Tag: nerve injury

day one home from surgery

by Midnight Demon, posted in blogging, Chronic pain, chronic physical pain, CRPS, depression, mood disorders

Day one at home

Today has been rough. I did too much and caused myself to get a headache that I still have that the neurosurgeon is worried about. I have to go back on steroids for a week to see if that helps calm things down. I am trying to sleep but it isn’t coming. I have too much on my mind.

My numbers for my blog stats have been terrible. All day I have just had three views so I am hoping this post will draw some readers out. I know I have been sporadic in my writing but I am recovering from surgery right now. Meds are making comprehension difficult and concentration has been worse. Because of the steroids, I have some appetite. Unfortunately, meals have been difficult to sit through as it hurts my head to be upright. I rather be laying down.

I had an appointment with my therapist today but we didn’t get much accomplished as the connection was terrible. I was kind of out of it so that didn’t help matters. She put me down for another time next week so I think I should be better by then, or at least less druggy. Today was a real test as I had a lot of phone calls. I got accepted for the Ride, a disability transportation service but I can’t seem to navigate it on my phone or laptop so will have to call tomorrow to set something up.

I want to try and shower tomorrow. I don’t have a health care worker coming in yet and for some reason I am on MRSA precautions. I don’t know when that happened. But the nurse was worried about it and sent off a special stethoscope for the clinicians to use. Nothing fancy about it just deemed “MRSA”. I have no use for it as I use my blood pressure cuff for my readings and my own thermometer. I have no fever so that is good. I think I would be feeling sicker if I was. I have been feeling hot and cold all day, running the fan, shutting it off, turning it back on. I also have been taking my long shirt sleeve shirt off and on all day. I don’t know why I seem to run hot then cold then back hot again. Hope I am not getting sick. I worry with those that are outside the home may bring it in, like my nieces and nephew and sisters. I am at a high risk because I am just off of surgery and am on steroids. I have been trying to keep fluids up but it has been a challenge. I don’t like standing right now as it hurts. I have been able to void on my own though. Last night I had to put myself on a timer so I would go. It worked but disrupted my sleep and then the bowels did their thing on me. Luckily, I didn’t lose control or I would have been crushed. I did have to change my underwear though. I didn’t want to track the stuff to my wound. I don’t have a bandage on so I am careful about what I touch around the scar.

The one question that I am shocked I keep getting asked about is suicide and suicidal thinking. The nurse today very concerning asked about it and wanted me to let her know if I have those thoughts. I am not having them because I got other stuff on my mind. I am depressed because I feel like I should be somehow a long better than what I am but I am only a week post op. I am having a hard time keeping track of pain medication management because I was used to a nurse bringing me the meds. Now I got to sort it all out. I spoke to my pcp about it and he is okay with the increase in the interim while I am recovering. I’ll get a refill next week when I am due for one. I am glad I can talk to him about my pain med needs. Some docs don’t want to hear it after surgery. I had a hard time finding a doc to listen when I had back pain like this. In the end, my pcp put me on pain meds and there it stayed. My pain meds have always been managed by my pcp and I am glad because they get to see what you are like more so than a specialist.

Post Op

by Midnight Demon, posted in blogging, depression

Hey all,

I had surgery Thursday. It went well and I did have a tethered cord and a messed up disc. They repaired that. Aside from horrendous post op pain I am healing as well as can be. I am getting frustrated with how slowly things are going but to be expected. I can’t rush my recovery. So far bladder is functioning the same as it was. I am not drinking a lot so having little outputs. Sometimes the urge is strong enough for me to pee on my own. Other times I got to cath or I just don’t have any urge and have to cath after 4-5 hours. Urologist said I might have to go every half hour in the beginning. Luckily it hasn’t worked out that way yet. Most I am going is every three to four hours, which is what uro wants.

I will be in the hospital until at least Tues, barring any complications. PT has been wearing me out severely so they don’t want me going home until my stamina is a little better. I am progressing every day. I’m just not where they want me to be right now. A lot of movement tends to wear me out so fast. Just getting up to pee is tiring. And there is not a lot of steps from my bed to the bathroom. I still need to call someone when I have to go just in case I fall.

I have hit a bit of more depression because of my frustration of not being able to move the way I used to. Back pain is bad but is getting slowly better. I haven’t had this much pain in so long. I am glad they increased my BT to the same dose I am taking extended release med. I hope my pcp can keep this change while I recover as it really helps. I just don’t like the constipation all these meds are causing. I can’t wait to go home and take Miralax twice a day as I know it might cause colon blow but it is so needed right now. I am so bloated from not going.

Sleep has been elusive but I hopefully will be getting my meds earlier than I did last night. Last night I got them really late so had a difficult time getting to sleep. Plus RN wanted me to take a med at 2 am so I didn’t want to sleep then be woken up. I ended up sleeping until 330 when I woke up to pee. Bladder is good for that. Seems that time is my regular time. I hate it. But I end up cathing to make sure I am empty so I can sleep.

My roommate went home. He was a dude from Maine with similar issues as me with the back. We exchanged numbers and said we’d call. Don’t know if it will happen. He seems to be a good man. Tends to talk a lot in circles but he is an older gentleman.

I hope I don’t have a problem sleeping. I am so tired I feel like I can sleep through the night. Hope I do.

Public transportation disability services and stuff

by Midnight Demon, posted in blogging, Chronic pain, chronic physical pain, CRPS, depression, mood disorders

Public transportation disability services and stuff

I had my interview with disability services to get a Ride to where I need to go for medical appointments and other things as long as they were T accessible. I think I got approved as the guy said I should hear back within two to three days. I am hoping two because the third day I will be in surgery. I was wicked beat after the appointment but I had to go to Walgreens for my mother and get some more Gatorade to last me until Thurs. I worked out a system with my bag with my former coworkers as I will need my phone charger more than anything else. I don’t think I will have anything by mouth the first day as I will be flat on my back the first 24 hours. Hospital is in shut down mode so my outpatient appointments have become either phone or video appointments. I spent most of the time this morning getting phone calls about this. I did call my neurosurgeon’s NP and surgery is scheduled. I am to report at the times they gave me. Just thinking about this has given me such anxiety. I spent most of the night prepping my bag with stuff I want to take with me. The last thing I needed was Gatorade. I think I have everything but the meds that they may not have in formulary.

After the trip with Walgreens I started wheezing. I know it is because I am tired and it was cold out as I was rushing to get back home. I just wanted to be in my room under the covers. I gave up keeping the window open. It got too cold in my room. I would have to close it anyway in a few days so just as well. One less thing to worry about. I talked with my ex-supervisor at work and he is lending me my old locker to store my stuff in it so I have a place to put it. This way I don’t have to worry about my family bringing me stuff when my coworkers are already there. Please give a shout out to the medical pathology departments in your hospital because they are working just as hard as the doctors and nurses to give results that are needed for this crisis.

I hate having to cath. I honestly hope it is better after surgery because I cannot live like this anymore. It is just too fucking hard. The flashbacks of trauma don’t help. One day I will write about the stuff I went through with a parent but not right now. I can’t get myself worked up with all this stupid fucking anxiety around surgery. It will just throw gas into the fire when I am trying to burn the fire out. Allergies have been bad the past few days and it isn’t officially spring yet till Thurs. That is probably why I was wheezing. Allergies. I just took Flonase so hope that calms it down some. I will take Benadryl if I need to. I might anyways to calm the fuck down. I had minimal sleep last night because I was crazy with anxiety. My phone kept ringing or I had to make calls this morning and I don’t even remember who I talked to because I was on the phone, writing emails, getting shit done all before I had a cuppa. I didn’t want cawfee and now I won’t be able to have it because I don’t have half and half. I have to go to the super market and get it tomorrow. I want to get Golden Oreos, too. And this stupid cereal I fell in love with but can’t seem to find anywhere but in the damn stores. It’s a flax seed and multigrain flakes cereal that is made by Nature’s Path. So good. That is all I want. Then next week or whenever I am home from the hospital, I can order my regular grocery stuff.

anxiety is building

by Midnight Demon, posted in blogging, Chronic pain, CRPS, depression, mood disorders

Anxiety is building

There are just four days until I have surgery. I have made lists of things and plan on filling my med box before I go in as I want to have them filled when I come home as I don’t know what state I will be in. still planning on locking away meds as needed. I just got to find or remember where I put the med box. I still don’t know if I will be seeing my therapist this week. Everything seems to be on hold. I don’t know if I will see my psychopharm either. I haven’t heard anything from her office but I am guessing it is the same. If I have a virtual appointment with one, I am going to cancel the other. I don’t want to expose myself while traveling into Boston.

I just lounged around my room today. I showered and then did my meds so I could take them. I made something to eat, boiled eggs and that was all I had to eat today. I just am not very hungry. I got a phone call from the ride saying they will pick me up around noon so I will have to be ready by then. I have no papers to bring with me. I just have my PCP’s card and I think that is all I will need. I tried getting the fax number from my therapist but she might not be in the office. I just have the cell phone number and hope it will be enough if they need to speak to her. I probably will need to fill out a consent form when I am back in the office.

I got word from my urologist that I don’t have an infection and she wants to have an e-visit with me. I never had one so I told her to tell me what to do. I was expecting to hear back today but doesn’t look like it now. Maybe tomorrow.