Ouch! Not Again!
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Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 3:20 PM
It seems as though I am beginning to collect medical problems just as some people collect coins. The main difference is that for me, it is not a hobby, but rather an accident of one kind or another.
When I got up Saturday morning, and my CNA's were putting me into my wheelchair, they were in the process of positioning me in a good posture, when all of a sudden I felt a large stab of pain on the lower part of my back near my right kidney. I did not think too much about it right away, but as the day wore on, I began having intense pain in the lower right side of my back.
That continued throughout the day and night. It got so bad in the afternoon that I considered going to the ER at one of the hospitals. Whenever I get to that point, I know that there is something seriously wrong with me.
I had planned to go to a birthday party at my sister's that night. Although I thought this would be the perfect reason not to go there, I thought about it for quite a while and then decided that getting away from home might just take my mind off of my problems.
Although I did go to the birthday party, that intense pain went with me. I somehow managed to keep it a secret from my sister. I knew that if she found out, she would not only worry about it, but she would also keep nagging me until I went to see a doctor.
The pain continued throughout the whole weekend. Monday morning my nurse from the home healthcare agency came to visit me, just as she does every Monday. I told her what had happened, and said that I thought I had a pulled muscle or a kidney infection. She called my doctor's office right away,
Since I was going to see my physical therapist that morning, it was decided that I should ask her to give me some moist heat therapy to see if that would help with the pain. I followed the instructions, and I was given the therapy while lying on a traction table. The heat decreased my amount of pain within five minutes, but that relief was short-lived.
At the end of my therapy session, the pain came slamming back into my body the minute I got into a sitting position. It has been like that ever since. When I lay on my bed, the pain usually goes away within 5 to 10 minutes. When I get up into a sitting position, the pain comes back with a vengeance.
With all of that happening, I am now dealing with two different kinds of pain. The first is for the mid back pain, which is why I was getting physical therapy to begin with. The second is because of the pain that came about when getting into my wheelchair Saturday. All of the medical people involved are convinced that the two types of pain are different from one another.
I am scheduled to see my primary care physician next Thursday morning. Until then, I will have to tolerate the pain with the hope that taking my pain medication, getting some physical therapy twice a week, and laying on my bed for an hour each afternoon (two or three days a week) will somehow help me get back to normal. It is a good plan, but I do not have much faith in it. I think that at the very least, some x-rays need to be taken to try and see exactly what is happening in my body.
For the regular back pain I have been having for several months, I am now supposed to try tilting back in my wheelchair and stopping if I get to a point where there is very little, or no, pain. I have tried doing that, with some success, but that certainly puts a crimp in other things I want to do throughout the day. It is almost impossible to do that and use my desktop computer at the same time, so I am thinking about getting a laptop computer.
I realize that everybody has problems at one time or another in life, but I am beginning to feel that I have had more than my full share.
Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 3:20 PM
It seems as though I am beginning to collect medical problems just as some people collect coins. The main difference is that for me, it is not a hobby, but rather an accident of one kind or another.
When I got up Saturday morning, and my CNA's were putting me into my wheelchair, they were in the process of positioning me in a good posture, when all of a sudden I felt a large stab of pain on the lower part of my back near my right kidney. I did not think too much about it right away, but as the day wore on, I began having intense pain in the lower right side of my back.
That continued throughout the day and night. It got so bad in the afternoon that I considered going to the ER at one of the hospitals. Whenever I get to that point, I know that there is something seriously wrong with me.
I had planned to go to a birthday party at my sister's that night. Although I thought this would be the perfect reason not to go there, I thought about it for quite a while and then decided that getting away from home might just take my mind off of my problems.
Although I did go to the birthday party, that intense pain went with me. I somehow managed to keep it a secret from my sister. I knew that if she found out, she would not only worry about it, but she would also keep nagging me until I went to see a doctor.
The pain continued throughout the whole weekend. Monday morning my nurse from the home healthcare agency came to visit me, just as she does every Monday. I told her what had happened, and said that I thought I had a pulled muscle or a kidney infection. She called my doctor's office right away,
Since I was going to see my physical therapist that morning, it was decided that I should ask her to give me some moist heat therapy to see if that would help with the pain. I followed the instructions, and I was given the therapy while lying on a traction table. The heat decreased my amount of pain within five minutes, but that relief was short-lived.
At the end of my therapy session, the pain came slamming back into my body the minute I got into a sitting position. It has been like that ever since. When I lay on my bed, the pain usually goes away within 5 to 10 minutes. When I get up into a sitting position, the pain comes back with a vengeance.
With all of that happening, I am now dealing with two different kinds of pain. The first is for the mid back pain, which is why I was getting physical therapy to begin with. The second is because of the pain that came about when getting into my wheelchair Saturday. All of the medical people involved are convinced that the two types of pain are different from one another.
I am scheduled to see my primary care physician next Thursday morning. Until then, I will have to tolerate the pain with the hope that taking my pain medication, getting some physical therapy twice a week, and laying on my bed for an hour each afternoon (two or three days a week) will somehow help me get back to normal. It is a good plan, but I do not have much faith in it. I think that at the very least, some x-rays need to be taken to try and see exactly what is happening in my body.
For the regular back pain I have been having for several months, I am now supposed to try tilting back in my wheelchair and stopping if I get to a point where there is very little, or no, pain. I have tried doing that, with some success, but that certainly puts a crimp in other things I want to do throughout the day. It is almost impossible to do that and use my desktop computer at the same time, so I am thinking about getting a laptop computer.
I realize that everybody has problems at one time or another in life, but I am beginning to feel that I have had more than my full share.
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