Surgery on the Horizon?

Thursday, I had an appointment to see Dr P. Mostly, I needed to change my pain medication, but I also wanted him to check out my ears and nose, since I feel like I have a sinus infection.

I've been on Vicodin off and on for ten years. Between the migraines and the pain my body gives me, it's what my first "grown-up" doctor felt would help me best at the time. Since then, whenever I've met a new doctor, they've simply restarted it. In recent years, I usually have had to go through a brief counseling session to try an prove I'm not a drug addict first, but since I am, in fact, not a drug addict, that's easy enough.

Recently (two months ago, I suppose it was), my insurance decided in all their wisdom that I simply don't need pain pills enough for them to pay for them any longer. After I calmed down, we went ahead and filled it out of our own pockets - $25 that we simply don't have once to twice a month. Thankfully, I had an appointment with Dr P within a few days of that. I explained to him what had happened, and he gave me a small list of medications that would give me similar, if not better pain relief and asked me to call the pharmacy to find out which would be least expensive.

I had to wait until my next appointment with him before we could officially make the switch, but as of Thursday, I'm on Ultram (or Tramadol, that's the generic) twice a day. For four dollars a month. Super sweet. It hasn't made a ton of difference yet, but I realized today, that I'm probably having withdrawal symptoms  from the Vicodin at the moment, so the achy muscles I have may be the biggest part of that.

Dr P had a medical student with him, a lady who's name will oddly enough also be Dr P when she graduates. She looked into my ears, and said they look fine, but that I have a lot of wax built up, like I didn't know that. She also said I have tiny ear canals, which I actually didn't know.

My Dr P came over to look into my nose, and when he was throwing the little disposable cone away, he asked "What's the story with you and allergies and sinus infections?" I replied, "Yes, I have all those things." LOL. Dr P has a fabulous sense of humor, thankfully.

I told him that a scratch test several years ago shows I'm allergic to pretty much everything that grows, plus swimmy fish (I can eat shellfish), and I get at least one major sinus infection a year. About ten years ago, the sinus infections and migraines got so bad that my doc at the time had a CAT scan done. They sent me to an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist to have the scan explained to me. What he showed me was polyps on my right sinus. He told me that at the time, it could be treated with a nasal spray and if it started to effect my life, we could discuss surgery.

At this point, Dr P chuckled. He explained that now, the polyps have grown in both nostrils to the point that he's not sure how I continue breathing. He compared it to some cases of tonsillitis he's seen where the patient can hardly swallow, the tonsils are so big. He wants me to go ahead and do the sleep study as I am now, so we get an accurate record of what's going on, and so that we can prove to the insurance company that the surgery is medically necessary, if and when we decide to do it. It may help, but he said that people who have this surgery are the most miserable people on the face of the planet for about ten days, and according to my research, it's very likely that the polyps will grow back. We'll have to see how things go with the hearings and all.

The meeting with the lawyer is Tuesday. I'm so nervous. I'm afraid she's going to look at me, decide I'm just fat and lazy (like so many people assume) and kick me out of her office. One crisis at a time. I just have to get through the meeting at this point. One crisis at a time.

The name's Migraine, Epic Migraine.

This stupid headache just won't go away. This is day three, and I have no idea how to fix it. More caffeine, no caffeine, sleep all day, stay up late, too many Vicodin, no pain killers at all, nothing's working.

Aside from that, things are progressing. Dr. P has essentially confirmed Fibromyalgia, which is a blessing. He prescribed Baclofen, a medication he has said is normally given to Multiple Sclerosis patients to control muscle spasms. I can't wait. It's a scary thing to get a sudden, unstoppable eye spasm while driving. I also get violent ones that make me kick my girlfriend in the middle of the night, or shriek out in pain in an otherwise quiet room.

I asked Dr. P about possibly getting an anti-depressant on board. Since I was once diagnosed as Bipolar (another doctor later said that was stupid, I couldn't possibly have Bipolar), he referred me to the clinic's psych doc, Dr. G. Dr. G is a lovely, friendly woman who just moved here from across the country. She feels that what I have is Bipolar type II. She prescribed Topamax, which is also said to help migraines. Again, I'm excited to try it. Dr. G also encouraged me to file for disability and see where that gets us now that we have a combination of diagnoses.

There's a ton more to talk about, I'm sure, but our monthly food money will be here at 8:00AM, and since it's currently 1:30AM, I need to at least attempt to lay down.

It's not unusual...

Not surprisingly, I'm in pain. Had a job interview this morning, and ran errands with my brother. I've had a migraine all afternoon - probably a mix of tension, allergies, stress and my sinuses. The regular pain meds haven't touched it.

Additionally, my joints have been much worse this last week or so, particularly my knees. Mama-san has Osteoarthritis, and says that the way they find it it via X-rays instead of by blood tests, so that's something I need to bring up with Doctor P when we see him again. I also want to ask him if he thinks water aerobics would be a good thing for me to do.

Right around the time of my last entry, I tripped over our exercise bike and pulled my hamstring again.Was down for a few days, and now my knees are stiff and swollen. I also bruised the nail bed of my pinky toe. Ugh.

Headache's too bad  to write. More later.