Do you ever feel like you are just falling apart? Here's my saga:
This past June I started having pain in my big toe. Not just any pain, a jolt of zapping electricity when I walked. After a couple of weeks, I went to see my doctor. Of course, I was told try anti-
inflammatories (
NSAIDs) for a while and let him know. Well, my stomach (another broken part) doesn't get along with
NSAIDs. I did, however, discover a delightful little medication called
Prilosec, which allows my poor tummy and the other medication to get along. After a couple more weeks, I go back. No luck, I said! So my doctor says I need to see a podiatrist. I go to the podiatrist with high hopes. I'm told I have a bunion, hammer toes, and plantar
facsiitis. I'm fitted for
orthotics, prescribed night splints, and given a steroid injection into the base of my big toe. Now keep in mind that I give myself allergy shots (yet another broken part...), so shots aren't that big of a deal for me. After that ordeal, I'd have to say I preferred giving birth with no epidural. First, the doctor numbs the area with a very cold spray. Then he pulls on the toe. Now, he wasn't rough, but it doesn't take much pulling on an already sore toe to make your blood pressure start to rise. Then he puts the needle in. Then he s-l-o-w-l-y injects the
steroid. As this (pulling and injecting) is going on, the room starts getting hotter. And hotter. And hotter. When it was (finally) over, they asked me if I wanted my coffee. I told them I was actually fighting off nausea and the room was really hot. I must not have looked good, because the next thing I knew, the door was opened and I had a wet washcloth on my neck. I finished with my appointment, glad (so I thought) that the worst was over.
Hahahahaha! According to my
internet research, I had a "
cortisone flare". It is defined as:
a condition where the injected cortisone crystallizes and can cause a brief period of pain worse than before the shot. This usually lasts a day or so and is best treated by icing the injected area.
You don't feel this lovely pain until the numbing spray wears off, about 3 hours later. I was on the couch trying to ice and elevate my foot. If I could have done this and been in the fetal position at the same time, I would have. And no, they didn't warn me that this was even a possibility. I called the doctor, sure I was dying from an allergic reaction. No such luck. They did tell me that people with steroid flares often have better results from the shots. I decided to see the silver lining in the cloud. Until it wore off. Six weeks later.
As part of the treatment for my foot, I was sent to a physical therapist. She didn't think my (really quite small) bunion should be causing all my problems. As we talked, she wondered if some of my trouble was caused by nerve root irritation in my lower vertebra (another broken part). She got permission from my regular doctor to work on my back. After 6 weeks I was doing better and I stopped seeing her. When things got busy at Halloween, I didn't do my exercises for a few days and I paid for it. I felt pain in my back like I had never felt before. It really stinks that after the therapy my pain is worse than it had ever been. It does, however, REALLY motivate me to not neglect it.
In addition to this pain (which is doing better, but not gone), last week I hurt my knee (another broken part). I have no idea how I did it, but it's really a pain (Ha! I'm so
punny) when you live in a house with as many stairs as mine has. I was carrying a 12-pack of Dr. Pepper down the stairs and was trying to step off my hurting knee really quickly when I rolled my ankle and fell down the stairs. I only fell down 2-3 steps, but I was in excruciating pain. The best part is it was the opposite ankle, so my right knee is in pain and my left ankle is in pain. I'm grateful for Ace bandages. My knee is better, but not 100%, and my ankle is better, but I'm still wrapping it and have to be careful how I move it.
Of course, I get no sympathy at home, except for "Can't anything be right with you?" Yes, that makes me feel better! Thank you! (Those last 2 sentences are dripping with sarcasm, in case you couldn't hear it). I'm wondering if this is my life when I'm 33 what will I be like when I'm 53? 63? 73? Maybe I could get a doctor to adopt me...but only if he's married to a physical therapist.
Anyone have any thoughts on acupuncture...
