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ProfessorTomoe

Changing Medications (Level of Trust Required)

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8:21 a.m. CDT 20170621. Woke up feeling lousy, physically. Shortly past 4am. That seems to be a default now—sleep until my hydrocodone wears off, wake up, take it, and go back to sleep for a few more hours. Even after waking up at 7-somethinng-am, I still felt lousy. My right foot had swollen back up, despite sleeping with it elevated (and without the compression stocking). It's still puffed up. Drank some coffee and made everything feel worse. I may need a second cup to reverse the effects of the first cup.

On top of this, I've got a grouchy Mrs. Prof to deal with, even after her morning coffee. Go figure. She'll have to deal with the Windows 10 Creators Update once she's off her work computer, so that'll serve her right.

Furthermore, I've got a medical billing snafu from my PCP's appointments department. It has to do with the first time my edema flared up. He cancelled my appointment and sent me off for a venous ultrasound. Unfortunately, the appointments department counted that as a "no-show" and billed me anyway. Got a bill in the mail yesterday. I called them this morning and got them to admit to their error. They're in the process of fixing it now and are supposed to call me back once the situation is rectified.

Now, for some reason, Mrs. Prof is making my second cup of coffee for me. Go figure again. We're on the wrong wavelengths today.

I'm going to have to fill out my new patient paperwork for the ENT doctor in a short while. I was too sick to fill it out yesterday. I'll have to do it soon, since we'll need to leave extra early due to heavy rush-hour traffic on the one bridge over the lake separating the doctor's office from us. The thing is, the main symptom I was referred for (chronic cough) has mostly resolved itself. I've still got a problem with my voice, where my usual five-octave range (you read it right—five octaves, including a controlled falsetto) has been reduced to maybe an octave and a half, and I sound croaky at times. My PCP said he saw some trauma on the right side of my throat, so there may be something that can be fixed.

Second cup of coffee consumed. Let's see if it helps. Off to the bathroom, then to the paperwork.

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16 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Exactly. Mrs. Prof said he started doodling on his notepad halfway through my story. I'd say that's bad treatment, that others need to know about.

...

...this was Dr. Do not want from UT? Remind me to never go near the place if I ever have pain troubles.

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1 hour ago, The Old Hack said:

...

...this was Dr. Do not want from UT? Remind me to never go near the place if I ever have pain troubles.

Dr. Do-Not-Want from UT Southwestern is an appropriate name. Oh, I just got the standard "Please Rate Our Doctors" questionnaire that most of the medical shacks in the D/FW Metroplex are using nowadays for Dr. Do-Not-Want. I'm going to let Mrs. Prof help me fill this one out. We're going to have great fun. :D 

I've finally finished the ENT doc paperwork, although for a time there I thought I'd never make it through the first page. Picture this unpleasant scene: opioid-induced constipation vs. antibiotic-induced diarrhea. Yep. Three trips and lots of pain each time before I'd finished half of the first page.

The battle rages on, and I don't dare take anything stronger than a gas pill lest I risk ripping myself a new hole, literally. Hell, I haven't eaten anything other than pills and coffee (does coffee qualify as eating?) today. Maybe I should. Maybe it'd sponge things up.

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3 minutes ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Dr. Do-Not-Want from UT Southwestern is an appropriate name. Oh, I just got the standard "Please Rate Our Doctors" questionnaire that most of the medical shacks in the D/FW Metroplex are using nowadays for Dr. Do-Not-Want. I'm going to let Mrs. Prof help me fill this one out. We're going to have great fun. :D

Remember to mention that he apparently goes "quack quack quack" and flies south for the winter.

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34 minutes ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

I thought Coffee was more like breathing.

It'd be awfully hard to breathe it unless you were a coffee-breathing fish. Speaking of which, I sent some tuna salad and wafers down after the mess swirling around in my guts. Maybe it'll swim some sense into things.

I asked Mrs. Prof about what time we're going to start getting ready. She's going to plug the figures into her map around 1:00 p.m. CDT and see what the map says. We do have an alternate route we can take, but it's long, twisty, and full of stop lights. There's no knowing which would be faster. Man, why did they have to give us a 4:20 p.m. CDT appointment, especially when they close at 4:30?

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5 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

It'd be awfully hard to breathe it unless you were a coffee-breathing fish. Speaking of which, I sent some tuna salad and wafers down after the mess swirling around in my guts. Maybe it'll swim some sense into things.

I asked Mrs. Prof about what time we're going to start getting ready. She's going to plug the figures into her map around 1:00 p.m. CDT and see what the map says. We do have an alternate route we can take, but it's long, twisty, and full of stop lights. There's no knowing which would be faster. Man, why did they have to give us a 4:20 p.m. CDT appointment, especially when they close at 4:30?

Hopefully their closing time doesn't equate to their "we're all going home" time...

Maybe shoot for being there at 3:45 or 4:00?

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2 hours ago, Vorlonagent said:

Hopefully their closing time doesn't equate to their "we're all going home" time...

Maybe shoot for being there at 3:45 or 4:00?

Mrs. Prof had fun pointing out that their closing time, as painted on their door, was 5:00 p.m. CDT. I could swear the closing time I saw online said 4:30.

Anyway, the ENT got to hear my croaky voice and the long story behind it. We agreed to start with the low-end stuff first and work our way up from there, if necessary. The low-end stuff in this case is a possible GERD problem, or gastroesophageal reflux disease. It can be chronic in nature. We're going to test for a "dry GERD" case (one with no heartburn or other obvious symptoms, like with me) at a diagnostic place tomorrow, sometime around my psychiatrist appointment. (Boy, is HE gonna get an earful, given everything that's gone on lately.)

I'm also going to take some sort of special mouthwash/gargle that you have to get from a compounding pharmacy (that's one thing I remember about this doctor—he likes to compound, for some odd reason). It's supposed to help soothe any damage I might have down in my throat. I'll use it while we're waiting for the GERD tests, and we'll move on from there.

On another subject, Mrs. Prof is NOT having fun with my compression stocking. She said she'd rather give me shots (something she's had to do on multiple occasions, including blood thinners in my stomach) than have to put on the stocking. It must be a real bitch to put on if that's the case, and considering that she's probably going to have to do it for a very long time, I really feel bad for her. I don't know what to do—I can't just make my venous stasis go away. I've got to wear the stocking, or I could be in real physical trouble.

She's off having dinner and a drink with some friends now. Said she needs it after this week. I can't say I blame her.

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5:46 a.m. CDT 20170622. I'm not sure that the damned compression stocking is doing any good at all. Yeah, some comment to make after just waking up from sleeping without it, right? well, I've been sleeping with my legs elevated. That in itself is supposed to help with my edema.

It's not.

Unless I take a shower way early in the day before my psychiatrist's appointment today, I'm going to go most of the day without the stocking on my leg. I'm sure Mrs. Prof would looove the double disruption to her work day if I showered early.

I don't know what I'm gonna do. I'm confused as hell by my health situation right now. It's a very good thing that I'm seeing my psychiatrist today, that's for sure. I don't know if I'm going to stay awake now or go back to sleep. I'll probably raid the pantry again. God, I'm so confused ...

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10:05 p.m. CDT 20170622. Without going into detail, we made it to the psychiatrist. Mrs. Prof got to sit on the sofa, while I had to sit on a chair. I bring this up because the person who was in right before me was also using a walker. The disability parade today, it was.

The appointment was mainly an infodump of everything that has happened since my last appointment in March, the last time I was able to drive myself. I went over the hydrocodone disasters, the whole Spine Team [Redacted] Texas mess, the UT Southwestern nightmare, and what my primary care doctor is doing for me in the way of getting me a third pain management doctor at Baylor Scott & White. I also went over the broken big left toe and sprained other toes, the recurrent edema in my right foot/leg, and (briefly) the ENT appointment yesterday, since I'd been coughing at my last appointment three months ago.

That's as far as I got before he had to cut me off. He asked me about my medicines, where I told him that my Abilify had been increased from 5mg to 10mg. End of appointment, see ya in three months.

A bit of mental and hair hygiene is scheduled for tomorrow. It's time for Mrs. Prof and I to visit the hair salon. I really need a haircut ... and a beard trim ... and a mustache trim. I think I'll let her handle a second hair washing tomorrow as well. We've also got to go by a testing lab and get that damned GERD test done, then get the compounded prescription filled. (I don't understand this doctor—I've seen him before, and he has some penchant for compounded prescriptions.)

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6:46 a.m. CDT 20170623. My "dry GERD" test and my compound prescription fill are still on the agenda for today, after the salon trip. We know where a compounding pharmacy is. We just need to find a Quest Diagnostics place that stays open after we get haircuts.

In other news, Mrs. Prof finally got a chance to wash my moon boot with Woolite last night. It had passed the point where Febreze worked anymore. It had to be washed. So, overnight, while it dried and I slept, I had to wear the shoe I normally wear in the shower. I'm definitely not ready to go full-time on the shoe, thanks to the snapped sesamoid bone. It still hurts, as does the top of my big toe. That's why the podiatrist ordered the boot 24/7. I agree. Mrs. Prof will be putting it back on when she gets back from retrieving cats—hopefully, including the one she sponsored so she can move it to the vet.

My shoebox containing my medications is starting to fall apart. I think I'm going to have to get a new one. Believe it or not, I wrote a poem with the shoebox at the center of attention of the work, if not the actual subject. If anyone wants to see it, I may post it here. It's a bit emotional, so brace yourself if you do want to see it.

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5:37 p.m. CDT 20170623. Still haven't taken the GERD test or picked up the compounded prescription, thanks to a much busier schedule than anticipated. At least my beard is back under control after the haircut.

Got a call from my primary care physician's nurse about the referral to the new pain management doctor. They're wanting reports from my last MRIs, CTs, etc. related to my back. I had to give her the locations where I had my CT myelogram and MRI done so that she could pass those along to Baylor Scott & White's whatever department. I've still got the actual discs in my possession, in case they want to see them at the pain management place.

At least some progress is being made in getting me there.

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Again, not in Prof's class, but today was a bad migraine day.  Not that it was that strong, just damn persistent.   And only reacted about half as well as it should have to my drug ladder.   Right now I'm in "under control due to drugs, but not postdrome"  which, frankly, sucks.  Because when the drugs start to fall off, life gets ugly. And I have 2 hours until I can take my next dose.   :not_gruntled:

 

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16 minutes ago, mlooney said:

Again, not in Prof's class, but today was a bad migraine day.  Not that it was that strong, just damn persistent.   And only reacted about half as well as it should have to my drug ladder.   Right now I'm in "under control due to drugs, but not postdrome"  which, frankly, sucks.  Because when the drugs start to fall off, life gets ugly. And I have 2 hours until I can take my next dose.   :not_gruntled:

 

 

10 minutes ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Oh, man, can I ever sympathize with you there. All the medical feels, mate.

I hope the both of you get better soon. And tell Mrs. Prof that I wish her luck in her fight against the cat-abducting slimeball.

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1 hour ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Oh, man, can I ever sympathize with you there. All the medical feels, mate.

 

1 hour ago, The Old Hack said:

 

I hope the both of you get better soon. And tell Mrs. Prof that I wish her luck in her fight against the cat-abducting slimeball.

Thanks both of you.  I'm in postdrome now, so life, if not good, is better.

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1 hour ago, mlooney said:

Thanks both of you.  I'm in postdrome now, so life, if not good, is better.

Good to hear. I've been having my own early wear-off issues tonight, so I'm gonna fudge my last hydrocodone dose by about 45 minutes.

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3:58 CDT 20170624 It's worn off again—the pain medicine, that is, but this time closer to the regularly scheduled dose time of 4am. Only problem is that I woke up somewhere in between falling asleep and now. I think it was around 2am or so. Probably due to right foot swelling pain. Anyway, one hydrocodone pill, down the hatch, on schedule.

It still won't help the foot swelling/edema. Hell, if anything it's been getting worse with this stocking. I might have to go back onto the Lasix to get rid of it. Mrs. Prof took off my stocking tonight and said she found a "line" across part of my leg. I'll bet it was caused by uneven compression from the stocking, either by the thing just pressing wrong or by Mrs. Prof not putting it on correctly. I hope it's not the latter.

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2 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

3:58 CDT 20170624 It's worn off again—the pain medicine, that is, but this time closer to the regularly scheduled dose time of 4am. Only problem is that I woke up somewhere in between falling asleep and now. I think it was around 2am or so. Probably due to right foot swelling pain. Anyway, one hydrocodone pill, down the hatch, on schedule.

It still won't help the foot swelling/edema. Hell, if anything it's been getting worse with this stocking. I might have to go back onto the Lasix to get rid of it. Mrs. Prof took off my stocking tonight and said she found a "line" across part of my leg. I'll bet it was caused by uneven compression from the stocking, either by the thing just pressing wrong or by Mrs. Prof not putting it on correctly. I hope it's not the latter.

Ugh. Sorry to hear. Hopefully they can find a better working stocking.

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On 6/21/2017 at 5:36 PM, Vorlonagent said:

Hopefully their closing time doesn't equate to their "we're all going home" time...

It never does.  No, really, I know absolutes are usually something to be avoided, but....

 

As for the edema and compression stocking, that's something my dad battled for years.  If the stocking doesn't do the trick, my dad had a gizmo that wrapped around his leg and would inflate in sequence, from foot end to thigh end, to gradually 'milk' the excess fluid out.  Mom put it on him every night -- it zipped up the side and was loose enough deflated to be relatively easy to put on.

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2 hours ago, CritterKeeper said:

As for the edema and compression stocking, that's something my dad battled for years.  If the stocking doesn't do the trick, my dad had a gizmo that wrapped around his leg and would inflate in sequence, from foot end to thigh end, to gradually 'milk' the excess fluid out.  Mom put it on him every night -- it zipped up the side and was loose enough deflated to be relatively easy to put on.

Oh, yeah, the leg pump. I had to wear two of the damned things when I was in the hospital after I broke my ankles. Not fun.

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