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ProfessorTomoe

Changing Medications (Level of Trust Required)

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55 minutes ago, mlooney said:

Mean vicious snarling packs.  

You said it, sport.

I'm having another "can't win for losing" day when it comes to things hurting. Not only am I getting hit at random, unannounced moments by sesamoid bone pain, my right back/hip/leg/foot is having its way with me as well today. You know it's bad when you look in your pain medicine box for your next dose and realize you took it over four hours ago. My next one is 90 minutes away, but my body just keeps piling on the pains.

Addendum: my sesamoid bone is going to drive me bonkers. I just tried to walk to the kitchen for some tea and back and got hit with a massive spike right through the ball of my foot. Felt like a bolt of lightning came up through the floor.

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A bit of rest with my foot elevated seems to have helped a little bit with my sesamoid bone. God, that was awful. Here's the best way I can explain it: did you ever see the movie Warlock? The one with Julian Sands as the warlock? Well, there's a scene where the heroine is chasing the warlock and attacking magically him by pounding a nail into his footsteps in the dirt. I felt like the warlock did—shots of pain from nowhere, going straight through the bottom of my foot. Damn, they hurt. I hope they're gone. At least I've got more pain medicine in me now, since it's after 4pm. (I'm on a 4am/10am/4pm/10pm schedule.)

I just saw on the news that the U.S. Attorney General was at some organization meeting here in the Metroplex today, talking about the "opioid epidemic." Every time I hear that, it gives me chills. I'm not an illegal opioid user, nor am I an addict for the sake of just using them, as the prior paragraph should show. I have a legitimate need for pain medicine, and every time some old crony from the "Just Say No" era talks on TV about the evils of opioids as if they're all evil, I just want to throw my remote at my television. (I'm sorry, @The Old Hack, if I've posted this vent in the wrong place. I needed to get it out of my system, and I figured that it's less political and more medical, hence the post here. I will accept any punishment if you deem it necessary.)

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1 hour ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

I just saw on the news that the U.S. Attorney General was at some organization meeting here in the Metroplex today, talking about the "opioid epidemic." Every time I hear that, it gives me chills. I'm not an illegal opioid user, nor am I an addict for the sake of just using them, as the prior paragraph should show. I have a legitimate need for pain medicine, and every time some old crony from the "Just Say No" era talks on TV about the evils of opioids as if they're all evil, I just want to throw my remote at my television. (I'm sorry, @The Old Hack, if I've posted this vent in the wrong place. I needed to get it out of my system, and I figured that it's less political and more medical, hence the post here. I will accept any punishment if you deem it necessary.)

The Moderator: As someone directly affected with a medical need, I deem it perfectly proper for you to vent here.

~tOH.

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1 hour ago, The Old Hack said:

The Moderator: As someone directly affected with a medical need, I deem it perfectly proper for you to vent here.

~tOH.

Thank you. I do appreciate it.

Elsewhere in the world, my damned sesamoid bone is not done with me yet. I thought I might be through with the spikes, but I'm still getting them. Lord only knows what's setting them off. $!#@$$! <—Like the one that just fired off right there as I was about to type this sentence. Owwwwwarrrrgarbl! Enough already!

My podiatrist appointment on Thursday is supposed to be about my possibly infected big toe, but that may be added to if these things keep firing through the ball of my foot.

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10:55 p.m. CDT 20170711. I am full of pills, including my 10pm dose of pain medicine. The gunshots through the ball of my foot have stopped for now, or have been dulled by the drugs. Mrs. Prof took a look at my sole to see if there was anything obvious that would point to the source of the pain. There wasn't.

I am confuse.

Some good news: my *right* big toe—the one which had nail fungus—is looking better after treatment with Kerasal gel. The podiatrist Dremeled it down and clipped it to where only half of it remained at my last appointment. I've been putting the Kerasal on it more or less regularly since then. Seems to be working as advertised. I don't dare put it on my left toenail yet, due to the swelling and reddening that's still there.

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5:54 a.m. CDT 20170712. Woke up with pain in my usual right back/hip/leg spots. Probably because I overslept my pain medicine for about 75-90 minutes. Still getting over the pain. Tossed a couple of club crackers down my stomach to buffer the hydrocodone.

No gunshot pains to my left sole yet. A couple of twinges, but that's about it as of this writing.

Found out something striking last night when Mrs. Prof was checking my foot for obvious spots, though—the insole of my orthopedic shoe comes out. Just fell right out. I'm not sure if it's supposed to do that, but it did. We'll ask the podiatrist on Thursday. Might wind up getting a new shoe anyway, since the insole is flat where my heel normally sits. There are a couple of other flat spots, too. It was only $29, and I'm sure we can get the podiatrist to write a prescription for it, saving us the sales tax.

Baker has jumped up on the sofa where my legs would normally be. I hate to do it, but I'm going to have to move him. I'm seeing double as I try to type this. Not ready to function yet.

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7:58 a.m. CDT 20170712. Managed to get myself another couple of hours of sleep, feeling less discombobulated. Coffee will help as well.

One thing I haven't mentioned recently is that I've been having PVCs. Lots and lots of PVCs. They started before Loudmouth moved in and have continued. Most of them have been of what I call the "fart, stumble, and fall" variety, not mild, but not "get me to the farking hospital" either. Much higher frequency than usual, and I'm not sure that Loudmouth is to blame.

Still no sesamoid pains yet. Hoping there won't be any. :eusa_pray:

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5:14 a.m. CDT 20170712. I just saw a report on the news that ongoing and serious stress on a person as a child can cause serious health problems as an adult.

Guess I need to go back and sue my parents for all the screaming, humiliation, abuse, fear, neglect, and other stress they subjected me to as a kid. I'm not saying I was a poster child for anti-child-abuse organizations, but both my parents had their own special ways of making me feel like s**t, even when they weren't around. It lasted for most of my childhood, peaking with a stepmother trying to smash my brains out with a fireplace poker. I was ready to let her do it, too, just so I'd have the evidence I needed to get out of that house.

Sorry, TMI. That story touched a nerve. Unlike the nerves around my sesamoid bone, which have been behaving so far today. Granted, I've been knocked out by pain medicines most of the day, but I haven't felt the voodoo touch on the sole of my foot yet.

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10:58 p.m. CDT 20170712. I think I dodged the gunshots through my left foot, mainly by sleeping with my foot elevated for most of the day. Didn't dodge massive stomach cramping about an hour ago, though. Not fun. No spoiler tag needed.

I'm currently microwaving a Zatarain's cajun chicken pasta for Mrs. Prof. She's en route home after a long day at the pet adoption center—in fact, she just pulled up and forgot to check the mail as she came in. She's now feeding cats as the pasta cooks. Nothing to do with my health, other than my mental health. I've got my hearing aids in so I can hear the microwave when it goes off, and I get to hear Loudmouth yowl for his food and watch Baker beg for his.

Podiatrist appointment is at 3pm tomorrow. We'll see what the big toe diagnosis is, as well as what the bullet pains were.

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6:07 a.m. CDT 20170713. Up early after a most-of-the-day sleep yesterday, but yawning due to more stomach cramps during the night. I hope I got everything out of my system.

I feel like I'm having a game of ping pong going on between my left foot/toe pain and my right back/side/leg pain. No bullet pain in my left foot, thankfully, just good ole' fashioned broken toe and sprained toe/damaged muscle & tendon pain. It's not a fun game, and the hydrocodone which I overslept can't kick in quickly enough to intervene.

I also feel like I'm being too negative in this thread lately, chasing people away. @Vorlonagent's warning about not kicking myself was good advice, but it's so hard to follow. Remember the sine waves my health was on? This time my depression is on one, and it's been stuck at the bottom of one for days. I'm not manic depressive, BTW. It's just that my max Y value peaks at zero. I go from meh to bleh and, sometimes, back up to meh again. Right now I'm stuck at major bleh. Not maximum bleh, dear God no. I wouldn't be able to type this if I was at maximum bleh. I'd probably be in a hospital if I were there. I'm just at ...

blehsmall.jpg

There are many lower levels. Especially on days spent mostly alone, with hardly anyone else online. Like yesterday.

So, now I'm waiting for Mrs. Prof to wake up (or to be awakened by Baker), no one else is on line, and I'm typing this missive about how depressed I am. Not the best reading, I know. Sorry. Hopefully I'll do better in the future when I've actually got something to write about.

Oh, I know how to wake up Mrs. Prof! (goes off to get a cup of coffee from the Keurig machine ...)

EDIT: Yep, it worked.

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4:31 p.m. CDT 20170713. I'm back from the podiatrist, and I've got three immediate things to report:

  1. My left big toe is probably infected again.
  2. My sesamoid bone is most definitely broken.
  3. My bullet pains were not coming from my sesamoid bone.

First things first.

The podiatrist said my big toe looked somewhat red when I was seated, but much more red and swollen when I was standing on the X-ray machine. Result: Augmentin for 10 days, just in case.

Next, I reported the shifting of the bone I felt Monday and the bullet pains from Tuesday. He did a manual inspection of my foot and determined that my sesamoid bone was not the source of my pain. He said that I winced when he pressed between the second and third metatarsals. That's when he took me back for another X-ray and found something interesting: I was apparently born with a deformity ("pigeon toed," he called it), and he was surprised that it hadn't manifested until now. He was also unsure whether I was getting pain from the bones or from the nerves around them. In response, he literally glued a support to my foot. He used some sort of foot adhesion liquid and attached some padding beneath the problem area, then taped all around my foot using more liquid to keep the support in place. It'll all come off at next week's appointment.

One good bit of news is that I don't have to wear the orthopedic shoe 24/7 now. I can take it off when I go to bed. However, putting it back on is a big hassle, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

EDIT: we stopped at a different CVS than usual to get my Augmentin filled. Something between the sweltering Texas heat, the wait for the prescription, and the time spent on my feet waiting to have the entire order re-entered due to something Mrs. Prof didn't like in the original order took all the energy out of me that I had at the time. I've since re-energized slightly with a bit of Crystal Light lemon tea. Now, Mrs. Prof is off to the pet adoption center for a volunteer meeting, so Lord only knows when I'll see her next.

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10 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

I also feel like I'm being too negative in this thread lately, chasing people away.

Still here; I just have nothing meaningful to add.

The regular updates are good for both you and us - we all know you're okay, and you know we're all here for you.

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12 minutes ago, Yzjdriel said:

Still here; I just have nothing meaningful to add.

The regular updates are good for both you and us - we all know you're okay, and you know we're all here for you.

That is very helpful. You have my deepest gratitude. Seriously.

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18 minutes ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

The podiatrist said my big toe looked somewhat red when I was seated, but much more red and swollen when I was standing on the X-ray machine. Result: Augmentin for 10 days, just in case.

I'd be wondering why it keeps getting infected, and/or why there's an ongoing infection not being cleared up by the antibiotics.  My instinct would be to try a different class of antibiotic (assuming I couldn't get a culture, which it doesn't sound like there's any place to get one from), but then, I'd probably be reaching for Baytril, which the species in question can't take, so....  ;-)

18 minutes ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Next, I reported the shifting of the bone I felt Monday and the bullet pains from Tuesday. He did a manual inspection of my foot and determined that my sesamoid bone was not the source of my pain. He said that I winced when he pressed between the second and third metatarsals. That's when he took me back for another X-ray and found something interesting: I was apparently born with a deformity ("pigeon toed," he called it), and he was surprised that it hadn't manifested until now. He was also unsure whether I was getting pain from the bones or from the nerves around them. In response, he literally glued a support to my foot. He used some sort of foot adhesion liquid and attached some padding beneath the problem area, then taped all around my foot using more liquid to keep the support in place. It'll all come off at next week's appointment.

Huh.  I always thought pigeon-toed meant someone whose feet turned outward, so their toes were further apart than their heels.  I have a very high arch myself, and have been wearing orthotic inserts in my shoes since sixth grade.  If the glued-on support helps, maybe once you're healed he can get you something like that to keep your feet happy.

18 minutes ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

One good bit of news is that I don't have to wear the orthopedic shoe 24/7 now. I can take it off when I go to bed. However, putting it back on is a big hassle, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

Can you get it on yourself?  If not, how likely are you to need to get up during the night or before Mrs. Prof gets up and can boot you?

And once again, don't worry about bringing anyone down, this is exactly what this thread is for.  The politics thread, on the other hand, is where I would have to take a reply rant about how messed up our "schedule" system is for controlled substances....

Like Hack, I've fallen behind, although it's more of a regular thing with me, but I do like to hear how you're doing when I do get to catch up.  :-)

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16 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

The same here. I have been kind of knocked out all day long and not watched the forums. I apologise for that; I am currently trying to catch up.

... and ...

6 minutes ago, CritterKeeper said:

Like Hack, I've fallen behind, although it's more of a regular thing with me, but I do like to hear how you're doing when I do get to catch up

Thanks also to both of you, to the same degree, and to anyone else reading this thread. I hate giving off the feeling that I'm whining about my problems, but as I've mentioned before, I've got to have some place to chronicle all of this or I'll go insane.

9 minutes ago, CritterKeeper said:

I'd be wondering why it keeps getting infected, and/or why there's an ongoing infection not being cleared up by the antibiotics.

He did mention getting a bone scan done. That might help determine the source of the infection, among other things. There are still other things to try besides continually throwing antibiotics at it. However, if a bone scan is called for, I warned Mrs. Prof that she's not going to like it one bit. It's about a ¾-of-a-day-long procedure, or at least it was when I had one done in the 90s to try and rule out a Sudeck's Atrophy of a broken toe (it ruled it out). It also leaves you slightly radioactive, so no going through TSA screening points for a while. ;)

17 minutes ago, CritterKeeper said:

Can you get it on yourself?  If not, how likely are you to need to get up during the night or before Mrs. Prof gets up and can boot you?

Let's find out. (Removes shoe.) (Replaces shoe.) Getting it on properly is certainly much more difficult than removing it, obviously. As for the likelihood of getting up in the middle of the night, I'd give that a 100% rating. If I had to wake up Mrs. Prof to re-shoe me, I'm sure that she would boot the hell out of me first. :doom: I'd better start practicing.

23 minutes ago, CritterKeeper said:

Huh.  I always thought pigeon-toed meant someone whose feet turned outward, so their toes were further apart than their heels.

In this case, I've got parts of two toes (the second and third metatarsals) that are aimed the wrong way. Shouldn't surprise me, really. It runs in my level of the family. My sister, who was a preemie, had to have her feet broken and re-set because they were pointed the wrong way (left foot aimed right, right foot aimed left), along with other problems that my parents wouldn't tell a five-year-old nosy kid. Me, I had problems when I was in a drum & bugle corps who wanted everyone to stand at attention with their feet parallel. I'm knock-kneed, so the best I could do was a 45° angle. Good thing I was in the pit percussion line, where it didn't matter.

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I'd forgotten how weird it was to go from sleeping with a boot/orthoshoe to sleeping without one. Then again, I've been wearing something on my left leg/foot since .... what, March? I really can't remember how long it's been. I don't think I wore my moon boots this long when I broke my ankles.

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10:49 p.m. CDT 20170713. No time to get a Zofran down this time.

Mrs. Prof got home late from her pet adoption center volunteer meeting. She brought home Taco Bell, and before the jokes start, I like it and it usually goes down very well. Not this time, though. She bought a grilled burrito for me. About 2/3rd of the way through, I got hit with an overwhelming attack. Like I said, no time for Zofran. Just enough time to make it to the bathroom and aim straight.

I went ahead and took a Zofran anyway afterward. I'm going to need its help to keep my pills down when I take them in a little while. I just hope that my 10pm hydrocodone had enough time to make it through my stomach before the attack hit.

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5:26 a.m. CDT 20170714. Don't expect to go to the bathroom quickly if you're going to sleep without your orthopedic shoe. Just getting your foot past the Velcro straps is a hard enough challenge.

BTW, this is the shoe that I'm wearing: http://www.djoglobal.com/products/procare/squared-toe-post-op-shoe

Looks easy enough, but they put all of the difficult bits on the side of the picture you don't see. Easy for someone else to manipulate, but for yourself? Not so much.

I did have to take the shoe off after waking up from last night's nap in order to "massage" (I'm not sure if that's the right word) the area that's been giving me bullet pain. It didn't hurt as bad as Tuesday, but it hurt plenty bad enough—maybe somewhere between a 7 and an 8, with me on hydrocodone, and it hurt longer. By comparison, the bullet shots didn't hurt as long, but they were *much* more painful—they would have averaged between an 8 and a 9, again with me on hydrocodone.

You know, I start off these journalized updates with a time and date, but I don't end with one. That's because they can take so long for me to pull the details out of my brain and put them on the screen. Right now, it's 5:44 a.m. CDT, but I've had long updates take as much as an hour to squeeze out. These and my observations on Loudmouth are replacements for working on my novel while my brain isn't functioning at its normal, un-strong-opiate-medicated pace. I mean, a lot of my typing time on these two threads is spent fixing spelling. It's embarrassing.

5:48 a.m. CDT.

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8:34 a.m. CDT 20170714. Still haven't mastered the art of putting on the orthopedic shoe. Mrs. Prof did clear up when I started wearing the moon boot, though—mid-May. Sure seems like longer when you combine it with the shoe. Anyway, a right-handed person putting on a left-foot shoe does not make for an easy task.

I'm really afraid to eat much of anything, because I don't want a repeat of last night's gastric troubles. I feel overall terrible, in a way that's hard to describe. Headache, malaise, clogged sinuses, foot pain (not the bullet kind), and more. I'm risking a cup of coffee to see if it'll help, but a few sips in I can feel that it's not going to do me much good. My sine wave is way below zero on the Y axis right now.

I think the drama with Mrs. Prof (see Loudmouth's Journey Inside thread) has taken a lot of energy out of me, and the day has barely started (for the second time). Could be due to the infection in my big toe. I predict that this is going to be another one of those days where I spend most of my day asleep.

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10:15 a.m. CDT 20170714. Coffee helped a little bit. Managed to get my pills down and keep them there. Also managed to get some soft food down and, again, keep it there, without the help of Zofran.

Still tired. Got Formula One practice to watch at 1:00 p.m., so I'd better get some sleep before then.

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11:55 a.m. CDT 20170714. I think I've figured out why I've felt so bad all day.

 

I had some serious cramps wake me up. Wasn't sure I'd be able to get the shoe on in time. Got to the bathroom and had something large almost blast its way out. I had to use the toilet snake to unclog the sewer afterward.


I've taken a gas pill and other medicine to prevent this from happening again. Not sure it'll have immediate effect. I've had trouble all week long.

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21 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Something between the sweltering Texas heat, the wait for the prescription, and the time spent on my feet waiting to have the entire order re-entered due to something Mrs. Prof didn't like in the original order took all the energy out of me that I had at the time. I've since re-energized slightly with a bit of Crystal Light lemon tea. Now, Mrs. Prof is off to the pet adoption center for a volunteer meeting, so Lord only knows when I'll see her next.

HYDRATE!!!!

Seriously. We're only dealing with the Montana heat, not the Texas heat, and we have a cooler in the back seat of the car that usually has somewhere between 4 and 20 blackbirds bottles of water in it.

20 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

I hate giving off the feeling that I'm whining about my problems

That's what this thread is for.

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18 minutes ago, Don Edwards said:

HYDRATE!!!!

I did. I went through two bottles of water, just for a 30-minute each-way trip in an air-conditioned truck. Still felt like crap.

 

22 minutes ago, Don Edwards said:
21 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

I hate giving off the feeling that I'm whining about my problems

That's what this thread is for.

Yeah, sorry about all of that yesterday. Thanks for giving me leave to vent.

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