Ouch!

I haven't taken the anti-inflammatory in a couple of weeks b/c my acid reflux has been so bad, and now my hip, the right one, the post-op one, is not happy with me at all. I went to the pool yesterday, but it was hurting before that. I guess I need to start taking them again, but then what am I going to do about my stomach? The pain is getting bad there and I'm thinking I probably have some damage, so I've been taking the Protonix 2x/day. Why is everything always a catch 22? Frustration!!!

At least I have received a happy surprise. My sister in law is bringing in my nephews tonight and we will hopefully get to see the balloons being blown up and then go to the parade tomorrow. Any time with them is the best!

Oh, and I heard back from two of the people I emailed yesterday so will contact them on Monday after the holiday for further information and decide who I want to see. That is definitely good news! They said they both do the dry needling! YAY!

Wiped out

It's been 44 weeks since my hip surgery. I thought I was doing pretty well but the last two weeks made me feel otherwise. I have been running around more in the last two weeks than I had done since having my hip surgery, and with all that running around, my right hip has not been a happy camper. It may also be a combination of that and the fact that I've been leaning more on my right side when sitting because of the fistulotomy. Either way, the hip is not happy. Because I was going to be running around so much this weekend and it had already been hurting me, I used lidocaine patches on Saturday and Sunday. I would not have made it through without. Last night when I was able to just relax my hip was so tight. Actually they both were and my legs were very achy as well. I even iced my left hip to try to calm that side down. There were also a lot of stairs involved over the weekend, much more than what is "normal" for me.

To add to this loveliness, my right hand/wrist is acting up again and really hurting. I had stopped using the splint but really have to start again as I am not even going to contemplate another surgery right now. My neck is so messed up that I'm having tingling down my right arm and hand. Thankfully I have the chiropractor on Wednesday, though I wish it was today. On Thursday I have a check up with Dr. A for the bum. I finally had the courage to look at it a couple of weeks ago as it was really hurting and I wanted to make sure it didn't look infected or anything. All I can say is it was pretty disgusting, and big. The doctor definitely did lie when he said how big and deep it would be. I checked it again yesterday and it seems like the upper part of the incision has started to or closed up a bit, which I'd like to think is a good sign. It's hard to tell though and I don't really like looking so it's good the doctor can check this week. I've been going to the pool about twice a week and it feels fine so that is a very good thing. It still hurts to sit, especially on hard chairs, and I can't wait for that to stop, along with having to take sitz baths every day. I will definitely not miss that!

BTW - Natalie Douglas was completely brilliant with her "Cafe Society" show! If you ever get a chance to see her you should.

I should slow down before I'm forced to...

but I have so much to do! Not that I'm complaining, I like being busy, but it's definitely taking it's toll on my body at present.

Monday I made it to the pool. It was definitely worth it. I felt much better exercising in the water. Afterwards I came home thinking I would rest, but then kept coming up with things to do around my flat. Yesterday I went to the Philharmonic in CP. It was a lot of fun as usual, but unfortunately the speaker on our side was not functioning properly so we missed out on the music. Still, a good night - other than all the schlepping I had to do though. My neck and back hate me right now. I am so glad I have a chiro appointment tomorrow at lunch. Tonight I will go to the pool and after really do just have to rest. The rest of the week will be very busy: tomorrow night seeing the amazing Natalie Douglas in concert at Birdland! I'm really looking forward to that. Friday my (big) nephew is coming in for the weekend so there will be a lot of running around with him. After that things seem to settle down a bit, I have a concert on the 23rd and then one on the 30th, but that's it. I'm looking forward to doing nothing for a little while!

My bum and right hip are not happy at the moment, I think it was still sore from Sunday and yesterday carrying things all over the city didn't help. Not wanting to go back to just using lidocaine patches regularly so going to see how I do without for now. May have to throw one on over the weekend though.

Will I ever learn?

Not to overdue it, that is. Other than the bum bothering me, my fibro has been (touch wood) pretty good lately. And that's when I make the mistake and think my body is just like a normal , healthy one. I did overdue it last week, I had plans every night of the week. I was planning on going to the pool on Friday but when I left work I just felt like I had no energy at all and went straight home. My friend came over that night, which was good, but I definitely needed to just stay on my couch. I thought that would do it, but Saturday - when I was hoping to have a nice lie-in - the drilling on the street began about half eight. There went my brilliant idea. I thought I'd go to the pool but just couldn't get off the couch, until I went back to bed. I tried to take a nap around noon but that didn't work out either. Eventually I met my friend and we went up to City Island. Before I left I (thankfully) remembered to put a lidocaine patch on my right hip, as it's been cranky lately. It was a good thing I did because it was not happy all day. Everyone always said how cool that place was, but I think it's pretty run down and nothing to do there, except eat. And where we ate it wasn't v. good. Perhaps we missed the happening places, but it's pretty small so I find that hard to believe. It was okay though as the weather was nice so we walked around a bit. Then we had the genius idea to go to the MET roof to listen to the Bon Jovi concert. We made it there by eight, and were able to stay up there till about 8.40 - so it was good to hear, and at the same time not deal w/ the masses of humanity down there. After we just had a leisurely cheese and wine dinner at Uva. I love that place!

I probably would have been okay if I had just rested yesterday, but I was off to a close friends house for her kids birthday party. Again I threw on a patch as the hip was still hurting. I'm happy to help but we did so much stuff and I was already feeling wiped out, so think I over did it in a bit way. Plus this weather today is not helping. One day I'll learn not to try to do everything. Then again, maybe not. The party was good though and it was great to see my friend and her kids - it had been a while.

I really need to get to the pool, it's been a week now, and I feel like the hip is hurting because I haven't been doing much exercise. That and the sitting on my right side all the time probably doesn't help. I went to the chiro on Friday and he said when he was done that I definitely needed to come in this week as I'm all knotted up. I've definitely turned myself into a pretzel lately trying to sit comfortably. Wish I had an appointment today, but it's not till Thursday. Right now I have a lido patch on my neck/right shoulder area to try to numb the pain. I hope it works because I am just miserable. Brought my suit but will see later if I think swimming will help or just going home and passing out will be better for me.

As for my recovery from the latest, it's healing, but this morning I woke up to find it had been bleeding again. The doctor said that might happen, so I'm not going to worry about it. Plus I was lifting small children yesterday and probably am still not allowed to be doing that just yet.

not as bad...

as last time. Thankfully! This is what they looked like on Friday night,

and then on Saturday. They got a bit gooey but thankfully nothing like the last batch. I really hope that is it! I am tired of the itching! Thankfully they are practically all gone today.

Even though I went out yesterday to watch the football match, and knew I was going to be indoors, I put bug repellant on my legs, just in case. I'm going to have to stock up on that stuff now. Hopefully I can find something that works that is not full of all the poisonous chemicals though. I will do a search today.

Getting back to hip related items...
My right hip has not been to happy lately. I think it's from a combination of leaning on my right side so much because of surgery (yes, my bum is still killing me when I sit on it), and last week I forgot to take my Mobic. Well, didn't really forget, but was afraid to take it too soon after surgery as I didn't know if it would make me bleed more. I started it again yesterday, so we will see how that goes. Dr. Aronoff's office rang this morning to cancel my post-op on Thursday. The woman first said she would give me an appointment the week after, and when I expressed my concern about waiting and really wanting to see him this week, she got all snipish. I know it's Monday morning, but come on. Finally she conceded and got me in for Wednesday. It was strange, they're usually very nice there.

I haven't really slept the last two nights so hoping I can sleep tonight! Well, at least it's a short week this week!

Pool time

I went to the pool again yesterday. I am trying to make up for the last four weeks of not going, and then the few weeks I probably won't want to go after surgery. I am going to go again tonight. Thankfully my hips have been feeling pretty good with it. The right was acting up a bit when I was doing the sideways walking towards the end of my workout, but other than that (touch wood) it all seems good.

My right hand is not happy though, even with sleeping with the splint, but granted, it's only been a couple of days since I started that again.

update

I'm loving Dr. A. He said that all looks ok and I didn't need to have anything done. He also said he was glad I called him b/c I should always do that so he can check it out. Much better attitude than most dr's. He said he'd be happy to do the colonoscopy if the other dr's wanted it but I said I wasn't really in any state and he felt it wasn't a necessity so I am putting it off for now. Only time will tell if that is the right decision, but I do feel like it is. He doesn't think that anything would show up as well to change the course of treatment.

As for my right hip, I love those lido patches! They fix me right up. Of course the left got jealous and wanted one so started to act up but I've done a fair job of ignoring it today and tonight.

Dr. A also answered my q's about anesthesia (not general - woo hoo!) and wound size (not as big as I had started to imagine) so I felt much better after our convo today.

So all in all I haven't felt this happy in a few months! I know I still have to have the surgery but Dr. A seems very competent and positive about it so I'm going with that! (touch wood)

I could get into how bad my right hand/wrist has been but why ruin a good post? :-)

consultations

After speaking to Dr. A yesterday, I tried ringing my internist Dr. Rosen. She was out so I sent her an email. I love technology. She rang me back this morning. It's good to have a doctor you know for so long and knows all your intricacies. She doesn't feel I should necessarily have the colonoscopy before since there is an infection to begin with, so that was good news and I'm happy to go with that theory. I really wasn't in the mood to have to go through that right now as well.
I also had asked her about my previous colonoscopy. I couldn't remember when it was, but it was way back in 1994! Another good thing about keeping the same doctor, they have all your records! It showed a little inflammation (colitis) but was non-specific and not something anyone was concerned with. I had been going through a lot then and having tons of tests so she wasn't thinking it meant much, even in hindsight. That' a relief. I am totally stressing about going to Dr. A's later though.

On a hip note, I've done a lot of walking the last four days and today my right hip is telling me to stop it. But still, it's a lot more then I've done in a long time, so I'm looking at it as progress. :-)

PS- I've just decided I'm throwing on a lido patch on the right hip - I can't deal with anymore pain!!!

Recap & 36 Week Post-op

So the test run in Tampa went fairly well. My right hip was pretty amazing, especially since I have not been in the pool for two weeks! Unfortunately my left hip has really been hurting the last couple of days. I do not even want to consider what we may need to do at this point. I mentally can not handle the idea of another surgery, at least not presently.

So, we did a lot of walking around mixed with driving every day. I think the most walking I did though was on Thursday. I am definitely happy that the right hip did so well. I was also shooting with my Hasselblad so was bending over and kneeling more than I have in a long time. I was a bit sore but nothing too bad. It helped that I iced it after the long walk on Thursday.

My wrists were a different story. My left was hurting from using the H and my right, well, it just doesn't like me anymore and constantly likes to hurt me. Another surgery I'm not ready to contemplate, so we will pretend it's all fine. Jeepers, I feel like Humpty Dumpty!

There was a message on my VM at work from Friday from someone at the Clinical Appeals Department at Oxford. I rang her back but she wasn't there. Can't wait to hear what she says. I guess they received my letter from last week!

It's good to be home though. Florida is nice, but for a visit. I could never live there. I am definitely a city girl!

PS-I've added some photos from the trip on my Flickr site :-)

Achy

It ended up raining last night. We kept changing our mind to go on the ghost walk, and eventually decided to do so. That was a mistake. Even though we booked and gave them our info, when we arrived at the hotel for the start, no one was there. We rang them and they said they thought we meant for tomorrow night - buggers! Anyway, it really started to rain then so it probably worked out for the best.

My left wrist was killing me last night - it hurt so much that I wrapped it up in a lidocaine patch. I think it was from holding my Hasselblad. I will try to be more careful today. The sun has come out for the time being and I'm just waiting for my friend to get back so we can go to Ybor City. It's meant to rain later in the afternoon - not looking forward to that. I also put a lido patch on my right hip last night before we left. Today we have a twist though because the left one is unhappy. Oh well, if it still hurts when we're leaving I'll toss on a patch there! Shame I didn't bring more!

Other than all the achy bits, I'm having a great time.

Break time!

At least I'm hoping it is. I so need to be able to just relax and not have any nutty things go on for a bit. My hip is not agreeing with this thought though and has decided to become quite achy the last few days, even with my taking the Mobic. Hopefully it cheers up soon and the weather (touch wood) will be brill on my trip. My wrist is in cahoots with my hip, so I did bring my splint to wear at night again and I am hoping that will teach it to behave! I won't mention my right shoulder, it's decided for an encore! But I have brought my arsenal of drugs. I've left them in their prescription containers just in case security things I'm a drug dealer!
Leaving the office in about an hour and cannot wait.
Yay!

PS - I sent in my letters of appeal to the state and Oxford, registered mail. Please pray they work and I get more PT!!!!!!!

I don't like Mondays...

but then again, who does? I had a pretty bad night - couldn't fall asleep for hours. I guess even a one hour nap messed it up for me. But I needed that nap!
Here's the update:
Friday I went to the dr's office at NY Pres, and I arrived a bit early. I was told that they had NO record of my appointment, but they could fit me in. That turned into two hours later so that I didn't even have a chance of coming back to work. Stressful. The good news was that the incision is healing and no more abscess it seems. Bad news is I can't go swimming until it is completely closed, which takes normal people about two weeks, so we can safely add on at least one more week to that for me. I'm upset about this because I'm going to Florida this week for a holiday, but most importantly, I can't do my PT!!! And my right hip is so not happy about that. Besides the fact I've been leaning way too much on the right with all this going on, I can't even do any at home PT because of pain/discomfort. Yesterday I iced my right hip for over an hour till it was quiet. I can't wait for the wound to heal so I can get back to work.
I have to ring the NYS people about this external appeal because their paperwork is so confusing. Hopefully I will be able to get it out before I leave on Wednesday so I don't have to think about it.
I haven't worn my splint in over a week, and I'm sure I'll pay for that. The hand is already not too happy but seriously, I need a break from some of this stuff. It's mentally exhausting me.
I will just be focusing on my trip for the next couple of days and, G-d willing, it will all go smoothly! Otherwise I might be writing these updates from an asylum :-)
Happy Monday!

Post - weekend update

Today I feel horrid. The weather is horrid. Today is the first day in a while that I am slightly gimpy with the right hip. I shouldn't really be complaining though. I didn't sleep last night, and I also realised that I had forgotten to take the Mobic on Saturday and Sunday. Oops. Friday night I was out, and didn't get to sleep till late, and same as Saturday. Why is it no matter how exhausted I am I just can't sleep? Drives me nuts.

I walked quite a bit on Saturday, trying to see how I would do. I thought I did pretty well for the amount of walking I did. I pushed myself at the pool yesterday. Have been trying to walk faster and also added arm exercises. My back and shoulders are so sore today. I don't mind being a bit sore, just wish my whole body didn't ache so much today. Sadly I don't think there is one part of me that doesn't hurt. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

I had totally forgotten I had an appointment with the rheumatologist today. Thankfully I looked in my calendar and saw it. I hope she doesn't get mad that I am still only taking one Mobic per day. I just don't see the reason to take two as one is destroying my stomach, and I've been taking two acid-reflux pills a day to try to help. I also hope she doesn't examine me physically, because if someone touched me right now I might have to kill them. Ok, maybe not kill - permanently maim perhaps?

I am going to the NYPL tonight for another function. A friend invited me to some readings that are to be done by Ethan Hawke and others. I'm not a huge EH fan, but he was decent in "The Coast of Utopia" last year. Should be good though I hope I'm feeling better before that. Perhaps I can get a nap squeezed in somehow.

My right hand/wrist is a mess - even with wearing this bloody splint every night. I am dreading the thought of surgery - I know I've probably said this before - but will put it off as long as possible. I'm so over the medical profession.

I sent an email to the PT people today to see if they a) did ever get the letter off, b) if the insurance co actually received it this time and c) if there was anything else they suggest doing in the pool. Hopefully I will hear back with some (touch wood) good news.

???

My left hip is KILLING me today. I realised at the end of yesterday that I'd forgotten to take the Mobic. But can it REALLY lose the effect in a days time? Either that or I slept in a really bizarre position - which has been known to happen.
I'm baffled.

Thankfully the right isn't too bad, just a bit achy, but think it was from wearing high heels yesterday? Perhaps that's why the left is not happy either? Well, going to the heated PT pool tonight and we'll see how that goes.

It's also my day for the chiro/massage dr - sooooo happy about that!

Four weeks till my holiday!!! I can't wait! (I'm not counting down or anything ;-) )

Overdid it a bit.

I need a week to recover from this past weekend. I guess it wouldn't have been so bad if I had actually slept for the last week, but that didn't seem to be in the program. Regardless, I love doing Seder so it was all worth it. Also, it was my own fault going out on Friday night and indulging in all sorts of craziness, but that also was worth it :-)

So, Saturday night/v. early Sunday am I went to bed exhausted, but still couldn't fall asleep for ages. Then I woke up at 8.45am yesterday! I had a busy and tiring day digging through lots of boxes in my parents basement looking for binders of negatives I had. Sure enough there was one box I left out because the writing on it implied it had nothing to do with me. I decided to go back down there and dig through there - and sure enough all of my negs were there! Never fails, everything is always in the last place you look! Quite a workout though and my right shoulder is especially not happy. But again, worth it!

Yesterday I threw on a lidocaine patch on the right hip because all the standing and cooking over the weekend and cleaning all last week made it a v. unhappy camper. It definitely helped get me through the rest of the night though. Seder at my parents was fun too and didn't get home till about half eleven. I think I was overtired as I again had trouble sleeping. Will sort that out tonight with a lovely pill and praying it works so I can sleep through the night. Still taking only one 7.5mg of Mobic a day, but have had to up the dosage on my acid reflux meds as the Mobic is playing havoc with my stomach.

So, even though I pushed my body to the limits this weekend, and I'm pretty damned achy and in pain, I'm not nearly as bad w/ the hip as I'd have thought. Extremely happy about that. Perhaps not having PT to go to is helping more than doing it? I've still been doing the pool, and will have to pick up again this week what I skipped last week for sheer lack of time and energy. But tomorrow. Today is a rest day, well, other than having to be at work :-)

Pool=

Ouch!
After I left the gym and was walking home my right hip went nuts! Thought I was going to have to roll down the hill into a taxi. Thankfully it seemed to wear off but iced when I got home b/c it is definitely sore. And my right knee is acting all swollen.
It's fun being me!

addendum

Went to the pool. Right hip was KILLING me whilst I was doing the walking laps. Then it stopped before I got out. Strange. I iced for a while when I got home, so hoping that put off any idea it had of flaring up again. :-)

Etc.

I was doing pretty well, even with a bit of a walk back and forth to the apple store at lunch. On my way back I started to get a bit sore, but then it went away.

It was after work when I went out to a do at the Museum of Jewish Heritage that did me in. All that standing was not good. I came home and iced and it feels a bit better now. I am hoping it will still be okay tomorrow, as I'm planning on going to the pool again.

But today was a good day, so I'll take it!

Pool time

I made it to the pool yesterday to my own surprise. It was so cold out that I was very tempted to just go home. I went to the "aqua therapy" pool on 34th that my gym has. It's small, but the brilliant thing is it's 90', perfect for my fibro and yesterday after work it was EMPTY! Completely empty! A beautiful thing. I was in for about 25 minutes and had the whole place to myself. And the lifeguard said that it is usually quiet on Thursdays, so I will definitely be making that a habit.

I felt pretty good for the most part, except when I turned my right hip popped, but I think that was more the IT band than anything else. I was extremely sore for a while last night right in the joint on my right hip but then it thankfully went away. Left is still so-so and I'm still a little limpy.

continuation

So throwing on at least one lidocaine patch for tonight's party! Right hip is not v. happy with me, but I won't let it spoil the fun!