GP

All posts tagged GP

2011

Published August 19, 2016 by helentastic67

 

Kitten lying down2011

Remembrance Day! Let’s come back to that!

Don’t get excited, not in the way we would wish!

I also learned about Morphine as a form of pain relief!

On the 6th January I lifted a heavy suit case one handed!

My OT’s had been very impressed with my maintaining a level of independence often carrying a 10 kg bag of Kitty Litter through the house to save my Carers doing it or my ex, before he left.

But that suitcase was the straw that broke the camel’s back. First, I think it just hurt to sit! It was pure agony, pain shooting down my good leg…

I has some tests, x-rays and muscle relaxants and after a period of time trying to find the right drug for pain relief and the right tests. I found myself spending a year on my bed waiting for surgery to a bulging disc.

Bulging disc

While working my way through enough Oxy to drug a horse.

While in hindsight, I’ve spent a lot of time with a headache, I’ve likely said, I wasn’t one to reach for pills. I wasn’t anti-pills however, there was always other ways to treat it. An Osteo (Osteopath) or a Chiropractor!

A migraine always meant a trip to the Chiropractors to put my Atlas Bone in or adjust it! (http://simpleascension.com/out-of-alignment-atlas-bone-now-known-to-cause-dozens-of-health-issues/ )

Good night sleep, back to normal!

Where was I? So after a period of time found the perfect balance of drugs for maintaining a prone existence that year was;

20mg’s Oxy Contin during the day. That’s the slow release!

10mg’s Oxy Contin at night.

And if I had a brief taxi ride to my chiropractors twice a week, I would take 5mg’s Oxy Norm. (Fast release, but really only 3 hours!)

Chiropractor joke

I didn’t see much of the world that year!

I would taxi to my GP and see him while lying on his table (bed)…

And your likely wondering what the significance to Remembrance Day is? Keeping in mind I lifted that heavy suitcase on January 6th. Remembrance Day is November 11. that was the day I finally had surgery. I’d had 2 Nerve Root injections. Which were not my favourite and hurt like a needle being rammed into my spine without anesthetic. No wait. That’s literally exactly what it was. Twice!
And that comment about the horse? Oh, yeah. At the end of the year I saw my dentist for a small filling. He gave me an injection and even after a few minutes I could still feel him drilling. After a second injection, I could still feel him drilling. Now, I hate to repeat myself but after the second injection I could still feel him drilling. But after the third I was all good to go!
My dentist who knew I’d spent the year on opiates for pain relief likened me to a horse because I’d build up a tolerance and the average dose wasn’t enough.
Ironically, my filling was on my right side. And I had to go to my GP afterwards. With my facial droop on my left I already slur a little when I speak and if I’m particularly tired. So, that day I really did sound as if I’d had a stroke. Luckily my GP is fluent in several languages including stroke. Winning!

Diagnosis

Published December 8, 2015 by helentastic67

Diagnosis 2

Diagnosis

“Now tell me, what’s wrong with you?” a shoulder specialist asked me once. You might immediately think my shoulder, correct? Since that was his specialty.

But there’s that thing all medical personal do when ‘assess you!’

To which I replied “How long have you got?”

But first I must digress.

In my early 30’s as you may have read I was working as an Admin Assistant for an NGO. You know, “Admin” it’s that term meaning you do EVERYTHING that is delegated to you and some for really crappy pay.

Oh, I loved that job! I was really good at that job!

Anyway, work became stressful (another time) and my left arm which had always “worked” lost some of its strength and dexterity…

I struggled to touch type, so I hid this by typing very efficiently one handed and tried to hide my weak left arm by sitting my elbow on the desk or in my lap. If I answered the phone left handed I really knocked myself out putting the phone to my ear…

I had a colleague who had a son my age with MS, No! I don’t have MS (Multiple Sclerosis)

Honestly, I think that would be worse than what I have…

So, everyday Tony, my colleague would ask me if I’d seen my doctor yet?

What? I don’t have a doctor…

Actually I had a GP, whom I didn’t like much, so I got a new GP not long before and made a list.

On the bottom I said list was my left arm! I explained the occasional weakness that I’d had for years that came and went…

His response was immediate and he didn’t seem to need any further explanation.

He stated “Ok, let’s get a CT scan!”

I was a little surprised. Booked the appointment not knowing what to expect and went one morning on my way to work.

They injected ‘contrast’ into my arm and when I loaded myself up with all of my bags and carefully navigated the stairs to get back down to the ground floor. The technician watched me very carefully…

I could do stairs rather easily back then, but words from the wise, when the technician watches you like a hawk, he knows something already that you don’t know!

And it’s probably not good new…