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ProfessorTomoe

Changing Medications (Level of Trust Required)

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1 hour ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Good thing I'm not seeing a proctologist, I guess.

I've never though that you had your head up, well, you know.

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1 hour ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Good thing I'm not seeing a proctologist, I guess.

I know a great number of people for whom there would be little difference between a neurosurgeon and a proctologist

By The Way, when I typed in "proctologist" my spell checker suggested "sociologist"

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3 minutes ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

I know a great number of people for whom there would be little difference between a neurosurgeon and a proctologist

Don't we all.

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Hmm, might the physical position you were lying in be less uncomfortable for you? It might be worth trying to imitate that position the next time you sleep and find out if it gives you any relief.

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2 hours ago, ijuin said:

Hmm, might the physical position you were lying in be less uncomfortable for you? It might be worth trying to imitate that position the next time you sleep and find out if it gives you any relief.

It would be quite difficult to duplicate. I was on the inside of an MRI machine, remember? It was quite claustrophobic in there.

In other news, I've seen the pictures on the disc containing the MRI data. I now have proof that I have both a brain and a spine.

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1 hour ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

It would be quite difficult to duplicate. I was on the inside of an MRI machine, remember? It was quite claustrophobic in there.

I meant your body posture—e.g. lying flat on your back/side/wherever with your head in a specific position.

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The last time I was in MRI (vs CAT scan) it was for a migraine study.  I had one start while I was in the machine.  My Doctor said she didn't need to run the rest of the tests as it showed quite nicely on the MRI.  I really hate the noise a MRI makes.

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They found something on my brain MRI.

Nothing like cancer, thank goodness. Nevertheless, my MRI results were less than, "We found no problems."

On the radiologist's report, they began by listing what they didn't find - no acute infarct, intracranial hemorrhage, extra-axial fluid collection,, or hydrocephalus. They then went on to list what they did find, and I quote:

Quote

Single punctate focus of high T2/FLAIR signal in the posterior right frontal lobe deep white matter is nonspecific however, may be minimal chronic microvascular ischemic change or migraine phenomenon.

I looked up chronic microvascular ischemic change and found this article. It covers some of the bases when it comes to what I've been experiencing: problems with walking and balance, depression, and even some possible stroke-like symptoms such as dizziness, sudden confusion, and sudden, severe headache. I don't know about a stroke, though - the doctors stroke-test me every time I see them lately, and they never find cause for alarm. I'm waiting for my primary care doctor to call me back and discuss the results now.

 --- BREAK ---

My cervical spine MRI results also came back, and in this case I've already heard from the doctor who ordered them. He said they found quite a few problems, but the main one causing my current pain is something called "foraminal narrowing," which is where the hole that lets the nerves branch out to the left and right from the spinal cord gets overgrown and narrows, cutting into a nerve. I've got that going on between joints C5-C6 and C6-C7, and in both cases it's "severe" on the left side. I'm being referred to a spinal specialist who will hopefully fix this issue, but first, I'm going to talk to my pain management doctor's assistant on Friday (1/14). They have already received a copy of the cervical spine MRI results and have put them in my folder for her to review prior to our telemedicine appointment.

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I guess finding something wrong is good, in that gives you a reason for your symptoms.  The question I've got is can they do any thing about it?

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1 minute ago, mlooney said:

I guess finding something wrong is good, in that gives you a reason for your symptoms.  The question I've got is can they do any thing about it?

If you're referring to the brain, I'm not sure if they can. I'll have to ask my doctor. If you're referring to my pain, yes, they can do something to fix that.

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7 hours ago, mlooney said:

The last time I was in MRI (vs CAT scan) it was for a migraine study.  I had one start while I was in the machine.  My Doctor said she didn't need to run the rest of the tests as it showed quite nicely on the MRI.  I really hate the noise a MRI makes.

I've never been in one. I had to take my infant daughter for one, decades ago.

We know about your cat scans, you post pictures of her all the time.

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4 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

I've never been in one. I had to take my infant daughter for one, decades ago.

We know about your cat scans, you post pictures of her all the time.

But what about the lab report? Did the dog have any good news for you?

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5 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

I've never been in one. I had to take my infant daughter for one, decades ago.

We know about your cat scans, you post pictures of her all the time.

 

1 hour ago, Don Edwards said:

But what about the lab report? Did the dog have any good news for you?

/me gets out the list.  Adds "does the obvious medical/animal pun."  Not worth any stars or even underlines, just a check mark.

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15 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

I know. That shoots the 'worse the pun, the more stars' theory.

It's not "worse the pun" in this case, it's over use of the pun in question.  At least that what /me says.

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Had my telemedicine appointment with pain management yesterday. Three things came of it:

  1. I'm now on gabapentin for nerve pain, although I'm having to phase it in over the course of a week to get up to the full 3x-a-day dose.
  2. I'm going to be scheduled for an epidural outpatient procedure with my pain doctor. He's going to do it on both sides of my spine, just in case there's foraminal narrowing causing problems on my right cervical spine side as well as my left.
  3. I have to sort out a mess my doctor left me with at the pharmacy. He called in my oxycodone to the wrong damned pharmacy.

So, two out of three ain't bad, as Meat Loaf would say. At least that's some progress.

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5 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

I have to sort out a mess my doctor left me with at the pharmacy. He called in my oxycodone to the wrong damned pharmacy.

Is going to the pharmacy he called it in to a major hassle?  Of course try to get it corrected before the next time, but I would go the one he called it into this time.  Of course in Oklahoma and Kansas you would not have this problem as schedule II drugs can't be "called in".  You get a paper script and you haul it to the pharmacy your self. And it's for a max of 30 days.  Was a major hassle when I was on Adderall.

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1 hour ago, mlooney said:

Is going to the pharmacy he called it in to a major hassle?  Of course try to get it corrected before the next time, but I would go the one he called it into this time.  Of course in Oklahoma and Kansas you would not have this problem as schedule II drugs can't be "called in".  You get a paper script and you haul it to the pharmacy your self. And it's for a max of 30 days.  Was a major hassle when I was on Adderall.

The problem with the "wrong pharmacy" is that oxycodone is not covered fully by my insurance. I have to use GoodRx to get a decent price, but the pharmacy he called it into wants over $60 for it on GoodRx, whereas the usual pharmacy he calls it into wants just over $25 on GoodRx. Go figure.

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56 minutes ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

The problem with the "wrong pharmacy" is that oxycodone is not covered fully by my insurance. I have to use GoodRx to get a decent price, but the pharmacy he called it into wants over $60 for it on GoodRx, whereas the usual pharmacy he calls it into wants just over $25 on GoodRx. Go figure.

That bites.

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My primary care doctor has written me about the brain MRI. Of the two possible diagnoses listed on the results, he has chosen "migrane phenomenon" as the cause of the spot on the deep white matter of my posterior right frontal lobe. I have written back to ask him if he's sure that could cause my current symptoms (sudden nausea, loss of balance at times, leaning to the left). I've also asked him if he's seen the MRI of my cervical spine that another doctor in his practice ordered, and asked if the results from that MRI could explain any of my symptoms.

I now await a reply, hopefully on Monday (1/17).

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A new challenger appears: my kidney doctor! He's been prescribing my high blood pressure medicine, despite the fact that I've never even seen the guy. Suddenly, he says no refills without at least a telephone appointment and lab tests. Meh.

So, I go get blood drawn and give urine. The lab results hit my inbox today. A few abnormal results show up. First, my glucose is a bit high at 128, but there's no A1C taken to see what my average glucose has been. My last 6 A1C results have been 5.4 or lower, so I don't know what to think. But, now I'm throwing creatinine and protein into my urine, and I'm ever-so-slightly anemic. (I don't remember my protein numbers, but my creatinine number is something like 2400 (should be 2000 or less)).

My phone appointment is Monday at 3pm Central. Fingers crossed that I don't have to start taking even more medicines.

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