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ProfessorTomoe

Changing Medications (Level of Trust Required)

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and you've got me taking several OTC medicines just to get me to the doctor on time.

I think this has been covered before, but just in case it hasn't - make sure you tell the doctors about EVERYTHING you're taking regularly or semi-regularly for medicinal reasons. Prescription or OTC. Vitamins and herbs included. Also ask the doctor and/or pharmacist about interactions with foods. Grapefruit juice isn't the only food with lots of drug interactions.

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2 hours ago, Don Edwards said:

I think this has been covered before, but just in case it hasn't - make sure you tell the doctors about EVERYTHING you're taking regularly or semi-regularly for medicinal reasons. Prescription or OTC. Vitamins and herbs included. Also ask the doctor and/or pharmacist about interactions with foods. Grapefruit juice isn't the only food with lots of drug interactions.

Done and done. Thanks for the reminder. It's something I do at every appointment.

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@The Old Hack, last night's Wurstfest was a smashing success. My son came over and cooked it up for us, due to my inability to stand for long.  In short, the Bockwurst you bought us was great—I'm having leftovers for breakfast! In all, we had the Bockwurst, imported Nuremburg Bratwurst, Siegi's Weisswurst (for @mlooney's Currywurst, which my skeptical son wound up absolutely raving about afterward—I had to send home half a bottle of curry ketchup with him), and a German noodle dish with Polska Kielbasa that my son cooked up. Of course, there were the requisite sides: sauerkraut (which Mrs. Prof had to cook, since our son absolutely refused to touch the stuff—go figure) and fried sliced potatoes with onions. Wonderful stuff, with a very chaotic IndyCar race to go with it.

Thank you again for helping to make this possible!

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8:35 a.m. CDT 20170611. I hate edema. It came back in my right foot yesterday and was really noticeable when I got out of the shower. I spent most of the time during the race with my feet elevated again. Something weird this time: nausea and throwing up to go with it. After the Wurstfest was well over and mostly digested, Mrs. Prof brought out a lemon-pecan cake that she'd bought at a grocery store. I had a small slice. Within an hour, I was throwing the cake up. No sausage came up—just the cake. I went through both of my anti-nausea medicines (Zofran and Phenergan), and neither of them worked. I tried taking a drink of tea about 45 minutes later. No luck. The tea and whatever was left of the cake came back up.

No one else got sick. I have to wonder if my edema might have been involved with it somehow.

Anyway, I was finally able to keep down some diluted Gatorade before the drugs took hold and knocked me out. I finished the leftover drink when I woke up about six hours later and it stayed down, so I tested things with a small bowl of seedless watermelon. Achievement unlocked—tea earned. It stayed down this time. My leftover Bockwurst and Bratwurst breakfast seems to be settling well, too.

Whatever the reason, I'm not interested in experimenting to find the cause. In any case, my edema is somewhat reduced this morning. My foot hurts, but the extremely obvious swelling isn't present in the entire foot. It's only present in my ankle. There is some pain, though.

Sigh. Looks like another trip to my primary care doctor tomorrow. I'm not going to let him blindly prescribe me Lasix this time, since I'm not 100% sure of what's going on. He's going to have to see it and check it out before he starts throwing pills at the problem.

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4:05 p.m. CDT 20170611. I don't know, maybe my leg and foot are supposed to be like this. I hurt a bit at the base of my toes, but I'm also numb when I run my fingers over it. I don't leave much of a dent, but if it press farther up my leg, it leaves a dent. Do I still have edema? I have no clue. I'll have to see my doctor tomorrow to find out.

Mrs. Prof had a bit of a breakdown earlier, of the, "Oh, no, not again," type. Reacted badly to having to drive me to yet another doctor's appointment. Said I'm "killing her work life." A brief guilt trip ensued as she tried to get me to look up a medical transport system. I told her those are expensive, and said that it would probably be cheaper to take a taxi. She agreed and brought up Uber as a possibility. I reminded her that I can't use Uber on my Lumia 1020 Windows 8.1 Phone. She got quiet after that—we've had discussions about the outdatedness of my phone for some while now. This just tilted that little argument in my direction.

Things have calmed down since then. We've both had some sleep, I've elevated my foot to no avail, and I've shown it to her. She agrees that the doctor needs to see it. I think she just doesn't want to think about it today.

No nausea today, thank goodness. I have enough other problems.

Edited by ProfessorTomoe
poor grammar

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8:02 a.m. CDT 20170612. Well, damn. I don't know what the hell my right foot is doing now. Apparently, the edema has eaten itself, most if not all of the bruising around my old hardware implant scar from 2009 is gone, and I'm not feeling sick to my stomach anymore. I've also received an e-mail from my doctor, saying my vitamin D level is at goal (55) and my white cell count is improved at 12.6, which is still above the normal of < 10.8. Still, it's a damned sight better than it was, and apparently there were no myelocites.

Put simply, I don't think I'll be going to the doctor today after all. Yay no doctor trip. Instead, I'll be getting ready to go see Dr. Goldfinger Noe tomorrow morning at the ungodly hour of 8:15 a.m. CDT and trying to get the phantom pulmonologist referral cancelled when they open up at the lazy hour of 9:00 p.m. CDT this morning.

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Just now, ProfessorTomoe said:

8:02 a.m. CDT 20170612. Well, damn. I don't know what the hell my right foot is doing now. Apparently, the edema has eaten itself, most if not all of the bruising around my old hardware implant scar from 2009 is gone, and I'm not feeling sick to my stomach anymore. I've also received an e-mail from my doctor, saying my vitamin D level is at goal (55) and my white cell count is improved at 12.6, which is still above the normal of < 10.8. Still, it's a damned sight better than it was, and apparently there were no myelocites.

Put simply, I don't think I'll be going to the doctor today after all. Yay no doctor trip. Instead, I'll be getting ready to go see Dr. Goldfinger Noe tomorrow morning at the ungodly hour of 8:15 a.m. CDT and trying to get the phantom pulmonologist referral cancelled when they open up at the lazy hour of 9:00 p.m. CDT this morning.

This sounds like good news for a change. Not sure about you but I'll take it. :)

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6 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

This sounds like good news for a change. Not sure about you but I'll take it. :)

I'll take it, too. Mrs. Prof will definitely take it, because it means her workday isn't interrupted by having to drive me around—just by me being me. Sigh.

Oh, pulmonologist referral cancelled. Rather quickly, too. Like they couldn't get me off of the phone fast enough quickly.

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10:31 a.m. CDT 20170613. Well. That could have gone a lot better.

I should have suspected something when they had a couple of rather major mistakes on my paperwork (e.g., no primary care physician, didn't list Mrs. Prof as the insurance carrier). They called me back and had my blood pressure test going before I had a chance to fill out half of the other paperwork they wanted. Rush, rush, hurry, hurry.

Then I finally met the doctor. No Bond fanfare for him anymore—he doesn't deserve one. I told him everything that I've gone through, in detail. Mrs. Prof told me on the way home that he started doodling at one point, so she jumped in and tried to move things along. I'd been led to believe that he'd probably work on a solution that would involve injecting more neural blocks into my back, since I got some relief from them on my right side.

Wrong. Didn't even want to talk about it.

He wants to put me through a "pain rehabilitation program," using all sorts of different non-surgical, non-drug things, including acupuncture and—here we go—biofeedback.

Mrs. Prof had to keep me from laughing in his face. Or crying.

The program would involve four weeks' worth of twice-weekly half-day sessions. I don't know how the hell I'm supposed to get down there, because I can't bloody drive.

What about the underlying cause of my pain? What about the injuries that made me hurt in the first place? Not his department.

I left his exam room with some sheet of paper that I still haven't looked at.

On the way out, I asked if the neurosurgeon had received the CD of my MRI from the imaging place. Of course not. I got another piece of paper and a card with their address on it. Once I've filled it out, I'm supposed to mail it back and let them fax it to the imaging place, who is then supposed to mail a CD of the MRI to them. Damn. It'd just be easier to go over there and get a copy of it myself, but I can't bloody drive.

Halfway through the trip home, I finally broke down. I'd had enough. Actual tears came out. For God's sake, this special place, this University Research Hospital, they were supposed to FIX ME!!! They were my treatment center of last resort. First they tell me nothing's wrong enough with me to operate on, then they treat me like a damned opioid junkie who's seeking medicine which they say they don't even give out, and finally no one there will bother to repeat the one treatment—the diagnostic spinal blocks—that gave me any relief whatsoever, and in fact they tell me to go back to Spine Team Farking Texas to get them to do it for me when they've dropped me as a patient!

WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO ANYMORE? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LIVE WITH THIS? HOW DO I KEEP GOING ON WHEN NO ONE REALLY CARES OR REALLY WANTS TO HELP ME???

I couldn't control my emotions for several miles. Only when we got close to CVS was I able to suck it up and regain enough composure to go in. Thank God they didn't give me any hell with my hydrocodone prescription, but once it runs out, what am I going to do?

That's the big question in the end. What the hell am I going to do?

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1 hour ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

That's the big question in the end. What the hell am I going to do?

I... frankly am not sure, Prof. I am at a loss. All I do know is that every health care system, the Danish included, has blind spots, flaws and will at times fail to serve its purposes. I can only give you generalised advice related to the struggles of myself and my own friends and family when stuck.

Number one is not to focus on the whole. You get overwhelmed that way. Focus on what can be done. To quote Heinlein, "When faced with a problem you don't understand, do any part of it you do understand, then look at it again." Your podiatrist at least seems to have his head screwed on straight. The problem with your foot may only be a small part of the whole, but if you manage to solve it, at least that much will have been taken off your load.

Number two is, a problem which appears unsolvable may become more tractable if viewed from a different angle or simply from stepping back from it and focusing on something else for a bit before returning your attention to it. If need be, I will buy you some more sausages so you can focus on cooking and eating them. Once you turn back to fighting the health care system -- because that is unfortunately how it can feel, being in this situation -- you may find a different approach or a different health care specialist who might listen to you and find a solution that has eluded the others.

In any event, you remain in my thoughts. I remain hopeful that you will manage to find a way through. I am certain your other friends here are in agreement with me on this.

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Another useful technique is breaking one big goal into little goals

  1. Maintaining your and Mrs. Prof's emotional health and sanity.
  2. Foot
  3. Pain management
  4. Mobility
  5. Getting the actual problem fixed

 

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1 hour ago, The Old Hack said:

Your podiatrist at least seems to have his head screwed on straight.

That he does. He will help with a part of the load, as you said. Thank you.

1 hour ago, The Old Hack said:

If need be, I will buy you some more sausages so you can focus on cooking and eating them.

Actually, the other sausage on my wishlist—the one that doesn't require cooking—would be a huge help.

You see, at this time I can't stand at my stove long enough to cook anything. I can barely stand in one spot long enough to microwave anything. That's why the Wurstfest was planned. My son did the cooking honors, but he had to travel halfway across the Metroplex to get here, almost an hour's drive. (And Mrs. Prof does not like cooking period sausage unless it comes from a grocery store and can go on top of a boxed potato casserole.)

So, while the sausages you bought were appreciated beyond belief (and I seriously do mean that), anything that doesn't require cooking would be even more greatly appreciated.

1 hour ago, The Old Hack said:

Once you turn back to fighting the health care system -- because that is unfortunately how it can feel, being in this situation -- you may find a different approach or a different health care specialist who might listen to you and find a solution that has eluded the others.

There is a possibility that I might explore tomorrow or Thursday. Unfortunately, it involves calling my insurance company. They have a "wellness program" that's supposed to help you find your best care providers. Mrs. Prof swears by them. I don't know. If they aren't helpful, I may go back to my primary care physician and see what he thinks about all of this.

It's hard typing this up. The emotional side of me wants to pound my face into the keyboard until I bleed.

20 minutes ago, Vorlonagent said:

Another useful technique is breaking one big goal into little goals

  1. Maintaining your and Mrs. Prof's emotional health and sanity.
  2. Foot
  3. Pain management
  4. Mobility
  5. Getting the actual problem fixed

Item 2 is the closest one to getting solved. I'm in this boot for maybe four or six more weeks. I already feel a reduction in pain, and the sesamoid bone doesn't hurt as often. They'll check it with another X-ray again on Friday.

Item 4 will increase slightly when my moon boot comes off. That sesamoid bone has got to heal first, though. Even then, I won't be able to drive, thanks to the radiating pain from the back nerve plus the hydrocodone.

Items 3 and 5 are why I went to UT Southwestern in the first place. I was hoping that they'd be able to fix my back and control my pain. They're telling me they can't fix my back and they can only "rehabilitate" my pain. I swear that the last time I was off of the hydrocodone, I hit a 10 on a 0–10 scale that was sustained for hours. I don't ever want to do that again. EVER. I don't understand how "rehabilitation" is going to keep me from doing that.

That leaves item 1. My emotional health and sanity broke on the way home. I've got an appointment on the 22nd with my psychiatrist that might help, but that's way off, relatively speaking. I don't know where Mrs. Prof stands right now, especially after watching me break down the way I did. I imagine she's doing her best to ignore it for now.

I still don't know what I'm gonna do. The insurance company is a possibility. Mrs. Prof will blow a gasket if I don't at least give them a call. I'm tempted to go back to my PCP and see what he says before continuing. At least I've got a new supply of hydrocodone to temporarily get me through the problem.

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4 minutes ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

So, while the sausages you bought were appreciated beyond belief (and I seriously do mean that), anything that doesn't require cooking would be even more greatly appreciated.

As you wish! If I may be permitted a terrible joke, the sausage is in the mail. :)

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9:26 p.m. CDT 20170614. Back to a more conventional update style. Hopefully that'll help my emotions rebound, because I've been low all day.

The physical sine waves are back, with y centered way less than 0 and topping out at a very small positive value. My math sucks, because I used to remember how to compute sine waves. Now I can barely remember the names of things I held in my hand moments earlier. Anyway, my health has been on a big farking swing today. Take a hydrocodone, let it kick in and knock me out for an hour or two, wake up and waste time on the web, have my head start pounding, followed by my toe and my back, wait in pain until the next dose time, lather, rinse, repeat. Sort of like I'm doing right now. I can't wait for 10pm to hit. My toe and my back are killing me. Throw in a heavy dose of constipation from the medicine and you've got a real hoedown party.

No medical calls, incoming or outgoing today, thank goodness. However, Mrs. Prof has been feeling out of sorts, so there's been the standard fight for the remote control. Note: I can NOT stand ANY of the Law and Order series, ESPECIALLY the SVU series. Mrs. Prof knows this. She knows it extremely well, to the point of being able to recite it in her sleep. So, what does she insist on watching when she's home like this? You get no prize for guessing correctly. Do I remind her of this fact? Does she take extreme umbrage? Again, no prizes.

Doesn't help with the emotional side of things.

She does help when it comes to the things that would take me a long time to do or that would be impossible. Things ranging from bringing me tea—especially when I need to carry something with it, since I've only got one free hand (the other's using a cane for walking)—to helping me wrap my bandaged foot for taking a shower and then helping me get dressed afterward. And, of course, I can't forget the fact that she has to drive me everywhere. I'm grateful, even when she vents at me.

Next appointment is Friday afternoon with the podiatrist. He'll most likely give me another re-wrap, and he said he's going to X-ray my foot. I'm going to broach the subject of him helping me with my Frankentoenails (see The Forbidden Foot Pictures, not linked here for a damned good reason). Afterward, we're going to pay a visit to the imaging place that did my MRI and get a copy to send to the neurosurgeon at UT Southwestern. Maybe there's some hope left there yet, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

 

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1 hour ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Next appointment is Friday afternoon with the podiatrist. He'll most likely give me another re-wrap, and he said he's going to X-ray my foot. I'm going to broach the subject of him helping me with my Frankentoenails (see The Forbidden Foot Pictures, not linked here for a damned good reason). Afterward, we're going to pay a visit to the imaging place that did my MRI and get a copy to send to the neurosurgeon at UT Southwestern. Maybe there's some hope left there yet, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

I am sorry to hear of your troubles. I wish I could offer you more than I already have. The only thing I can think of is maybe trying a Netflix subscription or some streaming service along with a set of headphones? That way you can watch something else on either comp or tablet while Mrs. Prof lets steam out of her ears with Law and Order.

(This one time I was sitting with my wife and we were both only paying halfway attention to the TV when the announcer informed us that next up was Law and Order: SUV. After we both stopped howling with laughter, I said to her that I bet the rest of the crew on that TV station wouldn't let the poor announcer forget that for the rest of the month. My wife responded that she doubted they would let the hapless woman forget that for the rest of her life. Afterwards we started discussing what Law and Order: SUV might be about and decided that it featured cops that refused to work cases unless they somehow involved SUVs and that the entire trial at the end of the episode was entirely focused on which SUVs were better, the ones the cops used or the ones the criminals had committed their crimes in.)

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33 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

I am sorry to hear of your troubles. I wish I could offer you more than I already have.

You have gone far above and beyond what I would ask of anyone, much less a good, close friend (if I may call you that publicly). I need nothing more than sanity, which at last check I don't think Amazon carries. :)  I thank you for what you have given, and for whatever support you may deem necessary to offer in the future.

36 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

(This one time I was sitting with my wife and we were both only paying halfway attention to the TV when the announcer informed us that next up was Law and Order: SUV. After we both stopped howling with laughter, I said to her that I bet the rest of the crew on that TV station wouldn't let the poor announcer forget that for the rest of the month. My wife responded that she doubted they would let the hapless woman forget that for the rest of her life. Afterwards we started discussing what Law and Order: SUV might be about and decided that it featured cops that refused to work cases unless they somehow involved SUVs and that the entire trial at the end of the episode was entirely focused on which SUVs were better, the ones the cops used or the ones the criminals had committed their crimes in.)

They missed a perfect chance for massive product placement by not going with the SUV name, you know. :) 

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I kinda miss NTSF:SD:SUV.

Most of the live-action offerings from Williams Street are, mercifully, forgettable.  But there was something about the National Terrorism Strike Force: San Diego: Sport Utility Vehicle that intrigued me.

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24 minutes ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

I kinda miss NTSF:SD:SUV.

Most of the live-action offerings from Williams Street are, mercifully, forgettable.  But there was something about the National Terrorism Strike Force: San Diego: Sport Utility Vehicle that intrigued me.

Well duh, you're from the family that thought a throne mounted on a massive sphinx on wheels pulled by captured princes and kings was a reasonable way of getting around. Of course you'd like SUVs.

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Mike to body,  Sorta want to work on stuff today.

Brain:  I'm  good with that

Legs, Sure, why not?

Gut:  Meh.

OK, then, lets get up and.....  [redacted] that hurt.

Left kidney.  Ah, you didn't ask me...

Right kidney MINE IS BIGGER

[redacted].  Passed one, still drugged out waiting for the other one.  I didn't filter but it seemed like a sub 2mm stone.

 

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Well, this is new.  I've developed a sore spot to the side of the outer edge of my big toe's toenail.  It does not seem to be an ingrown nail, as the end-of-toe edge of the nail is exposed all the way across, no sharp edges or buried corners.  The redness and bulge are more toward the base of the nail.

The skin there is a bit reddish, varying to purplish, and there has been some bleeding in one spot between the skin and the nail.  It started Sunday, I think, and wearing shoes at work Monday wasn't too bad but it was more sore by the end of the day.  I felt around and when I press the side just wrong it sometimes does feel like a sharp pain.  I pulled off the scab/dried blood Tuesday after soaking it, and it seemed like there might have been a sliver so I did a very brief test fishing under the edge with a clean instrument, but did not find anything I could grab hold of.  I kept my shoes off Tuesday, wore flip-flops, and it did seem less sore.

Yesterday, I had work, and that means close-toed shoes, so I wore my sneakers, which have a pretty big toe box (I can wiggle them comfortably), but by the end of the day the toe was more sore.  I went home to get my flip-flops before coming back to do my charts.  This morning I wore sandals with a band-aid covering the sore spot, which my boss did indeed notice and comment on.

After soaking my toe at lunch, I have improvised some padding around the base of the toe to keep the nail edge from rubbing or getting pressure against it.  So far, wearing shoes seems to be working.  There was one slightly wortying thing; there is now a very small red bump protruding from the edge between nail and skin.  In a horse I'd call it "proud flesh" but I don't know if they use that in humans.  Could be an overexhuberant attempt at healing.

*Sigh*  Now I get to decide whether to call my PCP or to try to see a podiatrist directly....

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49 minutes ago, CritterKeeper said:

In a horse I'd call it "proud flesh" but I don't know if they use that in humans.  Could be an overexhuberant attempt at healing.

*Sigh*  Now I get to decide whether to call my PCP or to try to see a podiatrist directly....

That's exactly what it is.  What is sometimes called "proud flesh" in humans is more commonly referred to as granulated tissue.

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