ProfessorTomoe

5:28 a.m. CDT 20170607. I haven't received the referral to UT Southwestern yet. Not surprising, since it's only been two days (three, once the sun comes up), but I still need to contact Spine Team (Urgh) Texas once more to get the phone numbers for whom I'm being referred to. It'll probably be my last contact with the group. Meanwhile, I'm suffering the effects of my nighttime dose of hydrocodone being cut in half. I've woke up with my back in nasty pain and with the pins in my broken toe causing significant hurt. Tramadol is a poor substitute for half of a 10 mg hydrocodone pill. What's worse is that this screws with my serum level. My body's been used to 10 mg 4x a day, and now it's only getting it 3x a day. It isn't liking the dosage decrease. I took a full pill at around 3:30 a.m., but the pain is still not as relieved as it was with the 4x a day regimen. This is my last day on Lasix (yay!). Likewise, it's my last day on Augmentin. I get to go to the doctor and get my edema checked tomorrow. It's improved to the point where my foot fits in my regular shoe again. The doctor will also be checking my bloodwork to see if my white cell count has improved and if I've still got myelocytes in my blood. He's also going to look at a sore spot that's been on my right ear for months now and just won't go away. I hope it's a simple bedsore. Finally, I'm going to talk to him about Dr. [Redacted] at Spine Team (Bleaugh) Texas, since the doctor said he'd call my PCP and "coordinate" the ½ hydrocodone/Tramadol situation with him. I will have words with him about that. Seeing the podiatrist almost immediately after seeing my primary doctor. He'll probably just re-wrap my foot, but hopefully not without giving it a good cleaning first. Mrs. Prof says it's gone to Funkytown and come back worse for the wear (read: smell). Don't blame me—I'm not supposed to get the thing wet! Anyway, I think that's all he's going to do. I doubt he's going to pull the pins already with it still causing this much pain. He's also going to hear the story of Dr. [Redacted] at Spine Team (Yuck) Texas. One thing I could use some advice on: how to take a shower with a foot in an orthopedic shoe. Our last attempt at waterproofing was less than successful, even with two garbage bags wrapped around it and the outer layer sealed to my skin with waterproof tape. I don't know if I'm leaking from the top or tearing it from the sides or bottom. If anyone has a solution for this, I'd really appreciate the help.

Hmm ... I wonder if that qualifies for Amazon Prime shipping ...? That would not be difficult. I just hope they don't have an "assembly line" or "holier than thou" attitude about their work, of which Spine Team Texas and Dr. [Redacted] had both, IMHO. Much obliged. I just hope I don't have to fight against UT-Southwestern's pain management department. I swear, if I hear the word "biofeedback" used once, I'm putting on my boxing gloves. BTW, I might as well post the report from the CT scan part of the CT myelogram. I can't remember if I ever posted the whole thing. For anyone who's interested or who is of a medical bent, here it is, for your edification: Maybe someone here can make some sense of this. I see stenosis, amputation of nerve root sleeves, and so on, and it makes me think there's gotta be something they can fix.

For which I'm still eternally grateful. I should probably be looking at your Amazon Wishlist for all of the support you've given me. Shoot, I should be looking at everyone's wishlists. I thanked Mrs. Prof for putting up with me as she went to bed last night. It was a rough day for both of us. Gonna be a fun day on Thursday, too. I've got a pair of appointments—primary care first, then podiatrist. (The podiatrist's not going to be too happy that I got my dressing a bit wet in the shower. Not near the toe, mind you, but you can still see where it got wet.) Mental fortitude is where I need help right now. I'm running out. Yesterday was a severe drain on what I've got left. I can only hope that the neurosurgeons at UT-Southwestern can help me bolster what little I now have.

Sorry. It was an interrupted post. I wasn't feeling good, so I had to lie down. Okay, let's get this bugger started again. 9:15 p.m. CDT 20170605. Hoo boy. I had my follow-up with my spine doctor earlier today. It did not go well. No, I didn't get diagnosed with any malignant disease or anything like that. It just went in the direction that made me glad I'm not going to be seeing this particular spine doctor ever again. Things started going downhill when I brought out my bottle of hydrocodone and explained to him why I had to have it filled at a different pharmacy (lousy CVS and their stupid inability to do math). Anyway, he counted out how many I had left. I told him I was on a 4x-a-day schedule. He asked why. I told him that's what he prescribed. He said, "Read the label exactly as it is written." I did, thus: He pointed out the "as needed" part. I told him that's what I needed, and that's why I came in for an earlier appointment—because 3x-a-day wasn't working. He then pointed out that he wrote the prescription for 110 pills for 30 days and said I'm going to come up short. WHAT. We'd specifically discussed the problem! Why did he do that, I wondered? Apparently, he'd intended for me to have some days where I only took 3 pills a day. WTF WOULD YOU DO THAT FOR WHEN I SAID 3 A DAY WASN'T WORKING? Okay, okay, let's find a solution. There was none. He wouldn't/couldn't write me a prescription for 10 more pills to fill out the month. He wouldn't/couldn't write me a prescription for an alternative to fill in the missing days. Gee, [redacted]ing thanks, doc. His solution? Use the Tramadol I still have from my primary doctor along with a half pill of hydrocodone for two of my doses, effective immediately, until I run out and can get a new prescription filled (again, written for 110 pills (rotten [redacted])). I've already started, and I can tell that it's not getting the job done. The Tramadol wasn't working on the back pain in the first place. That's why I went onto hydrocodone. Rat bastage. Now, moving on to the real reason why I was there—why the lumbar caudal epidural steroid injection did absolutely no good whatsoever. He had no farking clue. While he was mulling things over, I laid on him the pain I went through, both pre- and post-op, with as much vitriol as I could summon. Every ounce I had in my body went into describing the agony he was responsible for. You know what he did? He asked me why I thought I hurt so much. AAAUGGHHHH. Mrs. Prof and I went through the "drug cocktail" explanation with him, along with the glaringly obvious fact that I hadn't had any hydrocodone (or water) in over 14 smegging hours prior to getting my first fentanyl injection. We had no explanation for why the dilaudid injections didn't work. It worked when I broke my ankles. Nothing seems to work on my back except hydrocodone. He then pulled up the report from the CT myelogram—the first time he'd personally seen it (their staff surgeon had seen it earlier). He saw some unusual stuff, like some bilateral nerve root amputation, but also thought it unusual that it would cause so much pain. In the end, he essentially threw up his hands and referred me to a neurosurgeon and a pain management unit at the University of Texas-Southwestern in Downtown Dallas. A freaking university hospital. He said that if what he saw is the source of my pain, it's going to take some major surgery. UT-Southwestern will be able to handle it. However, my pain management is probably going to be even more frustrating, since they're even less likely to write prescriptions for hydrocodone, he said. Wonderful. In summary, I'm frustrated beyond hell and back. I'm tired of the pain, tired of what one reviewer of Spine Team Texas called a "WalMart approach" to medicine, tired of being jacked around on pain management, tired of being treated like I'm a damned criminal or junkie just because I need something to make the damned pain just GO AWAY ... I'm just tired. Add in a broken toe, pissing like a racehorse and drinking like a cow for a swollen foot, a phantom bruised shin, being an official fall risk, not being able to take a shower without wrapping my left foot in plastic (which didn't work today—my blue foot boot got wet through the trash sacks and got a small part of my bandages damp), not being able to talk normally because God only knows why which will be dealt with later this month at yet another specialist appointment that's already been postponed three times, including one time so I could see Dr. Smeghead today instead of last week, gut blowout diarrhea thanks to infection in my broken toe being dealt with by Augmentin, and I can't remember what else right now. [REDACTED][REDACTED][REDACTED][REDACTED][REDACTED] My depression has hit rock bottom right now. My self-esteem is as low as I can remember it, despite every argument I can make to the contrary. My anxiety is peaking, thanks to Dr. Crapwad's prescribing torture. I can't even remember how many days I'm supposed to go 3x on the 110 pill prescription now and how many I can go 4x. Screw math—when you're in pain, why should you have to do it? I'm not going to mention non-medical things causing problems. No, Mrs. Prof is not one of them. She understands and has been supportive today, especially on a very screwed-up drive home. I wanted to curl up in a ball, slam my head into the ABS system, and scream at the top of what would be left of my lungs. Okay, that's enough. I've laid enough bad vibes on you. You don't deserve any more. I thank you if you're still reading this. You shouldn't be.

5:56 p.m. CDT 20170605. Hoo boy. I have just had my follow-up with my spine doctor. It did not go well. More later.

Still a bit chilly this morning, but not as bad as previous days. I'm more worried about the lack of fluids/electrolytes making me dizzy. Had that happen once last night. Took about 48 oz. of Gatorade tea to get me feeling normal again. I'm down to just the lemon-lime Gatorade. You'd think that it would blend well with lemon tea. Not really. The orange Gatorade wins that award. I have mixed feelings about Gatorade. It was developed as a hydrating agent for the University of Florida Gators football team, way back when (hence the name). However, if the Longhorn Network's ads are correct, it was developed by a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. That's almost as bad as a UT-Austin grad working for Texas A&M. Almost. Screw it. I'm going back for more Gatorade tea. And coffee, if I can carry it.

What happens in the simulation stays in the simulation ...

10:41 p.m. CDT 20170604. Mrs. Prof and I finally went through the documentation and DVD for the Spinal Cord Stimulation therapy device they wanted me to consider having implanted in order to control my back pain, in preparation for my spine doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon. After reading the docs and watching the propaganda DVD, I've determined that it'd be pretty damn useless for my right side pain. I quote: That rules it out for my main complaint, which is the spinal pain that reaches through my hip down my leg to my right foot. I can't drive because of that. Any device that I can't use while driving makes it a lump of worthless electronic crap. However, there is a chance that it might work on my left side back pain. Anything that would help me be able to do household chores would be welcomed by Mrs. Prof., and would be a godsend for me when it comes to being able to cook again. Now, I'm supposed to be able to "test drive" (heh) the device without having it implanted. If it gives me at least 50% pain relief, then it's considered a success. I don't understand that part, but I would probably still be taking my hydrocodone and Topamax along with it. I may learn more tomorrow. We shall see.

Thank you, good friend, thank you indeed, on all counts, from both of us. The sausage will be most appreciated as well. Much obliged. Only three more days of Lasix to go ... EDIT: Jesus Christos! That's an equivalent to Mrs. Prof's trail camera. I am very thankful indeed. You know, if that arrives in time, we can include it in the Texas Motor Speedway IndyCar Watching Party wurstfest along with what I ordered from GermanDeli.com last week. That should be fun, thanks to you!

One of the things I didn't count on when I went on Lasix was the double misery of extremely frequent urination combined with the gut drama from the pairing of the Augmentin and the hydrocodone. The hydrocodone gives me opiate constipation, but the Augmentin gives me diarrhea. Result: gut blowout. Translation: something other than my broken bones, my edema, or my back/hip/leg/foot nerve pain is making me smegging miserable right now. Miserable enough to forget about typing a check-in time. It woke me up from a rather deep nap and demanded immediate attention. I've taken care of it, then given it a dose of Imodium afterward. I had gut blowout on Tuesday night. That was easy enough to deal with. Mix in the Lasix effects and you've got real misery. Mrs. Prof is off doing cat stuff again, so I'm going to try and get some Gatorade tea and go back to sleep while I have the Astros/Rangers game on in the background. Wish me luck. Please.

6:18 a.m. CDT 20170604. Day 2 on the Lasix. I'm going through the Gatorade rather quickly, despite mixing it with Crystal Light tea. It goes through me as fast as I go through it. Had a bit of a scare last night. I tried to get up from the sofa to use the bathroom just as Mrs. Prof was headed to bed, but I got so dizzy that I had to call for her help. She led me down the hall, waited, then led me back to the sofa. Not something I'd like to repeat. I noticed that my antibiotic has a refill on it. I've gone ahead and called it in, since I'll run out of it on Monday. I'll call the podiatrist and explain the whole Lasix situation to make sure whether or not I should continue taking the Augmentin until I'm out of the Lasix. Probably not a bad idea, since as I said earlier I feel like I'm losing my hydrocodone concentration thanks to the Lasix. Combating the shivering a bit today by wearing one of my black sleep caps. I'd been folding them up and using them just to cover my eyes because I've got some kind of sore on my right ear that refuses to go away. If they'll help me keep from losing body heat, then to hell with the sore in the morning. I'll take them off later. Just realized that I'll be taking my last Lasix on the day before my lab work for my primary care doctor. I might as well try to get in an appointment after 10 a.m. (past Mrs. Prof's black-out period) so that he can look at the results first-hand. He can also look at this ear while he's at it. I'll talk to Mrs. Prof about it when she gets up.

3:37 p.m. CDT 20170603. Mrs. Prof picked a decent enough Vitamin B supplement, I guess. She got plenty of Gatorade, which I'm mixing 50/50 with my Crystal Light lemon tea to keep the sugar intake down. I do have one concern, though—I wonder if I'm pissing out my hydrocodone. Just enough to make things hurt again. I wonder because walking, which was getting a bit easier with my left foot up through yesterday, is now painful, especially in the area of my cracked sesamoid bone. My right spine/hip/leg/foot is in pain again. Finally, the edema area is hurting again. On another concern, I wrote the following on Facebook much, much earlier today: The only response came from someone who had gone through cancer and was in remission. He said I should get my white blood cell count checked. If you've been reading this thread (you have the patience of a SAINT if you have, for which I am incredibly grateful), you'll know that my white blood cell count is out of whack. The sub-WBC counts, including neutrophils and monocytes, have also been off at times (neutrophils almost all the time), and right now I'm dealing with a supposed re-emergence of myelocytes. I still don't see how this would cause one to be unable to come up to a working temperature after waking up. I don't have low blood pressure—I had high blood pressure, but it's under good control with medicines. However, I've always run relatively cold: anything over 97.6 is considered a fever for me. I've always loved cold weather, despite being a 5th generation Central Texan. One of my favorite feelings was getting out in the weather around Austin when the air was still and the temperature hit a frosty 9°F. It made my nerves come to life. So, why do I feel like I need a pancho when I wake up in the morning now? I'm only 53, damn it. My A1C is 6.1 as of last week. Am I getting that freaking physically old? WTF is going on with my morning metabolism? To be honest, I have absolutely no idea what the hell I would Google in a case like mine. If someone can point me to some online resources that might explain this, I would be most thankful and appreciative. Thank you.

I didn't have anything much healthier. I had a Bumble Bee Tuna "Snack On The Run" tuna salad kit, with a few sprinkles of fleur de sel on top of it. I've also moved the HoWe Nuremberg Bratwurst Premium Breakfast Links out of the freezer and into the fridge, since it says to just keep below 40°F (my fridge is set at 37°F). They should be thawed out by Sunday, so we can have eggs and imported Nuremberg Bratwurst for breakfast. If my son is up for it, we're gonna have a sausage party next week. Not that kind of sausage party. He's coming over so we can watch the IndyCar Race from the Texas Motor Speedway on TV. Before it comes on, I'm gonna try and talk him into cooking the other Brats, the Weisswurst, and the potatoes. I'm also going to try and get him to pick up some sauerkraut from one of his local high-end stores before he comes over. Once he's done cooking, we'll have four imported Brats, four Siegis Tulsa Weisswurst for currywurst, plus potatoes and sauerkraut. Mrs. Prof will probably just snack. I think the whole idea scares her.

Only one trail camera shot as of late, due to Mrs. Prof's busy schedule and (tonight's) inclement weather: Loudmouth performing a bit of cat yoga on our back porch. Mrs. Prof wants to get some shots from one of the branches of the cat highway that runs through our backyard. A hailstorm foiled that plan tonight. We'll see what happens in future attempts. TECHNICAL NOTE: I re-compressed this image using the new Google Guetzli JPEG compression algorithm. It does save a bit of space, and does not seem to take any extra time to decompress. Please let me know if you have any difficulties viewing this image.

Mrs. Prof brought home a Nissin Souper Meal from the pharmacy (chicken, of course) and is barbarically eating them with a large gaijin spoon. She's not even supposed to have ramen, since her diabetes is worse than mine (A1C = 7.1 or 6.7, she can't remember). However, I told her than our son could teach her how to use chopsticks to eat ramen. She then fell back on the cop-out that she's not supposed to have ramen because of her diabetes. You see what I'm up against? o.O

Just finished off the second half of a Bacon Blue Cheese burger we brought home after the ultrasound from a local small chain called Island Burger. Not bad. Better when it was hot. While we were away, FedEx delivered my wurst. Nom. I'm looking forward to some caramelized onion bratwurst and potatoes for dinner one night. Mrs. Prof is going to have to cook them, though, so that's not going to be easy convincing her to do it. Hmm. Maybe my son? Lemme give him a call ...

Thank you, as always. Mrs. Prof is at a friend's place after doing some volunteer cat work (and stopping by a pet food place—our cat is getting tired of what we've been feeding him and is turning his nose up at it). Once she's done with the friendly gab, she's going to the pharmacy to get the Lasix, some Gatorade, and a good, broad-spectrum B vitamin, just in case. She knows pretty much squat about vitamins, though—I hope she asks the pharmacist for help. Oh, well. I'll take what I can get. If things start going downhill, I can always send her back and then get her to talk to the pharmacist.

4:15 p.m. CDT 20170602. Venous ultrasound done of my right leg. I do not have a DVT. Note that I said right leg above. Nothing about a foot. According to the ultrasound tech, an arterial ultrasound includes the foot—not a venous one. WTF? I guess my doctor wanted to rule out a DVT before going anywhere else with my diagnosis. Thanks, doc, but [redacted]! It's my smegging foot that hurts like hell and looks like a balloon! Why not go for both on the same ultrasound appointment? Anyway, I was away from the house when his nurse called with the "no DVT" news, along with a request to call his office back. I have done so and am waiting for them to call me. Again. EDIT: got the call. I'm now on 20 mg of furosemide, a.k.a. Lasix (a diuretic), for the next five days. After I take those pills, I call back for further instructions, if any.

Phbbbbbt. You're no fun.

8:40 a.m. 20170602. Hoo boy. Here we go again. I called and got an appointment with my primary doctor for today for the painful edema in my right foot, a little over an hour ago. A few minutes ago, I got a call from his nurse. She asked which foot the edema was in (to make sure it wasn't in the recently operated-on foot). I told her and heard her relay the message back to my doctor. I could hear him talk to her—he sounded worried. Anyway, the end result is that my appointment with the doctor has been cancelled and I've been given a "stat" referral to get an ultrasound done on my right leg and foot. I'm waiting for a call from whomever is going to be doing the ultrasound. Not the way I wanted to end the week. However, an ultrasound is what Mrs. Prof has been wanting for a couple of days now. She gets her wish.

6:08 a.m. CDT 20170602. Less than four more hours of sleep, but a little bit longer stint than last time. Managed to get some tea and take care of morning physical requisites without falling, but Mrs. Prof is going to be pissed that I left an empty tea jug on the kitchen counter. I couldn't refill it. I'm not feeling the stabbing pain in my right foot edema this morning, but the bottom of my right foot is feeling sore. My back/hip/leg nerve is giving me a medium-level searing pain. I think I'd better put this aside and get my drug cocktail inside me before the pain gains an advantage against me.

If she were to speak to the audience, how many walls would she break according to Deadpool's math?

2:38 a.m. CDT 20170602. Note the time. I got less than three hours of sleep, when you factor in the extra time it took for me to get to sleep after typing up the above entry. My spine pain and my edema pain combined to form Voltron a nastier pain that managed to wake me up. Figured I'd get up and get some protein in me, so I got some Sam's Club sausage-wrapped mozzarella sticks. Now, remember that I had the heating pad hooked up last night. Also know that it's hooked up to an extension cord which is entwined with the computer cables which called my fall that resulted in my broken toe in the first place. I remembered all of this as I stood, cane in hand, ready to go to the trashcan to toss out the debris from my snack. I lifted my left, steel-booted foot, and sure enough, the cables shifted all over the place. Fortunately, I did not. I was braced for such an event. I re-arranged the cables, stepped over them successfully, and made it into the kitchen and back. The last time I looked at my online doctor's record, I am officially listed as being a "fall risk." I don't think I want to discuss that one further. Good night again.

I never did get a bite on my Amazon Wishlist sausage items, so I ordered some of my own stuff from GermanDeli.com over in Colleyville. Good stuff, too: http://www.germandeli.com/Siegis-Weisswurst-4-Link-Pack http://www.germandeli.com/HoWe-Nuremberg-Bratwurst-Premium-Breakfast-Links-7oz http://www.germandeli.com/HoWe-Premium-Caramelized-Onion-Bratwurst-12oz I also got another bottle of Currywurst sauce to go with the Siegis Weisswurst and a pack of fried potatoes and onions for the 12-oz brats (both bratwursts are imported from Germany, BTW). It's all supposed to get here tomorrow afternoon. I could still use the two items on my Amazon Wishlist, if anyone is feeling charitable.