New Spine Doctor...

I went to see the new spine doctor that the neurosurgeon referred me to. The office is way over by my old apartment, but this guy is supposed to know his stuff. I was lucky that I was able to get in on short notice, because I want to get this process started before school is back in session. I got to the office on time, and filled out all the paperwork. I am taken back to a room, and proceed to wait for over an hour. Let me remind you, that sitting, standing, everything is uncomfortable unless I'm laying on my side. The pressure that sitting puts on my constantly numb backside makes it nearly unbearable, plus I'm still having the constant "zingers." The "zingers" are almost like electrical shocks. Sometimes, I'm lucky that they only occur in my left leg, but sometimes they'll run through my buttocks or even worse, my labia. Sometimes, they are pretty painful and I'll flinch or straighten (alerting Cody to the fact that I'm having one, which causes him to worry). The new doctor is going to put me on Zanaflex to help with the rectal spasms I'm experiencing. He has a different timeline than the neurosurgeon gave me for recovery. He says 2 years, the neurosurgeon said 3 mos. I'm glad because I'm not as close to back to normal as I'd like to be, and my 3 mos is almost up!! He wants to see me again in 3 weeks.

First Day of Women's Physical Therapy

Today I had my first "Women's" physical therapy. Thank goodness the therapist was a woman. We got to know each other a little bit, she talked to me about the Cauda Equina. Of course, she has no idea what it is, so she'll do research. I let her know that I am still numb in the saddle area, and she said okay. I had also called on Tuesday to ask if I could still come in for the Women's health visit because I had begun my period. So, here I am menstruating, and meeting the new therapist. She asks me to take off my bottoms and lie on the table. Then proceeds to spend the next 45 minutes with her fingers either in my vagina, or in my rectum. She asks me if I can feel either, I tell her no. She asks if I can squeeze, I try. She says that she can feel me squeezing, but sometimes she says that when I'm not squeezing. I'll see her again next week.

I also had my second visit for PT on my left leg. We continue working on balance, and setting my left foot down with a normal pressure instead of slamming it down. A lot of this reminds me of when I had a personal trainer at the gym. Its just basically someone forcing me to work out. It's funny though when I'm riding the exercise bike, because my left foot keeps slipping out. It doesn't matter how tight they have the strap, it just doesn't not want to stay on the foot grip.

After the therapy I am meeting with one of my new team members for brunch. We'll be starting school shortly, and I'll be teaching 3rd grade this year. I stop to use the restroom when we get to the restaurant, and as it turns out I've had a small bowel accident. Thankfully though, I've been carrying extra Depends and wipes with me. So I clean up and head out and have a nice lunch with Cindy.

Bah...

So today we were supposed to go see Trudy and the kids before they leave to go back to Michigan tomorrow. The plan was for Donna to call when everybody was up. Cody and I were going to head over for a bit, go grocery shopping and come home... hopefully before it got to hot out. I haven't heard from Donna and I call around noon (thinking everybody has got to be up by now). They are, and they are headed to the mall. They're gone for three hours, long enough for us to shop and put groceries away, and for me to develop a headache and have a bowel accident. Just lovely.

Baby Shower!!

Today I went to Jason and Carrie's for Jen's baby shower! It was so nice to see Jen. Last night I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make it, because I had one of those stupid migraines that made me nauseous again. Luckily, I woke up and it was gone. I had planned to only stay for a little bit, but I was having fun. So I ended up staying for several hours. There was a point where one of the girls made me laugh, and I had a small accident, but I dealt with it. I hadn't really thought about what I would do with my soiled Depends after... luckily I had a baggie with my bathroom wipes, and I put the soiled diaper in that and was able to throw it away. This is a good idea, I think I will start putting my back up Depends into a bag, so I can throw away the soiled one easier!

Anyway, the shower was great, and Carrie did a great job with the food as always. I'm glad that I suggested we watch the video for the read aloud of "Go the F*ck to Sleep," everyone thought it was really funny. I got to just stay and chit chat with Carrie and Jen for awhile after everyone else left also. Even with the accident, it was a good day!

More Migraine Pains

What an evening, I've got a migraine that I tried to stop with the Percocet (since my back was hurting) but that didn't work. I ended up throwing up. I decide to try an Imitrex and eat some crackers (Ritz, because I keep forgetting to buy Saltines) and about 30 minutes later I'm sitting on the toilet, which I do a lot since the surgery because it takes longer to have a bowel movement with the lack of control for my sphincter muscle, and have to grab the bathroom trash to throw up in. I get sick some more and finally it seems like I'm done. I go lay down in bed, because I'm exhausted from going to the bathroom (yes, that tends to exhaust me now) and the throwing up, my head still hurts and I fall asleep. I wake up a little bit later, take another Imitrex, talk to Cody for a bit, and fall back asleep. During this whole ordeal I'm super frustrated because tomorrow is Jen's baby shower at Carrie's and I have been looking forward to this, since I'm not sure when I'll get the chance to see Jen again. Plus, I bought awesome books for the baby!

Bon Voyage to Another Cohort Member

Today was a pretty good day, I got the chance to see Erin and Amber from my Grad Cohort. Erin is moving back to Michigan next week. Amber, Cody and I wanted to make sure we saw her before she left. Dinner was good, we went to Chili's at Metrocenter for Happy Hour (no drinks, just food specials), and I had forgotten that the mom of one of my Kinders works there. She was working, and was our waitress. It was nice, because I got to ask her how her kiddos were doing (I'm set to have her 3rd grader this year), and told her to tell them both hello for me. Erin and Amber are both running a bit late, so Cody and I get a chance to enjoy some chips and salsa while we wait. I dunno why, but I love Chili's chips and salsa. I get to enjoy a steak and ribs (I picked that so that I would have enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow) and get to chat with everybody. It's been forever since I've seen Erin, and I'm glad I got to see her before she left. Dinner goes well, no accidents, and the rest of the evening ends with Cody and I relaxing and watching some Castle.

Let the Rare Side Effects Begin...

The Lovenox injections are no fun. I've given myself 4 now and they all sucked!! I'm getting better, but still cannot "dart" the injection. I guess one bonus of being numb in the "saddle area" is that I can't always feel the injection until after I'm done when it starts burning from the alcohol wipe, although, it is creepy to watch the needle going in. Unfortunately, even though diarrhea isn't listed as a side effect until the very bottom of the list of possible side effects, I'm experiencing it. Normally that wouldn't be so bad, but when you can't control your sphincter muscle, diarrhea is even worse than normal!! I call my PCP's office and they tell me to stop the stool softener I was taking with the Percocet, and to try the BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and Toast). The items on the BRAT diet tend to constipate you (so does the Percocet) so hopefully that should help to offset the diarrhea side effect of the Lovenox. I just need to make it through the weekend until I can see my PCP on Monday morning. Thank goodness I upgraded our Netflix account to get DVDs and we have lots of Castle to watch so that I can keep my mind off of things!