Chronic Pain Support Group
Physicians and professionalsdefine pain as chronic if it lasts longer than three to six months and is persistent. It's distinct from acute pain that is a direct result of injury or trauma. This support group is dedicated to those suffering from chronic pain. Discuss treatments that have worked for you, find advice for your specific experience, and find support. You're not...
We call it a cardio day because anytime I have an appointment at the VA hospital, it seems we have to walk the full length of the friggen hospital at least once before we go home, Yesterday was no exception.
My apt was with the chronic pain group at 12:30. A follow-up to being put on morphine ER last month. But my life can't be that simple. Right now my daughter's car does not have registration tags as it won't pass emissions (smog). That gives us just one vehicle and hubby worked yesterday (and today). In order to snag the SUV, daughter and I drove to work with him at OMG 4:30am. There was not even espresso at that early hour as the stands were not open yet!!! Daughter and I slept in the SUV (sort of) for the next 4 hours until it was time to head to the VA hospital. My dainty 100lb Service Dog slept on my lap, ug, I need a snorkel to breath through all the fur!! Just being in the SUV for 6 hours at that point was horrible, Eventually we got the hospital. And began the cardio day...
Construction has the valet parking on the far side of the hospital, ug, to begin with. Yes, the hospital has free valet parking and it is WONDERFUL!!! Setting a calm pace, we set off for the far side of the hospital, where my appointment was. I made it about 1/3rd the way there and took a break at some benches. This is when the light-bulb went on that we did not bring my walker. Two conversations about my big white dog later (she is a Great Pyrenees not a huge while Golden Retriever) and I got moving again. At an even slower pace, we made it to the 7th floor and to the chronic pain group, got checked in and ooched into a full waiting room.
To say my pain management doctor was unamused at the turn of event is putting it lightly. She was pissed that my Primary Card doctor won't see me more than once a year, leaving her to track down things that he should be doing.. like my thyroid medication. She was also VERY concerned that I am having so much trouble breathing. That my SD (Service Dog) has had to wake me up several times in the last week at night because I was not able to catch my breath is not good. That I still have very prominent bruises down my left arm from when I fell last week getting into the bathtub was worse. The fact that my fall went; black out, fall to the floor, wake up. Well, that made her even more concerned. Great, I freaked out the doctor.
We talked very little about pain meds. I stated that I was not comfortable with the morphine due to the trouble I was having breathing and wanted back on the hydrocodone. She agreed, but wanted some answers on my breathing. She checked my lungs and heart, but was not thrilled with what she found. My lack of articulation did not help.
So started the additional cardio... From the 7th floor we went down to the pharmacy, get a number and wait to talk to a pharmacist. Fend off questions about Service Dogs for what seems like an eternity, and explain that yes, I am going back on the vicoden, yes I have taken this before to the pharmacist who tells me less than an hour wait for my meds. No rest for the weary, we stop at the patient registration to see about replacing my VA ID card... but as I am only about half way through replacing the stuff out of my lost wallet, I don't have enough ID. Fine. We set off to the far side of the hospital, over near the valet parking, for bloodwork and lab tests.
My poor daughter, 23 years old, is not used to the VA hospital. It is usually hubby who takes me. Depending on my sense of direction in the labyrinth of the hospital, we keep getting lost. She spends most of the day joking that if the zombie apocalypse started in the hospital that day, we were toast. We finally find the lab and they pull blood, cause that is what I need if I am anemic, more blood gone. I also give urine for a STAT pregnancy test before reporting to X-ray. But wait... where is X-ray? It is back to the far side of the hospital on the 2nd floor...
Yeah, I got about 1/4 of the way back from the lab before I crumpled against the wall, desperately trying to catch my breath. My daughter accepted the offer of a wheel chair from the person who watched me crumple and there was a hysterical situation of FOUR different people trying over radios to get a volunteer to bring me a wheelchair, but we must have been in the one spot with zero reception. Then gave up and sent someone to go get one and bring it back to me. By that time I was willing to try walking again or falling to the floor from pain, either one would have been better than standing leaning against a hand rail. Daughter vetoed the walking AND the slumping all the way to the floor and made me just wait for the wheelchair.
The good part was the volunteer knew the fastest route to X-ray and I no longer had to direct. A full set of chest X-rays to rule out pneumonia were done before the technician could get the results from the pregnancy test - lol. Then it was off to the 4th floor for an EKG. Having lost our volunteer to the X-ray waiting room, my daughter pushed the wheelchair as my poor Service Dog got really confused as she has never walked next to a wheel chair before. So up the elevator and 20 feet strait ahead got us to cardio where the technician did back flips to make sure I did not feel imposed upon him touching my chest for the EKG. I had walked into the room to get the test, but when I had trouble gaining stability on sitting up, I was not allowed to leave other than by wheelchair. Sigh.
With our list almost done, we went back down to the pharmacy on the 1st floor and picked up my pain meds. We tried once more for the ID card, but the person who would have actually gotten me a card had already gone home. Then over to a different area and back up to the 2nd floor for a 30 minute wait to fill out a 2 minute form to get a new Primary Care doctor.
With that, we got to go all the way back across the hospital to the valet parking to head home. Time spent in the hospital, only 4 hours! I will get a call, well hubby will get a call, to set up a sleep study to rule out sleep apnea. I have a follow up in two weeks, two days before Xmass.
So I am back on vicoden, 30 mg a day in 6 tablets. I am still on 1800 mg of gabapentine. And for good bad or ugly, someone gives a darmn that I am randomly blacking out and falling and can't seem to catch my breath. I refuse to hope. I am just noting that it has happened.
My apt was with the chronic pain group at 12:30. A follow-up to being put on morphine ER last month. But my life can't be that simple. Right now my daughter's car does not have registration tags as it won't pass emissions (smog). That gives us just one vehicle and hubby worked yesterday (and today). In order to snag the SUV, daughter and I drove to work with him at OMG 4:30am. There was not even espresso at that early hour as the stands were not open yet!!! Daughter and I slept in the SUV (sort of) for the next 4 hours until it was time to head to the VA hospital. My dainty 100lb Service Dog slept on my lap, ug, I need a snorkel to breath through all the fur!! Just being in the SUV for 6 hours at that point was horrible, Eventually we got the hospital. And began the cardio day...
Construction has the valet parking on the far side of the hospital, ug, to begin with. Yes, the hospital has free valet parking and it is WONDERFUL!!! Setting a calm pace, we set off for the far side of the hospital, where my appointment was. I made it about 1/3rd the way there and took a break at some benches. This is when the light-bulb went on that we did not bring my walker. Two conversations about my big white dog later (she is a Great Pyrenees not a huge while Golden Retriever) and I got moving again. At an even slower pace, we made it to the 7th floor and to the chronic pain group, got checked in and ooched into a full waiting room.
To say my pain management doctor was unamused at the turn of event is putting it lightly. She was pissed that my Primary Card doctor won't see me more than once a year, leaving her to track down things that he should be doing.. like my thyroid medication. She was also VERY concerned that I am having so much trouble breathing. That my SD (Service Dog) has had to wake me up several times in the last week at night because I was not able to catch my breath is not good. That I still have very prominent bruises down my left arm from when I fell last week getting into the bathtub was worse. The fact that my fall went; black out, fall to the floor, wake up. Well, that made her even more concerned. Great, I freaked out the doctor.
We talked very little about pain meds. I stated that I was not comfortable with the morphine due to the trouble I was having breathing and wanted back on the hydrocodone. She agreed, but wanted some answers on my breathing. She checked my lungs and heart, but was not thrilled with what she found. My lack of articulation did not help.
So started the additional cardio... From the 7th floor we went down to the pharmacy, get a number and wait to talk to a pharmacist. Fend off questions about Service Dogs for what seems like an eternity, and explain that yes, I am going back on the vicoden, yes I have taken this before to the pharmacist who tells me less than an hour wait for my meds. No rest for the weary, we stop at the patient registration to see about replacing my VA ID card... but as I am only about half way through replacing the stuff out of my lost wallet, I don't have enough ID. Fine. We set off to the far side of the hospital, over near the valet parking, for bloodwork and lab tests.
My poor daughter, 23 years old, is not used to the VA hospital. It is usually hubby who takes me. Depending on my sense of direction in the labyrinth of the hospital, we keep getting lost. She spends most of the day joking that if the zombie apocalypse started in the hospital that day, we were toast. We finally find the lab and they pull blood, cause that is what I need if I am anemic, more blood gone. I also give urine for a STAT pregnancy test before reporting to X-ray. But wait... where is X-ray? It is back to the far side of the hospital on the 2nd floor...
Yeah, I got about 1/4 of the way back from the lab before I crumpled against the wall, desperately trying to catch my breath. My daughter accepted the offer of a wheel chair from the person who watched me crumple and there was a hysterical situation of FOUR different people trying over radios to get a volunteer to bring me a wheelchair, but we must have been in the one spot with zero reception. Then gave up and sent someone to go get one and bring it back to me. By that time I was willing to try walking again or falling to the floor from pain, either one would have been better than standing leaning against a hand rail. Daughter vetoed the walking AND the slumping all the way to the floor and made me just wait for the wheelchair.
The good part was the volunteer knew the fastest route to X-ray and I no longer had to direct. A full set of chest X-rays to rule out pneumonia were done before the technician could get the results from the pregnancy test - lol. Then it was off to the 4th floor for an EKG. Having lost our volunteer to the X-ray waiting room, my daughter pushed the wheelchair as my poor Service Dog got really confused as she has never walked next to a wheel chair before. So up the elevator and 20 feet strait ahead got us to cardio where the technician did back flips to make sure I did not feel imposed upon him touching my chest for the EKG. I had walked into the room to get the test, but when I had trouble gaining stability on sitting up, I was not allowed to leave other than by wheelchair. Sigh.
With our list almost done, we went back down to the pharmacy on the 1st floor and picked up my pain meds. We tried once more for the ID card, but the person who would have actually gotten me a card had already gone home. Then over to a different area and back up to the 2nd floor for a 30 minute wait to fill out a 2 minute form to get a new Primary Care doctor.
With that, we got to go all the way back across the hospital to the valet parking to head home. Time spent in the hospital, only 4 hours! I will get a call, well hubby will get a call, to set up a sleep study to rule out sleep apnea. I have a follow up in two weeks, two days before Xmass.
So I am back on vicoden, 30 mg a day in 6 tablets. I am still on 1800 mg of gabapentine. And for good bad or ugly, someone gives a darmn that I am randomly blacking out and falling and can't seem to catch my breath. I refuse to hope. I am just noting that it has happened.
That is scary about your breathing and your heart. I hope that they can find out something fairly quickly.
I might have missed another post, but why is it that your PC doc will only see you once a year? I guess it is now a moot point since you've submitted the form to get assigned to a new one.
I am also glad that your pain management doctor actually took the time to listen to you and took the necessary steps to try to get to the source of what you were presenting with. I am also very thankful for you that she was willing to adjust your pain meds.
I guess people just don't understand about SDs. I know that you aren't supposed to approach or pet them. I know that I am guilty of striking up conversations with people with SDs, but only if we are in a one-on-one situation, like in an elevator or something. I just like dogs and am always curious about what breed they are, their name, etc. I will now stop to think beforehand that the person holding the lead might be in terrible pain, ill, etc.
I hope you get some answers to your questions!
So that was the first year he was my doctor. The second year I had to FIGHT to get in to see him twice. When there, I was flat told by the nurse to not make another apt unless the doctor told me to - which I thought was odd.
Then last Jan I injured my shoulder, bad enough that two days later I was in the ER. I never go to the ER. The doctor in the ER told me he could NOT tell me that I had probably torn the tendons in my shoulder and probably needed surgery, but that I had to see my Primary Care doctor for that diagnosis. When my Primary Care Doc refused to see me, we had to go to the patient advocate to get the ER doctor to say that I needed to be seen ASAP about my shoulder. I was seen 4 days later.
The man never got within 4 feet of me. He diagnosed my shoulder, which I could not move more than a couple inches in any direction, with tendinitis and put me in for PT (which he screwed up the request and I never got) and acupuncture which did not happen until June.
All attempts to make an apt with him since then have ended in failure. He has flat told the nurses to not schedule me an apt until it is time for a yearly physical.
So my post cancer screenings go uncompleted. My shoulder goes without a diagnosis other than tendinitis, though I have about 1/3rd of my mobility back with doing PT on my own. He even put a Pain Management contract into my records without me being present. Twice in the last six months he has taken an extra week or three to renew my hydrocodone which has left me going through the DTs.
I don't know what his problem is.. but I am not dealing with it any more.
As for Service Dogs, brief conversations I don't mind. Simple questions are no big deal - unless I am currently in distress. If I am using my dog for balance actively, or am desperately holding onto her for emotional strength to not bolt and run, these are not the times to ask me anything. But friendly conversation for a minute or two while in an elevator is fine and makes the ride more enjoyable.
There are a few things to remember about Service Dogs. The most important is that the dog is currently working or it would not be in public. Distracting the dog from its job can have lethal effects on the handler. 99% of the time a Service Dog is not available to be touched.
Also, any questions you want to ask, that handler has probably been asked at least 5 times that day. I have had going into a store for milk take an hour because of the LINE of people waiting to ask me questions. For someone like me with a panic disorder, that is the definition of Hell.
So, basic rule of thumb, gauge interaction on how well the handler is doing. If they are calm and happy they are most likely able to answer a few friendly questions! Just keep the mood friendly as we get a LOT of anger from people who don't want a dog in public. Also, never address the dog directly or make noises to get the dog to look at you. That is very disrespectful of the thousands of hours (and thousands of dollars) of training that are being ruined if the dog does respond.
Now, when I am someplace that my dog is NOT working, I am just fine with releasing her from duty for EVERYBODY to love on and play with her. Waiting for the valet drivers to bring the SUV up yesterday, I took off her mobility harness and she turned into 100 lbs of white fluffy puppy who had to love on every person within leash reach!
Also, if you have any questions, I would be personally happy to answer them. Just shoot me an email! I will answer to the best of my ability!
Hugs and hope for as painfree day as possible!
Sorry, I don't think there was a more confusing way to have written that. I get the hydrocodone in vicoden (with Tylenol rather than with aspirin that is in Norco). I take 6 tablets a day, 5mg each.
I do get dizzy before I black out, I 'usually' have enough warning to sit down first. Just not always.
I am not convinced that it is sleep apnea, for a few reasons.
I have seen sleep apnea - hubby has it. He uses 24psi on his CPAP machine to be able to breath at night. He can't sleep at all without his machine. Before he was diagnosed, he could not sleep either. While I have trouble falling asleep, once I am all the way asleep, I usually stay that way. Hubby will only go about ten minutes or less without fussing. BUT I usually present differently than everyone else, so there is that.
I also have a very definite start to my breathing issues.. which is to say that before March 13th, 2005 I had never had any issues breathing. Since crushing my T6 vertibrea, I have had nothing but issues trying to catch my breath. I almost constantly feel like there is a vice around my chest that does not allow me to expand my lungs.
My breathing is again complicated by throat surgery for cancer that left me with a permanent whistle in my air exhale. It is not readability heard unless the room is quiet and I am sitting/laying in such a way as to make it worse, but I can almost always hear it.
Oh, and my house is full of black mold - which never helps breathing. I just can't move out until I feel well enough to pack my stuff. That is the only thing holding up getting out of this house!! The mold is why the doctor thinks it might be pneumonia.
When compounded by meds that screw up breathing, like morphine, all of these issues turn into something very not good.
The blacking out has been happening on and off for a few years now. I would say about three, and is the main reason I only drive when there is no other way around it. Well, actually I have not driven at all since May and until I get some sort of depth perception back, is not going to happen again.
the serious dizziness, vertigo, lack of depth perception, and confusion has been in the last six or eight months.
If it is sleep apnea, well heck, I am willing to accept when I am wrong! I will take the CPAP and feel like a right fool! LOL
My daughter moved back to help pack, but as much as I love her, she SUCKS at packing. Cleaning and cooking she has mostly taken over, but packing is just beyond her for some reason!!