Malady, My Lady in Waiting in General Mental Anesthesia

Why can’t a Dr. visit ever just be a Dr. visit without me always having to go to the hospital???

Gastroenterologist appt didn’t go so well… and things are about to get a lot worse. I don’t see the point of living when Dr’s don’t listen to their patients and repeat past mistakes having not learned from them thus causing said patient to suffer and their condition(s) worsen.

I’ve only been dealing with this disease since August, 1992, but don’t listen to me or pay attention to my medical history. G-D forbid you make the tough (but correct) decision instead of what makes you comfortable regardless of what happens to your patient!!!

So what happened you ask? They are weaning me off the prednisone! Which we specifically discussed keeping me on until I have something to replace it with. In nearly 26 years of struggling with this disease, 100% of the time, weaning me off Prednisone ends with me hospitalized and starting over from scratch where they will just have to put me right back on it and at a higher dose. What fucking idiocy!!!

The real shame is that I like my Dr’s, I don’t want to have to switch to someone new for a 3rd time in a year. I know Prednisone is bad, no one knows that better than me. I suffer with a terrible amount of serious side-effects and no one wants me to be off of it more than I do, but right now it’s the lesser of two evils. Taking me off of it actually means I’ll be on it longer. (Sigh…). :(

And… I pleaded with them. The last 5 or 6 days, I’ve finally started to improve (colitis-wise). I went from from going to the bathroom 15 - 20x/day to 6 - 8x/day. The bleeding slowed up… and the pain decreased slightly. Weaning me off now just means that all the hard work, all the suffering was for not because I’m just going to get worse!

Sadly the needle hasn’t moved in 6 weeks, but I’m still trying and thank you all for doing the same!

My story - Trying to get Financial Assistance Toward Better Health

So, on top of all that bullshit… Would someone please explain to me what a good day is like?

I don’t mention half the things that are going on with me on PB, but I’ll share this with you guys.

My family and friends know that I have some serious back injuries. I suffer through it as much as I can. This past week (despite my incredibly high threshold for pain) has just been intolerable. Something new is going on and I feel like I have 2000lbs on my back crushing my lungs (particularly my right one).

I’m having difficulty breathing and can only take shallow breaths. I’m having chest pains and no pain meds to deal with any of it. Icing it only makes it worse if you can believe it and heat barely takes the edge off. If I’m lying down, any attempt at moving or getting back up results in screaming and crying in pain! It’s nearly impossible and entirely unbearable!

So I went to my chiropractor morning and they did an SEMG test. (Surface Electromyography) SEMG is a device which measures the amount of electrical activity your muscles release when they are contracting, more commonly known as muscle tension. It is similar to an EKG, which measures heart muscle activity.

Muscles have a tendency to “brace” or “lock up” in response to spinal misalignments known as vertebral subluxations. Now, I have multiple herniated discs and other damage plus the recent fall that I took in the hospital. These subluxations create nerve interference which effect muscles, blood vessels and internal organs. The more misaligned and away from normal, the more extreme the pain is.

In the photo, the guy on the left is what we should all be, perfect alignment, no pain. The one on the right… That’s me right now. Yes… I am in A LOT of pain right now.

My back is in such a severe state that my chiro said there was nothing he could do. He wouldn’t even touch my back and just wants me to see an orthopedic surgeon, but first recommended that I get an MRI. What sucks is (and I don’t know the reason why) but he can only refer me to an out patient MRI center (which would cost me $1000’s out of pocket).

Whatever is going on, it is not subsiding.

So I headed over to see a new primary care Dr. that I spoke with over the phone. They want to do some tests, x-rays (which I think is a waste because I can move and walk around albeit in tremendous pain) so I knew I didn’t have a broken back. Ultimately the visit cost $280! But, I do like the Dr. and he is the first Dr. since I’ve been in North Carolina willing to write me a prescription for Toradol. He also re-upped my prescription for Flexeril. I was also given injections of Phenergan and Nubain. That helped for about an hour.

I must sound like a broken record by now. My apologies; I guess in times like these, it just helps to know people are listening when you feel alone and away from those you want to be close to.

May you all be in great health and good spirits! My wish to all of you, mi amigo’s.