( The medicine the doc wanted me using is a lidocaine patch, 12 hours each patch then replace it. They say since my insurance won’t cover the patch, they will do the cream instead...but I can’t reach my back to rub a cream on and I’m not comfortable asking my teenage son to rub a cream on my nude back (I am really fat). I am on gabapentin for nerve pain. I’m on amitriptiline 50 mg to help me sleep. As for the new medicine...one 2 mg dilaudid doesn’t do it. I take my middle of the night dose at bedtime...so I take 2 at bedtime as well as taking the gabapentin and amitriptiline. I manage to sleep with that cocktail but the rest of the day is still stiff and sore. I’m hoping I can get the patches so I can get some relief! They talk it up like it’s a miracle drug. Maybe I can find out the name of the manufacturer and see if they can help me get them.
Also, my procedure to implant the spinal cord stimulator is set for January 27th...same day surgery, will be home that night. Really look forward to it, though I’m still scared about having the unit in my spine.
Please, keep up the prayers. I appreciate them so much!
I wonder what was different in my EMG testing for Carpel Tunnel because it didn’t hurt me at all.
Thank you for keeping us informed. Prayers continue...
Prayers up! And thank you for the update.
Prayers continuing, t!
Did they stick needles into the nerves and then turn on the electricity to the needles causing a vibration in the nerve? When I had the first 2, they were checking the nerves at the L5/S1 levels especially, but also other locations that I am not sure what they were. They put the needles in my lower leg, at the shin where the bone is close to the surface...then at the knee, and then in the thigh and on the outside and inside of the leg. There is another portion of the test that uses what looks like a stun gun. It has 2 prongs that come out of it and they put that against different areas of your skin and it gives a little shock that makes your reflexes jump like you got smacked by the hammer. That’s not as bad as the needles...but they both don’t feel all that great!
Well it is called the same test and they inserted small probe like needles(I guess) and yes, shocked me to see how much damage had been done in the nerves. I can’t compare to your test because all I had were the ones on my wrists and hands/fingers but they are both called by the same name
I can say it was a very expensive test - I was stunned by the charges because it seemed like no big deal to me
Blessed be God forever. May your troubles be over soon.
Inn the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, amen.
May the good Lord in HIS almighty wisdom find it is time for your doctors to hit on what will help get you back to a better health condition. Surely many here feel for you. And prayer’s up to HIM shall continue in your behalf.
Are you in your wheelchair full time now?
how can NOT eating bread be expensive?
and are you taking Turmeric capsules?
I transfer out of it to the couch but other than that...yes, I’m in the chair full time. I haven’t been able to walk since the fall with the exception of a brief time in therapy that I was able to take a few steps with the walker until my arms gave out. I have to use crutches to get to the bathroom as the chair will not fit through the bathroom door. I have fallen so many times going in to the restroom. :(
I don’t have a way to get Turmeric, so no...I’m not taking that. As for the gluten free..I took it more seriously than just not eating bread. I got the gluten free cereal, noodles, crackers, all the other gluten free things that could replace the normal food items the rest of the family prefer. Then I had to buy the regular items too and fix two seperate meals so I could have gluten free and they could have normal.
Are you able to do normal activities at all, shop, do laundry, cook, things like that?
I can cook with help, some things I can do on my own. My boy has to help with the laundry because the washer and dryer are in the garage and I can’t get down the step into the garage. Shopping, usually my boy has to help with that mainly the only things I can do with shopping is picking what to get and helping put it away. I can help with cleaning, but there are many things I can’t do...and unfortunately, most of it falls on my son. I don’t know what I’m going to do when he goes away to college. You made me think of this in a way I haven’t before now and it made me cry thinking of how much I can’t do anymore.
Do you have a ramp on your front entrance where you could go out the front door and enter the garage that way, or is there a way to maybe install a gently-sloping ramp leading to the garage? That would help if you could get your landlord to built it.
Sorry to say, but the bathroom entrance would be a bit difficult to enlarge, unless you own the home and have room to do that, but that’s the only solution I can think of for that problem.
At least you’re able to accomplish some things with help. Do you have a neighbor or someone from your church who has been helping?
The garage has an upstep into the house so that wouldn’t work...the ramp at the front door is one I use to be able to use, but since my hands and arm are so bad now, it’s impossible for me to get up it. The garage is so small that the ramp that would make it possible for me to get into it, would block the washer and dryer from my access.
As for neighbors and church people...my church is so big that nobody makes an effort to be your friend, so nobody helps...we have one neighbor who helps with the lawn...he gets his boss’ rider mower to do his own lawn and comes to do ours too...though he didn’t do it this week yet, I’m wondering if he will. ...and we get rides to the store and to boyscout outings from a few outsiders...the boy has a few church contacts that are willing to give him a ride every now and then. Sometimes, it’s hard to find one of the contacts willing to help...it’s frustrating having to rely on others and finding that all of them are too busy to help when you need the help. That’s the only help we get from outsiders. We truly appreciate when we get help and totally understand when they have other things to do and can’t help.
(((((Sending Heartfelt Prayers, Dearest Trussell)))))
So the ramp at the front door is steep? Is there any way to make that one a more gentle slope? Would that help you be able to maneuver more easily?
Just a thought...you say there’s an up-step from the garage into the house. So it’s not a full step — maybe 4 inches or so?
Would it work to build a small platform there and have the ramp go away from the utility area? It would be a small ramp with a very gentle slope if it’s built off of a shallow platform. And if it runs along side the wall, that would keep it out of the way.
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