Go Away Pain....!

I have ear ache, have had for 3 days now. It is not totally unbearable but I know it is there.
I wandered all around the Fieldays yesterday with it (more on our visit to this later in another post)

Finally yesterday I could take no more and took myself off to the emergency doctor.
For the grand total of $73 they took my pulse, blood pressure and temp (all normal) asked me a few questions, felt the glands in my neck, looked in both ears and proclaimed that they could see nothing, no build up or pressure or even infection.

They laughed when they saw I was allergic to Codeine and Ibuprofen and said oh well Paracetamol or Tramadol is all you can take.
Oh and to feel free to come back to them if I feel it has got worse or I develop a temperature.

I knew it was a waste of time going, I felt fine apart from the pain, but unfortunately looking inside someone's ear is not something that anyone else can do except a doctor. And seeing as how I was really sick over Easter with an inner ear problem I was not tempting fate by leaving an infection to brew to cause more hassle than I currently needed.

Oh and on a even sadder note.......I resigned from my job today and do not have anything to go on to.

Isn't life exciting when you want it to be!

Downfall of New Clothes

By having a new job it means I need new clothes, well not exactly new clothes, I just need to think more about what I wear to work each day.
Previously I just rocked on up in jeans and a shirt because as soon as I got there I got changed into scrubs.

I have quite a decent wardrobe of clothes at home but it has taken me a few months to get use to having to think each morning about exactly what I am going to wear.
My shoes have all been fine and as summer is now upon us I have been able to utilise all my pretty sandels.
All my pretty dresses are also getting a nice airing out in the world.

However that is where the problem lies, I am wearing stuff that I am not use to wearing. I am not use to wearing skirts and dresses all day. I am not use to wearing shoes with any type of heel on them all day.
And the heels have been my down fall. I don't wear high heels, just little ones, enough to give me a little lift and look really nice.

Yesterday I wore a pretty dress with a nice pair of sandels that had a heel, I got compliments all day about how great I looked.

Today I am wearing trainers on my right foot and a moonboot on my left foot and downing painkillers and anti-inflamatories and getting compliments / questions about "what did you do?"

"Yes what did I do?"
I wore heels all day, walked a lot and managed to roll my ankle a little at some stage during the day. It didn't hurt at the time, but by last night it was a little tender. I decided that rest was all I needed and so did none of the Rest. Ice. Compress. Elevate treatment as I didn't feel I had done anything.
This morning it was uncomfortable so brought a tubigrip bandage on my way to work and wore that. However by mid morning I decided that it was too painful to totally ignore and got an appointment at the Physiotherapists.
I have strained a ligament in my ankle and they are painful. She wants me to get my foot in a neutral position, so leg and foot in a 90 degree angle, however mine won't go there, so she has placed me in a moonboot for 4 days to keep it in a good position and allow it to rest!

Rest with your foot in a fixed position? Hum yea how? It is more uncomfortable in this than it was previously, however this moonboot is of course keeping it in the right position while it fixes, heals and recovers. Previously I was letting it rest, painfree in the wrong position, thereby doing more damage.
So now I am hobbling round ever so elegantly with this black monstrosity on my foot.

My pretty dresses will look lovely on Monday at work with one foot strapped up!
Maybe I need to fight to wear jeans to work everyday?

Hand and Neck Update

Steve is now 7 days post hand surgery and all is going really well.

He has been to the Physio, who took all his bandages off and gave him a splint.

The fingers are looking really straight, although they are being held that way by dressings at present. He has a cotton wool bolster over the finger in the picture below, so you can't see the whole wound.

 

He still has to wear a splint at present but she made this one out of plastic rather than plaster of paris. It means it is much more usable.

It was quite amazing to watch her make the splint. She first turned on the electric fry pan with water in it.

 

The she got out a sheet of what ever colour plastic she wanted (she went with red for Christmas) cut it to size and moulded it to fit around his wrist. If she didn't like how it moulded then she simply put it back in hot water or blew the hairdryer over the edge to soften it again and then remoulded.

Her words to us were 'do not leave in the sunshine!' and 'if it feels funny anywhere, then just heat it and reshape it!'

Amazing stuff.

He has since been back one more time and the splint is now been cut to wrist level. This makes life so much easier for Steve as he can now actually move his hand at the wrist. He has even had the bolster removed off the wound.

The next step is to allow the graft a couple more days to heal and then to start bending exercises. He will have to open and close his whole hand and see how fast the graft goes back to pink, this checks the blood flow to all areas. If all is good then he has to start bending the finger every hour doing a small range of motions she has shown him to get use back into the finger that has been bent over for the last 10-15 years.

So everything is on track there.

Me and my neck? Things are progressing slowly, I feel like some days it is 3 steps forward and then 1 big one back!

I am getting a lot of pain at night when sleeping. I can not sleep on my side as this puts strain on my neck. Problem is that I am a side sleeper or tummy sleeper and these are the 2 most uncomfortable positions at present!

I am now sleeping a lot on my back but this is still painful sometimes. So sleeping is fun at present!!! Not.

I can drive but any sudden jerking is not good. So when I come to an intersection and have to keep looking from left to right and back again trying to assess the traffic to pull out, then this is pulling on my neck and hurts. Other little movements whilst driving are also painful. So even though I can drive I'm trying not to very much if I can help it. Although this is slightly difficult given that Steve is not driving at present due to wanting to not do anything that will knock the graft or put any strain on it whilst we are getting it to take! But seeing as he is now in a splint just to his wrist and everyone is very happy with him I don't think it will be too long before he is given the all clear to drive again.

I also found out the other day whilst at the caravan that swimming is very uncomfortable! Just the whole motion of swimming and keeping your head up in front of you puts my neck in a very wrong position that hurts. Even on my back you are trying to keep your head above water and therefore the muscles are pulling etc. So, even though I remember from last Christmas the fact we didn't go swimming at the pool very much as it was very hot and the pool is a hot pool, the boys will want to do some swimming, so I guess I will be sitting in the pool a lot whilst they swim around. Of course Steve is not swimming at all, but he could always get in and sit at the edge, at least that would be cooling if it gets too hot! But we also have the beach to go to so we can all wade in the waves and do wave jumping etc. There are ways around our little problems this Christmas!

So between us we make a right pair this Christmas time, but we will still have a relaxing time and just do what we can with a limitations! Will be fun.

Neck Update

My neck is starting to feel better.

I no longer have pins and needles down my arm and I can now use the arm again which is nice.

My neck and shoulders are still sore and I am still on pain killers although not as many. Driving really agrevates it so am not doing much of that at the moment. I can drive if I need to but am choosing not to if I can help it.

I am still getting pain in my neck but it is now on the right handside not the left?? Not sure on that one!

This evening I managed to get my MRI Scan. I went back to the doctors on Monday with a very stiff neck and she called the Specialist to see about organising the scan sooner rather than later.

They called yesterday to arrange a time for end of next week but I stressed that I was readily available for a cancelation appointment if one became available as I lived only a couple of minutes away.

They called today before lunch and asked if I could come in at 6.30pm. Of course I said yes. Anything better than waiting till Friday next week!

Unfortunately when I arrived they explained that they were running rather later, so I got to sit in very uncomfortable chairs for nearly an hour waiting for my scan. It is difficult to sit comfortably in a chair with a sore neck and read a magazine at the same time as listening to Shania Twain blare over the sound system!

But then spending 20 minutes in an MRI Scan was worse as it is very very noisy. Didn't mind the closed in tunnel feeling as I was so tired I just closed my eyes and half went to sleep but the constant banging and vibrating etc from the scan was running straight through my head!

So the scan is now done, the results will be seen by the Specialist next week and we will wait to see what they come back with, I may find they discover nothing and I won't even see the Specialist! I hope so but I also hope not as I would really like to know what is going on and why I keep having so much pain?

Pain

I am currently of work.

Have been now for just coming on 2 weeks.

I managed to slip over at a friends house 2 weeks ago and jerk my neck and shoulder. Also landed on my left knee, but as nothing hurt didn't think too much about it!

However during the weekend of the fall my left arm started to ache and my left thumb became really painful to use.

Now I have had syptoms like this before when Ben was first born. It made lifting a new born baby very difficult and I had splints to wear for the first 3 months of Ben's life whenever my hands got sore, not much fun with your first new born child!

Anyway, part of the problem we worked out back then was due to my neck. It was very tight and so I got treated by a Chiropractor. This solved the problem and soon I was problem free.

Since then I have taken any sign of pain in my hand as a sign my neck is getting tight and off I trot to the Chiropractor.

So this is what I did beginning of last week. He happily saw me and made a few adjustments, however the pain in my hands was now spreading down my arm and I was also experiencing pins and needles in the arm along with a constant ache, almost like I had growing pains in my arm all day long! (remember those from when you were a child? I do)

Anyway, on Monday of this week he decided that in fact there was nothing he could do for me without a scan, because he felt that it was either a nerve or disc problem, so referred me back to my own GP.

So off I trotted.

She did a whole range of assessments and immediately signed me off work for a further 2 weeks, referred me to an Orthopaedic Surgeon, put me on some lovely strong pain killers and said "yes I think you might have a disc problem!"

So here I sit, coming to the end of 2 weeks at home. I am bored and even slightly depressed some days as the uncomfortable feeling in my shoulder and down my arm is continuous and enough to drive anyone to drink!

I have made myself a list of little things to get achieved around the house but I am not getting too far with that list! I have good moments when I think I am being stupid for sitting around the house and then I have a bad moment and I realise why I am sitting around the house!

How long will this go on for? I have no idea, they do say it can take up to 3 months for this to right itself and get better. I am hoping to have seen the specialist by then and maybe had a scan to assertain the actual problem, but with Christmas happening slap bang in the middle of all of this then I will not hold my breath, because as this is also our summer holiday time then everything is well known for shutting up shop for a good 2 weeks over this period of the year!

Of course the schools all finish for the big 6 week holiday in the next week or so and everyone loves to go away on their big family holidays over the Christmas period, specialists included!

So here I sit, spending a lot of time on the computer because I am able to sit and play games with one hand and rest at the same time.

I have managed to finish the 3rd book in the Twilight series again and will start #4 sometime soon, although have started a different book for now to give me a break from the intensity of Twilight.

I can drive, but I ache afterwards so am trying not to do this unless I really need something.

So will keep you all posted on what happens next?

Back Update

It is now half way through July and my back is still sore!
Ok not as bad as it has been, but it is so easy to tweak it and have pain.
sitting, standing and walking for any length of time is annoying, so I am constantly on the move, because I can't stay doing the same thing for too long before I have aches and pains through my lower back.
I am still at physio, although if I have had a rough evening the day before then the day of the physio is really bad after I have been there.
I am usually in so much pain all I want to do is cry!

I can't believe I have spent all of July with this niggle of pain.
I have just under 10 weeks till I get married and all I am worried about is whether I will still be uncomfortable then.
I have made an appointment to see an Orthopaedic Surgeon as recommended, but the earliest appointment is in September, 4 days before the wedding, although I have said I will be available for a cancellation appointment if one comes up, although as I have said before, not sure what he will be able to advice me on, as it is not bone structure that is damaged, just muscular.
Oh well can't help to get it checked out, especially as I have been uncomfortable for so long this time round.
The doctor has even put me on light duties at work because workign in the theatre was agrevating my back, so no theatre scrubbing for me at the moment!

Oh to have a day of no pain.......

Back!

About 12 years ago I managed to hurt my lower lumbar spine area, over my sacral iliac joint(SIJ) on the left side.

Nobody, including me, has any idea as to what I did, but it was painful and took an nice long 3 weeks to come right.

When I moved here 10 years ago, I was still having trouble with it.

So off I went to see an Osteopath, she did 1 session of something and said all was fine, well all was not fine and a couple of months later I was still suffering, so this time I went to a Chiropractor, this worked.

So on and off over a 3 year period I went to see a Chiropractor who kept me pain free, even managed to relieve the tightness in my neck which affected my hands just after Ben was born. About 18 months to 2 years ago I managed to tweak my SIJ again and this time I saw a Physiotherapist, few sessions later and all was right in the world.

Unfortunately coming home on Saturday from Auckland I managed to tweak my SIJ again whilst twisting in the front seat to deal with the boys.

Yesterday I think I reached the pinnacle of the pain I could take. The strong pain killers are going in, along with the anti inflammatory tablets and slow moving around. I have a physio appointment tomorrow (earliest I could get when I booked on Tuesday!) and I am not at work today. Sitting is uncomfortable without medication and standing takes its toll after a while.

So all in all not a happy time for me.

Have been given the name of an Orthopaedic guy I could get referred to if I wanted to, but not sure what they would do, SIJ areas are very difficult to do anything with and seeing as this is not an ongoing problem and doesn't prevent me from living a full life, well apart from when it gets tweaked once every 2 years or so, I am not sure if seeing him will be benificial. Will think more about it, have medical insurance so not worried if I do need to see him.

As you can see from this picture, the SIJ is located at the base of the spine in the pelvis region. According to some websites I have seen, the SIJ doesn't actually do much, although it has a lot to do during pregnancy and childbirth, although would you believe I never had one iota of pain during my 2 pregnancies with my SIJ, and this was something I was well prepared for.

They actually call in Sacral Iliac Joint Dysfunction on the website and in fact it was quite useful reading stuff on exactly what I have and to see what they recommend.

I like this picture of the pelvis because that is exactly the picture I have in my head of what the pain looks like. A red burning area at the base of the spine in my pelvis.

And that lady in the picture is stood in exactly the same pose as I seem to have during these episodes.

Man this website I found is so good, says everything I already know and feel. Like...

Problems with the SI joint may make sitting difficult. Pain in one SI joint may cause a person to sit with that buttock tilted up. It is usually uncomfortable to sit flat in a chair.

Ok so here endith the science lesson for today, hope you all have a better understanding of my lower back pain and have lots of sympathy for me.

Catch you all when I can sit down again!

Poor Alex

Alex came home from Daycare yesterday with a very sore bottom.
Turns out he had had a few dirty nappies and they has made him very sore indeed.
He had a few more during the evening and we plastered him with cream each time, this was of great help as it soothed the redness. We also made sure he kept his fluids up as he wasn't eating much.
At 10.30pm last night he came into our room sobbing his little heart out, uncontrollable and beside himself.
He wouldn't stay still and wouldn't let me hold him, he just wanted to scream and curl up on the floor, the reason.....his bottom.
So we quickly changed his nappy, but this was very difficult to do as he was screaming in pain due to the redness.
Now I know it had to be done, but it is heart breaking when you have to hurt you child for their own good. He screamed the whole time we cleaned him up, he wriggled all across the bed just to get away from the pain.
He was sobbing when we went to give him pamol, although he realised it would help him and he took a breath long enough to take the medicine.
Finally he fell asleep in my arms and slept the rest of the night between us in our bed.

Today his bottom is much better, still very red but not as sore. He is still having dirty nappies but at least we can change them without him hitting the roof.