Tag: cauda equina syndrome

Another Pain Day

by Midnight Demon, posted in cauda equina syndrome, Chronic pain, chronic physical pain, depression, mood disorders

Another Pain Day

I have been up since 6 this morning. I tried to go back to sleep but I failed miserably. Ankle has decided to be a bitch today. I realized that since I have been in the house for most of the week, I can’t do hills. I went to pick up my niece from her after school program and I was so out of breath from walking up the little hill to my street. I used to do that with no problems. Now it is a problem and I don’t like it. Granted being in pain didn’t help matters. I then went up the two flights of stairs and I didn’t have a problem breathing. HUH?? Why is it I get winded on hills but not the stairs?? Strange.

I didn’t go out today, other than to pick up my niece. I wanted to go to the store and get some cream but I was in too much pain and I didn’t want to waste spoons. I took a shower before picking up my niece and that was pushing it. But I had to change because it has been a few days since I last took one.

Despite the temperature cooling off outside, it is hot in my room. So I have the AC on to cool off. The heat is not helping my ankle. I just can’t stand it being more than 70 degrees in my room. It just feels stuffy. I am trying to stay awake while writing this but it’s difficult as I am so tired. I am in so much pain though I doubt I will sleep. It has been an 8 out of 10 all day today. I don’t see the new foot doc until Halloween. I am trying to schedule an appt with my pdoc the same day but she is being elusive with her emails. I give her a time frame I can see her and she doesn’t respond. She did call in a refill for me seeing as I will run out by the time I do see her again.

I waited all day for a stupid secretary to call me back and she never did. I will have to call on Monday now. Just drives me crazy when people say they are going to call and they don’t.

God, I wish I did something to have this pain that I am in but I didn’t do anything. I might have done a few more stair climbs than usual because I have had the hungry horrors today but that has been it. I really can’t stand this anymore. It’s driving me crazy. But watch, my ankle is going to “miraculously” be okay the day I see the doc. I am sure that day is going to be a low pain day. OI. And there is a hurricane in the mix this weekend so maybe that is why my pain is off the charts. I don’t know anymore. I have decided that I am just going to do what I do and the hell with the consequences because my ankle is going to do what it is going to do no matter what. I don’t have control over the pain levels any more. Gone by the way side is taking one pain pill a day. Now it’s 4-6 pills a day. And sometimes, that isn’t enough. There is no getting ahead of the pain because the pain occurs so out of the blue like it is hard to gauge when you are going to have a flare up. Surprisingly, I am not suicidal throughout these pain episodes. I think if I were, I would have to be hospitalized. But then, I wonder which side of the fence I would be hospitalized, medical or psych? If I am suicidal because of pain and if you take the pain away, then I am no longer suicidal. It’s a tough call. I think there have been times I have wanted to page my psychiatrist because I don’t know what to do anymore and I am staring at a bottle of pills. Then there will be other times where I just wish I was dead. There is no medium. There is no one I can commiserate with. No one understands. You tell them you have an injured ankle and they immediately ask “how did you do that”? I have no answer because there was nothing I did that caused this. Least not that I know of. And that is the frustrating part. Maybe I just have CRPS and that is the price I have to pay because I have “evil” thoughts. I don’t know.

The other day I read that some where in Michigan, a body was found at a shopping center. It reminded me of a twisted short story I read by Lawrence Block years ago. There were these two brothers that would vacation together. It seemed normal. They both planned to go to a different state and do some vacationing. Except toward the end of the trip, they would kidnap a lady at a shopping center and do their business with her then kill her and leave her in the woods or some remote place. Creepy story because it had a realness to it. That is what I love about Lawrence Block’s books. He just recently had one of his books turned into a movie. I haven’t seen it yet because, again, it is a twisted story. There are these two guys that love to mutilate women’s breasts before killing them. But they kidnap the women for ransom first. I have read the book at least three times. It is a good book, but I don’t know that I can see what I have read.

it’s 0230

by Midnight Demon, posted in blogging, cauda equina syndrome, chronic physical pain, depression, mood disorders

It’s 0230

I woke up around 0230 and I can’t seem to get back to sleep. So I decided to write for a little while.

I made it through the night not drinking. I am really tired but I can’t seem to sleep. Avoiding alcohol was huge tonight. Though I think that if I did drink, I would still be sleeping. Oh well.

My ankle is hurting me so I have taken some pain pills. One more day before I see the new doc about this. I am not too hopeful he is going to find anything wrong with my ankle. But I am scared that I will be placed in a boot. Just in case, I am bringing my old one with me. You never know what he will do. I partly hope that he orders another MRI to see what is going on with my ankle, to make sure nothing has changed since the last one. I know I won’t be having an injection and I will make that clear. I just don’t believe in them and they only work 50% of the time so why chance it. I don’t like those odds. I rather be on oral steroids than have an injection. And I will bring that up to him as well. A friend of mine was telling me that I could have adhesions in the ankle after all this time. I don’t like that idea either. But we’ll see what this doc says. I just hope that it hurts enough when I see him otherwise, I am seeing him for not. I don’t want to be in excruciating pain, but just enough for him to see what I am going through. I have a “rest day” today though with me being up this early, I am not sure how much I will be resting. Sometimes I sleep a few hours and then I am up and others I am sleeping till noon.

I don’t have new answers for the doc. Just the same, single question, “what is wrong with it”? Three years this has been going on and three years, no one can give me a direct answer. If it was a case of tendonitis, I have done everything to make the swelling go down and yet soon as I move it, it flares up again. I can’t be immobile. I also can’t run the risk of wearing a boot around the house for fear of falling down the stairs. Even without the boot, I run the risk of falling because I don’t know where my feet are. There have been a couple of time in the last few weeks where I missed a step or over shot a step and nearly toppled over. If I wasn’t hanging on to the banister, I surely would have fallen. That is the problem with CES, not knowing where your feet are. I am usually good about where they are but when I am tired or when I just wake up and need to go to the bathroom, that “sense” or mindfulness is not always there. My bladder and holding the contents in seem to take priority. Oh the joys of CES, Cauda Equina Syndrome. It messes with your proprioception (where things are in space relation) of things. I have this for a long time. It hasn’t gotten better. I just compensate for it really well. But throw in fatigue and that compensation is out the window.

Having a huge boot on my foot won’t help the proprioception much. It will actually make things worse because I won’t be able to feel my foot. Hence why I do not want another boot. I hope I am getting ahead of myself. Thinking of all the possibilities that he could do. I could be placed in a cast. I have before to be kept immobile. I am not working so that doesn’t see like a big deal. When I was working it was a big deal because I had to get around the place. My boss yelled at me because I had to call out but then I showed him the big brace I was wearing and that quieted him down some. I understand that you don’t want your best employees to call out, but when they can’t walk around the lab, they are pretty much useless, especially when a doctor tells you to stay off your foot for twenty-four hours.

All these things can happen. Or nothing at all. Less than 24 hours to find out what the verdict will be. And hopefully, my anxiety will be less.

Cocktails

by Midnight Demon, posted in blogging, cauda equina syndrome, depression, mood disorders

Cocktails

Lately I have started drinking again. Nothing major, just a shot of gin here and there, but the last few nights I have been wanting more than that. I actually have been craving the alcohol. I have been a binge drinker in the past so I am trying to stop it but I don’t think I can. And with the amount of pain meds I take, drinking that hard would be a disaster.

I have had a hell of a day. I really need to shower because not only did I crap myself, I also leaked. Fun. I swear next week I am getting the damn diapers so I don’t have to worry about soiling my underwear anymore. Oh and the weather decided to be back up to almost 80 and be muggy. I thought we were done with this shit. So I guess it was good I didn’t shower this morning like I wanted to because I would have to shower again tonight. I am waiting for my pain meds to kick in so I can stand long enough to do this task.

I had to deal with my father today, which is mostly the reason I drink. He just brings out the best of me because I have no other outlet. Today I spent all morning and most of the afternoon waiting for the stupid visiting nurse to deal with him. The nurse on Sunday got all his fucking meds wrong. What a fucking airhead. And today’s nurse had to look at all the bottles because I could be lying. No, I know what my father is taking, thank you very much. I go to each and every one of his medical appointments. I am his “secretary” when it comes to his medical stuff. Thing is, I am supposed to schedule his PCP appointment some how in the next two weeks and to fill him in on what has been going on. Yea, like I don’t have my own medical drama going on. Because I forgot and my app remembered, I didn’t take my blood pressure meds this morning. I didn’t think I was going to be all fucking day with this man and his stories. I spent the better part of my life with him and now as an adult, I realize I don’t have to have him in my life, but yet he is still there. Why I don’t know. Guilt is one reason. Responsibility is the other. And being the oldest, it falls on my shoulders. Today I was tested and tried. And that gin that I have been staring at since I got home is calling my name.

So I called my therapist and told her the pickle I am in. She flipped out on me. She didn’t like the thoughts of my pain meds being mixed with alcohol of any kind. I got reprimanded. Hell, I even got the don’t take any of my pain meds lecture. That is when I zoned out on her. I need my pain meds if I am to survive in this world. And when my ankle was telling me to fuck off today, I had to take something for it. Now it is a little bit more happy so I can possibly take a shower today and get out of the stinking clothes that I am in. My father made peppers and eggs and the smell got into my clothes. It is making my stomach do flip flops, which it has been doing all day because I got a migraine. I should have known today was going to be a bad day when I started gagging when I was at the bus stop this morning. And the coffee didn’t help me much. It helped with the headache and drowsiness, but did little to calm my stomach.

I am sure that gin is not going to help my stomach either. I hope tonight I can keep my word to my therapist that I won’t have a sip. But it does help me sleep good so I am weighing things in. Beside yell at me, there is nothing more she can do. I don’t know why my father aggravates me so much. Even at his medical appointment, he had to go on and on about his work history. The doctor, who is a really nice guy, was obliging to his stories that I have heard only a million times.

Now my mother is making broccoli rabi. I cannot stand the smell or taste of this damn vegetable. Maybe I will have just one sip of gin to calm the damn nerves…

worrying

by Midnight Demon, posted in blogging, chronic physical pain, depression

I woke up a couple of hours ago because my phone woke me up to tell me it was time for my medication. I didn’t want to get up, nor wake up. But I reluctantly did, took my meds and tried to get back to sleep. I am not sleeping as you can tell.

My thoughts seem to be revolving over my father. I feel like I am missing something with his medication. I just don’t know what it could be. All I know is that I am having a bad feeling about this and I don’t like it.

My pain is astronomical right now so I am not thinking clearly. My leg and ankle are competing as to who is going to hurt more. I think my ankle is going to win. I know I should probably read the stupid book I have about the civil war but it’s a drawn out affair. The author is dragging out 1861 like it was the only year of the civil war. I am completely bore by this book but I am one of “those” people that once I start a book, I have to finish it. So please don’t tell me how it ends, LOL. If I had known more about this book, I probably wouldn’t have bought it. It already took 276 pages before the war started. I have 500 more pages to read to get to the ending. I have no idea if they are going to stop talking about the war and a little bit of reconstruction or what. That might be volume II. I will say this, even though the author goes around in circles, he does write eloquently and keeps you engaged in the book. I wouldn’t recommend the book to anyone, unless they like long, drawn out books about the civil war. I primarily bought it to learn more about the battles of the Civil War but even those are hidden and not too clear. But I will finish the book, however long it takes me.

I don’t know why, but after I take my meds, I get really hungry. I usually just make something small, like a bowl of cereal. I have found that eating shredded wheat helps keep me full longer than any other cereal that I eat. And it keeps me regular so that is a plus.

I hope my father is going to be okay. I really don’t want another incident where he has to be in the hospital. I also hope this worrying is for nothing. I am going to try and go back to sleep now. After I have a little something to eat.