Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Day after.......

The day after what..??
Well, first of all, the day after Valentines Day.....
second....the day after I take a tumble going out to dinner with my wife, mom-in-law, nephew and step daughter...
Yeah, we all decided to go out for dinner as a Valentines present to all of us......
Got to the restaurant about 6:30pm.....I think I was the second or third person out of all of us, to get to the door of the building.....I grabbed the door with my left hand because I hold my cane in my right hand....
I had ahold of the door, grabbed it with my right hand, cane in hand. Went to step into the little foyer....and tripped over my own left foot...and down I went.
Concrete and tile are hard.
My first thought....literally, was....did anyone else see me..?
and I looked around and there were no other customers around...So, my wife grabbed me by one hand, and I grabbed something solid with the other.....and pulled myself back up.
No major damage....left hip hurts, I hurt both knees and my left shoulder is a bit sore....
I sat through dinner....pretty uncomfortable sitting there....but I managed.
Didn't sleep very well despite doubling up on my pain meds....
I couldn't sleep on my left side because of my hip being so sore and that is my normal sleep side....so that threw me off too...
Woke up this morning at 4....and I've been managing pretty fair so far today....just moving much slower than normal...
One thing I can say....I am so glad that I didn't break anything....
I wish I had a video of the fall so that I could see exactly how I tripped and fell....because as I said...I tripped on my own foot...my left foot..
It's like a brick sometimes...and when I walk, I try to make a very concentrated effort to walk properly because I know I have bad foot drop on that foot...
But anyway....another day in the life of a TM'r.
There must have been something in the air yesterday....I posted this on my Facebook group...and there were three other folks that took a tumble yesterday also....
Fortunately, no major damage with any of them.
I've been lucky, if you want to call it that....because this is only about my fifth fall...and as unsteady as I am.....that truly is a miracle...but again, I make an effort to walk with my bad foot and leg in mind.
I guess the thing is....when I do fall....I get more ticked off at myself..because it is a physical reminder of my weaknesses....and I don't like that.

So.....I know I posted last month that I had a bit of one of my episodes.......and I had another one this month..
It started last Tuesday..Feb. 7th. I woke up with what I thought was going to be a head cold....pretty stuffy...slight head ache...
So, I took a dose of Alka Seltzer Plus Cold Medicine....that's always worked pretty well for me before..
Went to bed that night and still felt pretty rough.....Got up that next morning and the headache was there....not a terrible headache....just a very nagging one....and as the day progressed....I started feeling worse...
Fast forward to the next morning...Thursday...and the diarrhea had started....and I didn't feel like eating...I was extremely tired....etc...
Finally, by Sunday I was feeling better....just weak because I hadn't eaten much of anything for three days...

Let's see...what else..
Oh yeah..I had an appointment with my pain doc about three weeks ago....no major changes there....We talked about my pain issues, talked about changing meds....
I'm just not that up on trying any other meds again....even though my MS Contin isn't working near as well as it used to....
As I told my doc...I used to have a very high tolerance for pain...and it seems that over time....I don't have the tolerance for it as I used to....
I talked to my doc about that and he said that it is common to become desensitized...which, initially doesn't make sense...because becoming desensitized means you don't feel it anymore...
but in this case.....I have become desensitized to the tolerance I used to have....I have become more aware of the pain I have since it is constant..
It is easier to be tolerant of pain that is of a shorter duration.....but for someone with chronic pain....you are aware of it more because it never goes away....
So.....with that aside...I've tried quite a few meds for my pain...and what I'm on now has been the most successful in helping dull my senses enough for me to get along each day....
but, I have spoken with quite a few people on various groups on the internet, that either use or have used medical marijuana...with much success. They say it helps with the pain, the leg spasms and cramps and also helps sleep.
So....I figured I'd ask my pain doc what his thoughts were...
I asked him.....what were his thoughts and opinions on medical marijuana.....
and one of the first things he said....was that if it was legal in Ohio....he would have me on it in a heartbeat.
I was kind of surprised of that reaction.....So much of what you hear...is that lots of people in general are against medical marijuana....I suppose they have that stereotype thought in their mind.....that pot is such a terrible illicit drug that leads a person to crime and all that other hollywood stuff...
But....it seems that I have a pretty forward thinking pain doc and knows and realizes the benefits of the drug.
So.....I suppose..all I can do, is keep my fingers crossed that when the medical marijuana bill goes up for a vote here in Ohio, that it gets approved.
I may just have some luck down the road with something that helps me with this pain, my leg cramps and also be able to get some decent sleep....
and get off of the 4 different pills I take right now, to help me with those problems.

So...for my music post this time around...
I'll post the original tune of an old standard....that's been covered by lots of folks....the most popular being Sammy Davis Jr. and also the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band..
but...the original song was written by no other than the great Jerry Jeff Walker...
and I've always loved his version best..
...

Well...it's been real and it's been fun....but it hasn't been real fun...So..I'll leave you with that...and
Till Next Time......