Friday, May 29, 2009

Friday update

Okay then, well, I have reason to update today....nothing TM related though. To back up to Wednesday the 27th...that day was my wife's and my anniversary...unfortunately we didn't have anything spectacular planned as my wife had to work that afternoon.
Now, as I wrote before...I just had my one year TM anniversary and I was fortunate (sarcasm)enough to be in the hospital last year for my wedding anniversary.

So, this past Wednesday...I awoke and things were pretty good other than the fact that the arthritis in my left hip was flaring up because of the humidity. It was really no biggie because I can deal with the pain but it is an annoyance...
Well, today was going to be kind of a big day for me because I was going to be driving myself for the first time since I got TM. I had to run to the drug store to get some of my meds. My Neuro had cleared me to drive on my last appointment with him and this was kind of like part of getting my identity back.

So, about 10:00am I get in the shower and get dressed...and then about 11:30am I decide to make myself some lunch before I go to the store. About 1:00pm I head out to the drug store and by the time I get home I'm having this feeling like something is stabbing me in the left side of my back up under my rib cage..It doesn't really hurt, but it is uncomfortable. The day continues on and I'm relaxing on the bed for a bit and had taken a vicodon just to try and help relieve some of the discomfort.
My wife gets ready for work and leaves about 3:30pm to stop at the store beforehand. So, I'm hanging out here at home and this pain starts to get worse..to the point where I'm thinking maybe it's a kidney stone or who knows...but all I know is that it was getting very hard to walk. At one point I went in to the bathroom and the pain was so bad that it actually made me break out in a sweat and I vomited.
So, back to the bed...and I find one position to lay that isn't excruciating and I start to think that something is really wrong...I had no idea what was going on. I think to myself..okay, when Lizzie gets home from work (10:00pm) I'll have her take me to the ER.
Well, about 7:30pm she calls home anyway just to check in and when I answered the phone she could tell something was wrong and she came home and called the EMT's because I could not get up off of the bed.
EMT's got here and I got another ambulance ride to the hospital...

So, I'm laying there on the gurney at the hospital in the ER waiting for the doc to come in and the pain is so intense...and of course I can't get any pain meds until the doc sees me and gives the order...so I wait and wait and wait...I don't know what time the doc finally comes in but when he does, first he has no idea what TM is when I tell him I have that..and then I describe what is going on with me now...and he asks me what I think is wrong...I couldn't believe he even asked me that...
Anyway...long story short...after 2 MRI's, X-Ray, blood work and urine..the doc tells me there is nothing he can find. No kidney stones or anything else...must be a pulled muscle..
I was like..????? What....?????
How, where, when....
Anyway...now to fast forward...my wife and I get home about 2:00am Thursday and I'm so juiced up on pain meds that I am able to sleep...but I sleep in a reclining chair instead of the bed because I can't lay flat still.
Thursday my wife calls my PC doctor and she gets me in. I am barely able to walk to get in and out of the van but we get to the docs office and I cover everything with her and she starts checking me out. Since she already has access to everything they did at the hospital the night before she goes over that and she starts thinking as to what might be going on.
First, she is going to have some blood taken to check for a blood clot in my lung. That could potentially cause the type of pain I was suggesting (that came back negative)...and then she had me get up on the exam table on my stomach.. and she starts manipulating the area and I tell her when she hits specific spots...and then she says..hmmm, 10 to 1 it's the floating ribs #11 - 12.
Apparently they can get out of place and cause the type of pain I was having...funny thing is though that they usually show on MRI's..
Anyway, my doc worked on the area for a few minutes and told me to up my zanaflex for a couple of days.
Well, I'll tell you...as the day went on yesterday after I saw my doc...The pain in that spot starting feeling so much better.
I slept in the chair again last night and took my zanaflex this morning and now the pain is all but just a mild twinge. I don't know what my doc did but she apparently knew what she was doing.

So...two years in a row..my wedding anniversary..ambulance ride, hospital...This is getting to be a bit of a habit.

Music today...just for fun....
A song from the 70's called Popcorn from a band called Hot Butter....


Till Next Time......

Thursday, May 14, 2009

14 May

One year ago today...1:00am to be more or less, exact..
My wife and I had taken a little vacation to Niagara Falls and then stopped in Erie, PA to visit with my mom for a couple of days. We arrived in Erie on the afternoon of the 13th and had a great evening. Early morning of the 14th that all came to change.

I awoke at approx. 1:00am with what I felt were bad leg cramps....little did I know.
The EMT's were called and by 3:00am I was in the emergency room paralyzed from the waist down. The pain throughout this time was incredible. Hmmm..Did I say pain...more like fire. Fire from my waist to my toes. I still remember hollering out while the EMT's were there...I hollered.."My balls are burning"...and it literally felt like I had been doused with gasoline all over my crotch and legs...and a match thrown on me.

What the hell was happening to me..? I had no idea... I was scared..was I dying..? I'm sure my wife was scared as well as my mom too. This was like a dream gone bad. I remember thrashing around from the pain/fire...it wouldn't go away. I couldn't voluntarily move anything from my waist down. The thrashing was all involuntary...why was my body doing this..? Please make this stop.

.....The memories of that night/early morning have flashed through my mind countless times in the last year...more than I care to remember and unfortunately those memories will probably rear their head many more times...
But, I must say...even though those memories are probably never going to go away...the actual events of that morning are gone and should never come back.

One whole year has passed...and what a year it has been. I am glad this past year is over....all the physical problems...all the mental problems...have been an incredible challenge. I've just completed almost one full year of physical therapy...and have made progress by leaps and bounds. The mental challenges are pretty much under control...
I still have some limitations, but at least I know and understand what they are and how to deal with them. I can live with that, especially knowing that with each passing week, month and year things should slowly continue getting better. One thing I do know is that there will continue being some physical challenges brought about by the weather here in Ohio. I suppose I'll just have to be prepared for that when it happens.

I've had this day on my mind for quite some time....I suppose everyone thinks about certain "anniversaries" and this one for me was no different. I knew it was coming and it was quite a milestone...after all, when TM first hit me I had no idea where I would stand one year out. Well, now I know.

An "interesting" thing did happen to me this morning though..and I don't know if it was a result of me thinking about today being my anniversary or what..but, at 2:00am I woke up with an incredible leg cramp..in my left leg. The pain was incredible to the point where I got up out of bed...walked into the bathroom and was trying to walk the cramp out...just as I had done one year ago. The cramp continued to get worse and my mind started racing....This pain was familiar. I'd heard of reoccurring TM before but the chances are very small...but then again...so are the chances of getting TM...
Surely this wasn't another TM flareup...I started thinking about what if it was and I got paralyzed while I was in the bathroom...what was I going to do..? What if I fell while I was in there..What if I had to drag myself back into the bedroom to wake my wife..? The thoughts I was having were like a bad dream...

Anyway, the cramp started to subside...so I continued to stretch and walk it out...I was up for a half an hour working this cramp out and finally it did go away....
You want to talk about being relieved...

Well...I'm sure that I have gone on long enough now....I wanted to update today with it being my anniversary. I do have alot more that I want to say...but I'll hold that for future updates...
Having TM has really changed my thoughts and outlook on many things...has it made me wiser..I'm not sure, but it sure has made me more appreciative of some things...
With that being said...I want to thank all of you...friends and family that have been there...those of you that have popped in and read this blog...and all of my other TM friends out there for their words of support. All of you are a great bunch.

Music for today....and I know this isn't going to be everyone's taste...but I'm posting this song for one reason....
The band...Judas Priest...and the song...."PAINKILLER" and I think you can understand why I'm posting that...


Till Next Time......

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Saturday

May 2nd 2009...
Figured I'd do a bit of an update today. Since my last post...if you recall, I was recovering from another migraine. I'm now over that and back on my low to no tyramine diet to see if that helps me with these headaches.

I've recently been "lucky" enough to get notice from my neurologist that he is moving to another part of the state...4 hours away....so I won't be seeing him anymore. Even though it sucks that I have to change Neuros...the new doctor that my current neuro referred us to seems to be on the ball. My current neuro tells us that he is younger and very educated..he studied at Harvard Medical School and he is also very aware of TM. I've yet to meet him but I feel that he should be okay..At least I don't have to educate a newbie on what's going on with me.

Also, on top of having a new Neuro...my wife and I had to change our Primary care doc too. Our old doc changed insurance carriers and they were not going to accept who we have our insurance through...After our doc and her new carrier bickered back and forth the insurance company told her that they would grandfather any old patients...well, they blew smoke up her butt because they are not honoring that. We got a letter from our insurance with our new docs info. My wife and I were concerned because both my wife and I have unique situations and again, we didn't want to have to educate someone new. We had our first appointment this past Thursday and to be honest, we were pleasantly surprised. She is very aware of TM and I can say that with certainty because while I was talking with her she asked me some very specific TM related questions. She also told me that she had done some training under my old neurologist...so, I feel very confident and comfortable with her. Whew....that takes a load off.

Okay...let's see...what else..? Oh yeah...yesterday I was busy around the house trying to do some things...(cleaning up and scrubbing our laundry room top to bottom)
Not a terribly strenuous job but after I got into it after a bit...I was sweating like a fool. I figured out what was going on...we had all the windows in the house open because it was absolutely gorgeous outside as far as temperature. It was raining out but that kept the temp down...the only problem though...is that the humidity was up pretty high. So, with 70 degree temps and the humidity being over 80% it whipped me. I ended up taking three showers yesterday...
The one thing I can see now that is starting to bother me...is that this summer when the temps are floating around 80 and the humidity is high..(which is very common here) I, again won't be able to go outside. I'll be stuck in this friggen house again.
I'm getting as much outside time as I can now...like today...high of 60 and partly cloudy...I'm getting outside...the only problem...I can't do much yard work..the ground is saturated from all the rain we had yesterday....Oh well, I'll figure out something.

So..everyone..that's about it for now

For my music selection today...I'm going to go with a little jazz...something from the great Chuck Mangione.
The song is Children of Sanchez.


Till Next Time......