My Achy, Achy Back

My back has been very uncooperative recently. Actually its been a real pain, or in a lot of pain. I went to my pain management doctor a while back and he said that my back has been so bad because I haven't had any interventional treatments (a/k/a needles in my back) in a while and its time for another one. That is due for this Thursday.

But in the meantime, my back is giving me lots of grief (to put it nicely). Yesterday and Friday I was walking around hunched over in pain most of the time. My husband even cooked dinner because I was in so much pain.

Last night, I got in bed before 8 PM and took a breakthrough pain pill, an arthritis Tylenol, and a sleeping pill. I didn't wake up until 8 AM and my back feels better.... but not that great. I expect it to act up later today but I am happy with a few mostly pain free hours for now.

I do not expect a massive decrease in pain after Thursday's medical misadventure, but I do expect some improvement. And future needles in my back to help with this.

So What Will It Feel Like?

Have you ever wondered what your next medical adventure really will be like? I mean how will they really feel during and afterwards? Nurses and doctors tell you things like "there may be some discomfort", or the ever popular "little pinch". Maybe you might feel "tired afterwards" or "possibly nauseous", or "a little pain" at the site that can be handled by "OTC acetaminophen or ibuprofen". But you really need prescription morphine for the pain, cant get out of bed for three days because of fatigue, or spend days running for the bathroom.

They never can tell you more, like the real truth. Bounded by HIPAA concerns or the simple fact that they have never experienced it themselves. Face it most of our medical professionals have never experienced the procedures they perform on patients. Sure they have had blood tests, injections, and more, but have they had your chemo protocol, surgery, or invasive procedure? Probably not.

Hence there is no way for them to tell you how you will feel before, during, and after, other than scared sh**less, because they really do not know.

I hate this. I have learned to research all medical procedures before I have them. I also look to friends and others who might have experienced it to find out what its like from the patient's perspective. (I am so 'healthy' my father, in his late 80s, asks if I have had any new procedure recommended for him.) I do not obsess about it but I do want a good idea of what something will be like.

I have learned some important things like do I really want to go by myself because I won't want to drive home. Or I can come close to passing out after in the knee injections. Or... the list goes on. So I have learned to ask questions and do my research.

3000th blog post

My blog post is not about numbers or volume or anything like that but recently I realized I was nearing 3000 blog posts. Today is number 3000. My blog started June 2, 2007, 3089 days or 8 years, 5 months, 14 days ago.

I set out blogging as a way to vent my feelings and keep my friends and family updated through breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, which would be a year or so and then I would return to my 'new normal'.

It didn't work out that way. Not many of my local friends or family read my blog. I am still working on that 'new normal' (and if anyone ever finds it, please let me know where it is), and my health still sucks, even though there have been no new cancer misadventures.

I still benefit from my nearly daily blogging. It allows me a way vent my feelings on my sub-par health which is really what I need. I also like to think my so called 'words of wisdom' have helped others deal with breast cancer and other not so fun medical crap.

Along the way I have also met many wonderful people online who are dealing with their own medical crap and they have become friends, although we have not nor do I think we ever will meet in person. But we are friends. And as a result I have a bunch of greatly appreciated supporters when I go through my own bumps in the health roller coaster.

I think I will keep blogging, I see no reason to stop as long as it continues to help me.

Doctor chasing

This is always a pain. You need to talk to your doctor. You contact them, they call you back and leave an ambiguous message that doesn't allay your concerns and requires further conversation. You call back and they are gone for the day. You try again the next day and talk to their office. They call back and you miss the call because you can't take the call at that nano-second because your life does not revolve around the phone. And it continues.

Finally you resolve to tether yourself to your phone, and not talk to anyone else in case the doctor calls back. Eventually you find our you are not going to drop dead but need another test or follow up so you can continue the process all over again.

Well, that's not exactly what is going on but close. I'm still waiting to call the doctor back again and am in mid-chase. My goal is to make contact today because I want an answer before the weekend. But I have meetings and am traveling.

I just want an answer. Why? Because I can be whiny and hate waiting for medical information.