Worse Than The Time Before

   My gosh it's been a tough year so far. New pain, more pain, each time it's worse than before. I told J last night that I think that once the pain settles down it can't be that bad again. But then it comes...maybe in a different place that throws me off and it hurts more. But different. On Friday I got up and it was the calm before the storm. My 'to do' list was growing, this happens when you don't feel good for days upon days. I started out feeling alright that day and made it over to the Pain Institute nearby. It was crazy in that place. I was able to speak with the office manager and check into the *Sphenopalatine ganglion block .

*The Sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG) also called the nasal ganglion is the largest group of nerves outside the area of the brain cavity. The SPG is located behind the nose and sinus area and near the throat, and covered by a thin layer of connective tissue and mucous membrane.

They do this procedure but do not participate with any insurance company. Great! Well I have an appointment with my regular pain doctor and he said he does it, so I'll talk to him. I guess this is something they can do for you when you have Trigeminal Neuropathy. They do 2 tests blocks within a couple of weeks. Then if that takes away the pain you can have the permanent block done with, I think the Neurosurgeon. There are some other similar things but no REAL FIX.

Friday night the pain got bad, I mean really bad. I was in tears and J felt helpless. I took and tried everything I could think of but nothing worked. This went on until Saturday morning. The pain wears you out and therefore I didn't get out of bed all weekend. My panic attacks and anxiety have started to come back again.

Back From Denver

We got back from Denver this morning. It was a tough trip.We arrived Wednesday night and my 1st appointment was Thursday afternoon. We saw Dr. P, he is a Neurosurgeon. He was very nice with his bedside matter. Super smart and brought up some things that we haven't heard before. He disagrees about the TN diagnosis, he believes I have Trigeminal Neuropathy. I've googled it and there isn't much out there. I had a hard time finding someone with any experience with TN and now Trigeminal Neuropathy is ever more rare that that. He said that the surgeries for Regular TN would do nothing for me. There is some different procedures still out there, But I don't know much about them since I stopped listening after he said "I don't know". He also said that he would discourage me from letting anyone cut on me.

I am so glad to be back home. I didn't feel the greatest at all times. I was great to see everyone but it was go, go ,go! I got the to see my mom 5 days. But my own bed is going to feel so good. I have a lot of research to do, but Dr. P. also said that they last thing I need is another Neurologist, I need a pain institute. I just needed some time to soak it all in.

I'm Shrinking

Yesterday was bad, and it seemed as if I was still getting worse.

Coughing - Congestion - Fever - Facial Pain - Stomach Issues - Aching Teeth - Loss of Appetite

I was taking the anti-biotics and still sick? I couldn't even get up to go get M from school. I called the doctor and they called in a different anti-biotic, Levofloxacin. It said that the give it for Anthrax. I know I don't have that..because I looked it up online and there has never been an gastrointestinal case in the U.S.. My doctor also suggested Probiotic. I've seen the commercials but didn't know when you would really take it. I guess now is a good time.

The one, and I mean the only one good thing about this is I've lost more weight. This wasn't the way I planned to lose it though. Not at all!

How Did I Creap Up There Again?

Just so it's said, "I'm sick of being sick". After seeing my doctor on Saturday for this NEW sinus infection, I've been given more meds. He wouldn't even come near me but said that I needed to be on antibiotics for a full 2 weeks this time. He gave my Augmenten, and I hate how it makes me feel sick in a different way.

On Monday I had my appointment with the Endodontist. The plan was to drill through my crown on my front tooth and re-treat the old Root Canal I had done in 1997. The injections weren't as bad as I thought they were going to be. He started drilling and drilling. I could tell that things weren't going as they should have. With this rubber dam in my mouth I murmured "Did you find something?". He stopped and explained that there was something in there, but whatever it was wouldn't x-ray, like a composite material. His little guy helper took another x-ray and they came back and said that whatever it was, they left the end filled with something else, and there was the start of an infection. How was this never found with all of the x-rays I've had done? I will need to come back next Monday for him to do and Apicoectomy. He was very apologetic and felt very bad, I just shook my head and said, nothing goes smoothly with me, half laughing. We went over my medications and health history. We were discussing my TN and he has to look up one of the medications I took in the past. I guess if I were to wait, I may not be able to have the tooth saved. The Gamma Knife procedure adds radiation to your bones and therefore it makes them more brittle. Thankfully I won't look like a hillbilly...yet! He wanted to give me a antibiotic rinse and another antibiotic pill plus Motrin 600mg. They really want to load me up on the Antibiotics. I asked the pharmacist and he said the one I was already taking was strong enough. Plus I couldn't handle another one on my stomach.

We leave next week to go back to Colorado. It's finally here! It still feels like a dream. I want to make sure that I'm getting everything taken care of that I need to before. So when a doctor asks if I have already tried something I can said that I have.

When I say my doctor for my cold I asked him about the lab results. He said I was ok, because one was for nerve blocking and the other was for epilepsy. Now if  I can just get rid if this sickness I would be good.

Another Cold..another cold!

   Monday afternoon I felt like my throat was getting scratchy. No one else was sick, but I knew since my immune system is so run down it would hit me wither I liked it or not. We had to run and do a couple of things. J was on AOG duty-which kept him on the phone to all over the world the entire time we were out. We got home and I felt so run down. The next day my throat was burning and I was getting congested. This was horrible, it was M's first day back after break. I FULLY ADMIT: I drove her to school in my pajama's. Something I swore I would never do. But I felt so bad. My head was pounding and my skin was like pins poking. I have to say that my left side was hurting so much worse than my right side. I laid around and got ready just before I had to pick M up from school. The next day was even worse. I thought it couldn't get any worse. My head hurt so bad when my alarm went off I grabbed my pain pills and took one. It was another pj drive to school. I came home and got in the shower and decided that made things...the same. I called to see if I could get into the doctor's office. Their next opening was on Saturday! I had no fight in me, Saturday it was. Plus I thought I'll be better by then. M was going to be getting out soon. I called J and asked if he could get off of work early and get her.  I couldn't move. My head hurt, my throat hurt, my eye felt as if the pressure was going to punch it out and my something was stabbing in the ear. I thought I was on the edge of dying.

Thursday morning came and I had to take the pain medicine before I could get out of bed. But I got up and got ready. I had an appointment with my pain doctor, I called them before we left to ask if they still wanted me to come in since I was sick. They said if  I was able to make it, it was fine. I dropped M off and went in. When I got there they said you are sick and I was in and out of there so fast. LOL! On my way to the pharmacy I remembered that I had to pick up my lab results. Duh, duh, duh! Most looked okay except for my Tegretol level. It said the levels are supposed to be between 6.0-8.0 for Therapeutic Level. If any other anti-epileptic drug is taken a toxic level is 9.0-12.0. I take Tegretal and Gabapitin. My level is 9.6. Here is where I start to worry about my liver and kidneys. The day ended tough but better than the day before.

Today the coughing started. I must have every cold product out there: Mucsinex D, Severe Cold Tablets, TheraFlu Cough & Cold, TheraFlu MaxD, Vicks, Advil and on. My fever on Wednesday was 100.5 and today it was down to 99.1. I had another doctor appointment with my dermatologist. I called Dr. S.D.'s office (Neuro) & asked them about my levels. They had no idea what I was talking about, they said 'did we order that?', we'll call you on Monday. Thank goodness for the many boxes of Kleenex's, a cold wash cloth and my helpers J & M. M  ended up with a cough and J headed off anything with Airborne.

I have my appointment with the doctor tomorrow and I am planning on going to still. We'll see what he says.

Happy New Day

Everything is in the past and forgotten. I wish. It's just another day. We'll see what this year holds for me and my health. I've been so tired and in pain from my left side. I have only 3 weeks until we go to see different doctors. I can't wait. This week I go to see the Pain Specialist, and a new appointment with a Dermatologist. It's been over a year since my last visit. Thank goodness it's just a visit to get cream for acne. You'd think that when you are older your hormones would settle down and you would have perfect skin. That's it, other than that I'm not making and resolutions. Not being negative but I  can't promise anything, therefore no upset.

I went to get my blood taken on Thursday, FINALLY! So I can go and get my presentation folders together for the new doctors. I also talked with my Health Coach last week and he was excited that I made not only 1 appt but 2. As always we make a goal; he said I think we'll just make survival your goal. After I hung up I was thinking about how this was kind of funny. 'Survival'?!? Yeah I hope to survive.

I am now at 300mg of gabapetin. I think I'm going to wait longer that 5 days to stop it completely. I'm convinced that it was not helping any of my pain, but I hate the side effects. My sleep schedule is all messed up now,I sleep during the day and can't sleep at night. Maybe once M goes back to school I'll get back on a schedule.