Step Two

I realized I haven't had an update since my last doctor's appointment which was with my ENT doctor. Today I had a follow-up appointment with my Pain management doctor. The previous medication I was put on was Neurotin which gave me several horrible side effects, one was I was feeling worse than ever. Today we talked about other options to help manage my pain. The doctors really want to push in trying all sorts of medications before opting to go for surgery to remove my appendix and possibly gallbladder. There are really no definite signs of the "need" to take it out but it was an idea that they said could possibly help; however, medication therapy is the first step. I'm not a big fan of continuous intake of medications, but then again, I'm not a big fan of surgeries either! I'm on a new medication now call, Topamax. The doctor says that the side effects I experienced with the Neurotin shouldn't be as pronounced. One side effect is low energy and inability to think fully/clearly. I'm not a big fan of that either because with my how energy already I can't imagine having even less energy! I'm praying that this side effect won't be too bad or affect me so much. I had the option of taking Triliptal which doesn't have the "low energy" feeling but the thing about that medication is that I have to go in several times to get blood work done to monitor my chemical level; and you know me....I CAN'T STAND NEEDLES! My follow up appointment with the pain management center is in July; however, the sad part is that my current doctor taking over my case, Dr Johnson, is leaving and I will have a new doctor. Oh, but don't think I get to have almost 3 whole months of no UVA appointments. I still have several coming up, including my yearly neuro - ophthalmology check up!

I still continue to struggle physically which affects me mentally as well. It's a battle of tug-a-war and I'm very tired of it and just tired period. My doctor explained to me that this whole "war" of pain causing nausea causing low energy, etc is common in chronic pain. Sometimes I grow increasingly weary of this cycle and sometimes loose a lot of faith and hope. However, with that being said, I am grateful for a loving family (including church family) and friends who has helped me along the way. Thank you all who has prayed and encouraged me through these past years.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Decision, Goodbyes, True Healer

  EIGHT  MONTHS---REALLY? I n many ways, I can barely grasp that I have been on this chemo medication for 8 months already.   This means, I   had 9 visits with the oncologists, 9 blood draws,   4 ECHOs, 4 EKGS, 3 neuro-ophthalmology exams,   and 3 MRIs (related to my chemo drug—it includes initial baseline check, one in May, and one just recently on August 25 th which went much smoother).   I actually had a 4 th one but it’s unrelated to the chemo drug, but still related to my disorder).      If you remember from my previous posts, the chemo meds has been really hard on my body; there were so many times I really wondered how much longer I could endure the “fire” on my scalp, or the pain in my legs.    Back in July, the pain in my scalp, face started to get extremely bad.   After completing my 21 day cycle/28 day cycle, we noticed that even with my usual scheduled one-week break from the medication, my sores continued t...
Read more

Thankful for Pastors in our Midst----

It's past 2:45 AM and I'm still awake. I've been awake since 9a.m. without any naps which is unusual for me. I've been in my bed since 11pm and I can't seem to shut my mind off.  There's so much going on in my heart and my mind that I can't seem to just "turn off"  It has relatively little to do with the amount of physical pain I'm in tonight nor does it have little to do with upcoming medical procedures.  I just have a lot on my mind.  Some good things; some sad things; so praiseworthy things, some heart wrenching things, etc. Today for all you VA folks, know how blistering cold it was today; I have to be extra careful about not getting sick due to my low immunity; plus with my horrible pain scale today, I just couldn't make it to church.  I wanted to make it to either the early morning service or the Thanksgiving service my church had to night combined with the formal Installation Service of the official (should I say "dubbing??...
Read more

In My Need I Seek Your Help.......

Image
There hasn’t been a huge change in things regarding my health since my last update/blog post.    My pain management doctor has tried a different form of non-steroid/non medication injection (for my abdominal pain) that seems to help some (to be explained later in the post).   It may need to take a few tries to see if this treatment works; that is, if I decide if I want to continue this kind of treatment.   As for my head pain and neck pain, my neurologist is doing all he can for now with medication therapy; and working along with my pain management doctor who is holding off other forms of treatment until he can slow down things with my abdominal pain.   In the meantime, I get some relief by going to my chiropractor/kinetic energy doctor in town.   I continue to be grateful for the doctors I have –those who are not giving up on me and trying very hard to try to find a solution to the cause of all this pain.   So far, my pain man...
Read more