Finally!!!!

Cody comes back in the morning after giving Castro his food and insulin. Hopefully today will really be the day that I can be discharged. The neurosurgeon's partner comes to see me this morning and finally gives me the okay to leave. The neurosurgeon's partner and attending physician are both concerned that my blood pressure is still on the high side, but give me a blood pressure medication to help keep that under control until I can see my PCP. The neurosurgeon's partner tells me to schedule a follow with their office because they fill up quickly. I should be up walking around, I have Percocet for the pain, a steroid to help with the swelling, the blood pressure medication, an antibiotic and Valium for nerves. I ask if I can please take a shower before I leave the hospital (because they have a shower chair), and am told that I can, but then it seems like they are trying to rush me out. I insist that I'm not leaving until I take a shower, they ask when I think I'll be ready to leave and I say about an hour. Cody helps me carefully take a shower. I can't stand for long periods of time, so the shower chair really helps. We check out and head home. I'm so happy to see Castro and our house, but I am exhausted from not really having slept the night before. So I end up sleeping for a bit. Cody runs to the store and gets some essentials, my prescriptions filled and a McDonald's Mocha Frappe (if I can't have a Starbucks this will do!) while I nap. I hurt, and my back feels tight, so I take one of the Percocet. I still feel numb down my left leg and in the saddle area. The neurosurgeon's partner had said that this could take months to come back. I had Cody take a picture of the incision because I hadn't seen it yet. We take it easy relaxing in the bed, watching t.v. shows that I missed out on while I was in the hospital, and call it an early night.

You Have Got To Be Kidding Me (Part 2)

Cody drives me back to our side of town so that we can go to the E.R. for the MRI. I call my mother in law and let her know where we are headed, she says she can leave work, but I tell her not to worry and we'll keep her updated. Thank goodness the P.A. gave me the shot of Toradol, or the pain in the car ride back would have been unbearable. When we get to the ER, we get another wheelchair, because the left leg is giving me problems still. I let them know every step of the way that I was just here a week ago. We have to wait for about 90 minutes before we get to the back. The pain is escalating, the Toradol must be wearing off. They ask for me to get into a gown, I do. The insurance lady comes to get my card and info. I have to give a urine sample. So I wobble over to the bathroom (I'm almost as far away from it as you can get) wait for the person who is currently in there (because of course there is only one) and then finally work on the urine sample. When I take it back, they kind of freak out. But, because if all of this back stuff isn't bad enough, I'm also menstruating, isn't it just great to be a woman? They nurses come back and ask about the symptoms again. I let them know that I'm experiencing numbness in the pelvic area and left leg. They ask about the urine, I tell them. What is my pain level, I'm at about a 5. They ask me to turn over, they're going to perform a rectal exam. I do, they put on the gloves and I know they're getting ready to stick their finger in my bottom... but I don't feel anything. They ask me to squeeze, I tell them I can't, I can't even feel their finger. Now they're worried. They give me a shot of Valium and Demerol to prepare me for the MRI. They leave... I start to get a little sleepy, Cody is still there, then all of a sudden I'm on fire. I feel like every nerve ending in my legs are on fire and as if someone has scooped out my uterus and its hollow. I'm now at like a 20 on the pain scale that goes to 10. Cody is very concerned that I'm going to pass out from pain. As I'm writhing around in pain the insurance lady comes back in and wants us to put down some money (we just gave them $500 last week when we were here). Finally a nurse comes in and gives me a shot of Dilaudid and things start to come back under control pain wise. They wheel me for the MRI, and the Dilaudid is starting to wear off and my left leg feels like it is on fire, but I have to stay perfectly still during the MRI or they will have to do it again. I somehow manage it. I get back to a room, and Donna is there talking on the phone to my mom, Kathy, because Cody had to go home and give Castro his insulin (for the first time by himself). I want a glass of water so badly (those of you who know me, know I'm not a water girl), but they say that I have to wait for a neurologist to review the MRI before I can do anything. A nurse comes back in and tells me that I will be having back surgery in the morning. I can have some dinner or something to drink, but nothing after midnight. I call my mom, and try and reassure her that its going to be okay, I'm going to be okay. Cody comes back, then leaves to get me a salad for dinner. I'm put in a bigger room for pre-surgery. I'm allowed to have Dilaudid to help control the pain, and the goal is to make it through the night.

You Have Got To Be Kidding Me (Part 1)

I wake up and I am still experiencing numbness in my pelvic region, extending down my left leg. I call my P.A.'s office and again let them know that I am numb and I need her to call me back. Then I call chiropractor's office and grab the first open appointment. Cody drives me over there, and I'm so slow... I can barely feel my left leg... my buttocks are numb, my pelvic area is numb, I'm slow and hurting despite the medications that I am on. I know.. its unusual to say that even though I'm numb it's painful, but it is completely possible. I get into see the chiropractor, he takes a look at me, palpates my back and says that the x-ray came back clean. He said it looks like there could be some calcification in the kidneys, which is a sign of a kidney infection, so he palpates my kidney and asks if it hurts, which it doesn't. He tells me he is not going to adjust me, I need to call my P.A./PCP and arrange for an MRI. He tells me again that the numbness is related to the bed rest and how I'm doing it, nothing to be concerned over. We leave and I book an appointment for my P.A.'s office, insisting I still need her to call me back about the numbness. Now, let's keep in mind that I live in Peoria and my P.A.'s office is in Tempe (a 40 minute drive). Sitting in the car for the short trip to the chiropractor was painful, I know that heading to the P.A.'s office is going to be torture, so I try and time taking the Percocet so it will be the most beneficial. When we get to the P.A.'s office in Tempe for appointment, I'm headed to the back walking with Cody and my left leg feels like it goes out from under me. They bring out a wheelchair and wheel me back. The P.A. takes one look at me and asks me what I'm doing there. I'm not really in the mood to bring up the fact that I've been calling. I tell her that the chiropractor recommended that I get an MRI, to get an MRI I need a prescription from the doctor. She asks me about my pain level and I tell her I'm at like a 6 or 7, the highest it has been, but I'm more concerned with the numbness that I'm experiencing in my pelvic region and down my left leg. The P.A. says that the best way to go about this is for me to go to the ER and have an MRI done. If she were to just send me for an MRI they would have to wait for her to get the results, but if I go to the ER they can have a neurologist look at it right away. She is very concerned about the numbness and wants to know if there have been any issues of incontinence with it. I let her know that there have not been. She gives me a shot of Toradol to help make the trip to the ER more bearable, and tells me if there are any issues admitting me, to please call her and she will talk with them. She expresses that I must tell them about the numbness in the pelvic area because this is very important. As we get out to the car I see I have a voicemail from the P.A.'s office telling me that my x-ray has come back normal.... lack of communication.

Off to see the Doctor

I head to the doctor to see my P.A.at the office I've been with since 1999. I've been with this P.A. for about a year and a half of that time. The office is in Tempe and I live in Peoria, its about a 40 minute drive. I know I should find somewhere over here, but I like that the office knows me and my history. They know about my appendectomy, the history of my migraines; and all the approaches that we took for that. Plus, I like the P.A. she is friendly, listens and is knowledgeable. She recommends that I get an x-ray taken so we can see what is going on. She changes me from Valium to Flexeril, which is an actual muscle relaxant. Cody and I leave the office and I call the radiology place near our house to find out what their wait time is, it’s about an hour. The radiology place near the doctor only has a 30 minute wait, so we decide to head over there. At this point the pain isn’t too extreme; I sit a little uncomfortably in the waiting room reading. The process is fast, the tech was awesome helping me move (I’m still slow and twisting at the waist for some of the different images is painful and hard. They let me know that the doctor should have the images by Monday afternoon. I head home to start the weekend.

Another Long Day... This Time in the E.R.

I woke up at 6am while Cody was still asleep to use the bathroom. When I stood up from the toilet I screamed and nearly passed out! The pain was horrible. When I feel like I’m about to pass out, something in me tells me to lie down on the floor. I don’t know why, that’s just my go to reaction. I lowered myself to the ground. I was hot and clammy, and in pain. Going to the ground was the dumbest decision I could have made. I spent an hour trying to get up from the bathroom floor. Even with Cody trying to help, the pain was overwhelming. I was on my stomach and tried going onto my knees, I tried rolling over, and I tried pushing up. Every little movement of my back was horrible. The only thing that got me up off of that floor without just calling for an ambulance was Castro and the fact that I had to give him his insulin. Once I was up and Castro was taken care of, I got dressed and we decided instead of the appointment that was scheduled for chiropractor's office, it was time to go to the E.R. Cody drove us over to the nearby hospital, and the wait wasn’t that bad. They got me back and I saw a PA who said that it was something called sacroiliitis. She said that she didn’t believe that any imaging was necessary at this point because of my age (34). She gave me a shot of something in the E.R. (I think it was Toradol) and prescriptions for Valium and Percocet. She was using the Valium as a muscle relaxant; even though that’s not really its function (I worked in pharmacies for 9 years before I became a teacher). I was feeling pretty good when I was at home that night, thankful though that we didn’t have school the next day because it would give me extra time to relax and let my muscles loosen. I even felt well enough to take a shower and watch some t.v. (Thursday night is Vampire Diaries night!)