Topic : Living with Chronic Pain

Greetings Prof,

After going back reading some of the other posts, I realized that I forgot to answer your question in regards to my grandhchildren asking for their mother. The answer is very much a YES, they asked for her daily, sometimes five to six times a day. That's why I have tried keeping their little minds occupied with fun things to do so that they won't be so grief-strickened about their mother not being around.

I feel so bad for them at times, because even though 'grammy' is here for them, and love them endlessly, there's no substitute for mother. I often go to bed wondering if she even thinks about them, the one time that she did call to inform me of her 'sudden' marraige, she didn't even ask to speak to them.

I usually tell the kids that 'mommy' is on vacation, that hse has went to the beach for a little bit,=. But trust me Prof, for everyday that they rise from bed, the first thing on their minds would be mommy.

I'm doing the very best that I know to do given the circumstances. I will NOT give them back to her until she can prove to me that she is truly ready to be a parent. I will not have them bounced from one end of town to the next with this ignorant person she has went and attached to.

 

So please keep me close to your heart as I try to do the right thing by my children.

 

Love,

Lashy

 Simon, I am also sorry for what you have gone through and what you are still going through. I have taken a lot of medication and pretty much, the doctors really cant do anything since my body is rejecting everything given to me including pain medication. I have tried everything under the sun almost and nothing has worked. They just give me the adversed affect. I am hanging on in there and yesterday i went to the disabiliy support service center at my school and will be recieving assistance and they refered me to vocational rehab and today i went to orientation. have a lot of paperwork to fill out. As far as seeing psychiatric, i feel i dont need it. Yes I am angry but I have come a long way because at first i hated everything about life. I also couldnt accept the fact that I had a disabiliy but now i accept it and am moving on. I understand that life throws us hurdles and we must accept it and move on. Nothing can change the past and I understand that I need to move on and I am moving on.

Yes it is very sad when others who havent walked in our shoes cant understand. As far as having my parents understand, My dad is a very strict man and believes that I should grin and bear it. He doesnt understand the pain i go through, even though its there in black and white. But I am starting to not care what they think. The only thing that matters is what I know. My fiance is starting to understand and is being supportive to  me. I am going to be recieving disability support from my college and now I am in the process of getting vocational rehab. As soon as I get vocational rehab, I will start the application for disability or SSI. So you see, things are looking good for me. Btw, sorry for what you go throgh and what you have been through.

Is anybody out there?  It's after 11 AM Pacific time...that means it's afternoon where most of you are...too busy today??

 

I'm still faithful to my foot splint...hurts to walk without it...just waiting until the re-check next week with the foot doc.  I'm not sure it's improving much...frustrating.

 

Welcome to the newbies on the board...I've got to catch up on the reading.

 

John has been home from work for the last three days because he injured the tendons in his wrist...he is in a hand splint...people ask us if we're going for the "matching" look.  Other people ask us if we "beat each other up"...hee hee hee...karate and kick-boxing??  Not hardly.  He's not supposed to use his hand, and I'm not supposed to use my foot...we'll both try to be good and follow the doc's orders.  Because John is home, he's been "hogging" the computer most of the time, so I haven't been able to "hog" it myself to read the posts.

 

Well, I hope everybody is OK...the board is awfully quiet....Becky

Hello Everyone,

Just like Becky mentioned in her post, the board is very quiet, I hope that everyone is doing well. I would love to hear from someone......

 

Love,

Lashy

I just took one heck of a tumble.  It's my  own fault for rushing when I'm hot and tired and  emotional.

I was working on my chainmaille (but that's a whole other story which I may post about in my diary) and when I do something, I become single sighted. Sometimes that's good because it's hard to focus on emotions at those times. But, the cats were meowing at me to be fed.

So I gave up, aggravated but knowing I would get no peace until they were fed (Prof, you likely know the aggravation!), put my work down, and took my coffee mug, which was still about a quarter full of now cold coffee into the kitchen at the same time, and leaving my crutch  behind in my hurry. (You see it coming, don't you?)

Halfway to the sink, my  right foot caught in the cord of the vacuum I'd yet to put away, sending me airborn and twisting midair in one of those surreal falls where you're aware of every moment as if it were in slow motion.  Because of the braces, I was unable to free myself of the cord: the braces keep my ankle from rotating or bending downward.  I bounced of my righ t hand and hip and then landed flat on my back, still holding on to the now empty coffee mug and now facing 180 degrees opposite of the direction I was heading.

Like some kind of tension breaker, I just lay there sobbing  more from the combined facts that falls are scary things that it was the last straw of the day  than from pain. Once I was sure nothing was broken, I picked myself up and started crying even more  when I saw that the coffee flew all over the floor and the range.

I wiped it up, fed the very startled cats, and then sat down.

Now it's starting to hurt. I already have a small bruise on my inside wrist, but that's the least of it. My hip, I can already tell by how much it hurts, is going to be all sorts of "pretty" colors. My left ankle  hurts - trying to figure out how they got hurt, unless the hinge that  lets my foot bend upward (like when kneeling or climbing stairs) caused me to bend them too far up in the launch.. I'm not sure about the knees, but I. My back is tender where I landed on it. And my muscles  are turning to concrete just from the shock of it all.

And me without any Darvocet. Ah well, I'll live. I've been through worse. I just hope I have better luck when I go to bathe tonight. *chuckle-sob* And bathe I must, because not only am I hot and sweaty but I think I have coffee in my hair.

Blessed be,

Morgan

I also have Degenerative Disc Diseease at L4-5 & L5-S1 along with spinal stenois/spondthesis/Chronic Lumbar Radiculopathy. I am 28 yrs old. I went to a lot of doctors. One doctor suggested Endoscopic Distecomy. I had that done because I was in so much pain. I was using a walker and needed a wheelchair at times. I was not feeling any better and getting worse. I had the L5-S1 anterior lumbar interbody fusion. I was still not feeling any better either. I doctor did say I needed a 2 level fusion but it was goin to be a huge surgery but never really followed up. I had called and called the office and the office people would either hung up on me or transfered me to a voicemail. I left a voicemail and never got a response. I had a lot worse go on. I had the first surgeon saw me a few times but later accused me of making my pain up, he did not know what was causing my pain, corned me in his office, yelled at me and threaten to call the police on me because I was distrubing his office. I was crying and upset that how could a doctor do that to me when I am in so much pain. I had a friend from work in the waiting room waiting for me and he did not hear anything. Later on I had L4-5 fused this surgery was 4 screws, 2 rods, a bone, and a redo fusion at L5-S1 through scarum. It took the full 18 months to heal. I started having severe pain about 6 months into the 18 months and has not gone away. This last surgery was in 1-05. I lost my job, my insurance, and had to move home with my mother in NM. I am now goin to a pain doctor and goin through pain management. I have had shots, and Neurolyis. The doctor has said I will have this for the rest of my life. I am not happy to hear that but she is nice. She has mentioned a spinal chord stiumlator but I will not do it. At the time I was living in Phoenix, AZ and I was raised in New Mexico. I went to an art school and lived with roommates. I had moved several times. I had got a one bed room apartment by myself. My parents had came up and brought all my stuff for my apartment. My mother has a heart disease and so my dad and I had to move everything. About 2 weeks later I started having pain. It felt like I had feel down a flight of stairs which I did not.  

I finally took the time to figure out how to start a diary!!!  Morgan, you inspired me to start, as well as others who mention their diaries.  I don't know how to read other's diary entries...I'll figure that one out later.  My first diary entry says that I'll start tomorrow...what a procrastinator I am...really, I am just busy tonight...gotta get John's lunch made for tomorrow  (Yes, I make his lunch every day, and tuck litle love notes in his shirt pocket once in awhile).

 

I'm having my sleep study tonight to confirm for the insurance company that I have sleep apnea...I hope it goes well. 

 

Has anybody seen "Premonition", the movie with Sandra Bullock?  That's what I'm getting for my "birthday movie"...we get a DVD for every birthday and holiday...a way to build up our collection.  If you have seen it, what did you think? (without giving away the plot or ending, please).

 

My birthday is coming up this Monday.  We are cooking shrimp, imitation crab, corn on the cob, and some cous cous...nothing too difficuly for my family to cook.  For dessert, we're having "Bubble Gum Dump Cake".  It's a dutch oven recipe, but we're using the oven this time.

 

Here's the recipe:

 

Bubble Gum Dump Cake:

 

2 cans Raspberry Pie Filling (Or large jar Raspberry jam)

1 Box white cake mix (dry)

1 can (12 oz) RED soda pop

 

Grease you pan first. (13x9 cake pan)  Then dump in the pie filling.  Next, dump in the DRY cake mix.  Next, dump the pop over the top.  DO NOT STIR.  Bake in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes.  Let cool...enjoy...so easy, even a caveman could do it!!  (hope there aren't any cavemen who post to this board...wouldn't want to offend anybody) 

If you are using a dutch oven...the cast iron kind...get some charcoal going, and dump your ingredients into the greased dutch oven.  Make a pile from half of the charcoal.  Set the dutch oven on top of it, and put the rest of the charcoals on top of the dutch oven lid.  Let cook for 45 minutes.

Personally, I like the cake pan version the best, as I don't particularly like the taste of food cooked in cast iron.

 

Becky

 

 

 

 

I'm sorry that you fell and hurt yourself...don't wait to go to the doctor like I did...get to the doctor and get checked out...you might have injured yourself worse than you think.  Get a refill on the pain meds while you're there...and get some ice on those hurts...I'm trying to picture you with coffee in your hair...hee hee...really, I'm not laughing at you, just with you...ouch!!!!

 

Get well soon...Becky

Hello, and Welcome Countrygal,

I am so sorry that you've had such bad experiences dealing with 'incompetent physicians', they can be very difficult to deal with. I would continue seeking medical opinions until I found a physician that I would be best suited with. Physicians can be very cruel and insensative when they can't pinpoint problems, so they then try and throw it back to the patient, making us feel like we've done something wrong by seeking help in the first place. I know far too well what that's like Countrygal, I wish you the best as you try and abate some of the pain that you are having, don't give up seeking the proper medical treatment ok?

 

Morgan My Dear, I really hope that you seek some medical advice as Becky mentioned to you earlier. That fall may have been worse than you imagine it being. Remember what we've talked about, being that we would take care of ourselves right? I hope that you find some comfort today in every aspect. Love you much, and please......go see a doctor ok?

 

Well Ms. Becky, Let me be the first one here to say: 'Happy Birthday to Becky, and I wish you many more to come...Your recipe for the cake sounds fabulous!!!! My problem has always been cravings for sweets, you've got me know, hook, line, and sinker....I may even try that recipe Becky. Thanks for sharing.

 

Prof, Hope your feeling ok, I haven't heard from you recently. Just know that I'm thinking about you. Be Blessed.

 

Sims, Please forgive me, yesterday I mentioned you and I think that I forgot to exlcude an (E) behind your name, I am so sorry. But how are you feeling today? I truly hope that your pain levels are not to high today. I really enjoy reading your posts, so I hope to hear from you soon. The board has been fairly quiet recently, I feel that I am the only one that try and post daily, maybe I need to stop doing that but,  I get up in the mornings before it's time to get the grandchildren up wanting to know how everyone's doing here, and then before I know it, I'm writing. I may even start my diary, who knows, it may be fun

 

For everyone else, I wish you all a pain-free day. I really don't like trying to mention every's name here for fear that I may leave someone out unintentionally. But I will try: Karin, Prof, Morgan, D, Sims, Pickles, thenextdrphil, Countrygal, Carl, Becky, Ladidi100, How did I do? (smile)!!!

 

I won't bore you guys today with my life, I just wanted to stop by and say hello.

Wishing You All A Productive Day!

 

Love,

Lashy