Tuesday (3/17/2015)

Update:

Most of you know that I had my left leg amputated in December 2013.  I was very fortunate that for the first year I had very little pain—many amputees suffer from severe nerve pain.  Well, now I've been having pain in my amputated leg for the last three months.  At first we thought it was a fit issue with my prosthetic leg and so I've had three different test sockets built in that time.  Nothing helped.  We (my prosthetist and I) finally concluded it was nerve pain causing my problem.  The pain is almost entirely during the day with the socket on.  That is what was so confusing (most amputees have nerve pain at night).  During this time, I've also developed pain in my right foot which has just been determined to be neuropathic pain by my podiatrist so although it is painful, I can resume walking on it.  My legs were painful enough that I’ve gotten to the point of not even wanting to try to walk because it hurts so badly.  That’s an unhappy place to be in!

Today, my Physical Rehab doctor prescribed Lyrica along with Lidocaine patches for the one sensitive area at the end of my fibula.  That little bag of medication cost $725 (one-month supply).  Wow! So glad my insurance covered it.  Just started the medication at noon today.  So far, my pain seems to be somewhat reduced.  This afternoon I'm a bit lightheaded and dizzy from the Lyrica.  As my body adjusts to the medication, I hope these side effects will diminish.  I’ll be adjusting the dosage over the next couple of weeks, so I could a bit more dizzy than normal for the next few weeks! So Watch Out!  There is also another side effect that I am to look out for--swelling in the limbs—that isn’t good for an amputee because it means my prosthesis would no longer fit.   And it is rather sobering to get SIX PAGES of instructions and warnings for the Lyrica.  “Side effects may include, but are not limited to….blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and blah.”

Hopefully the medications will solve the pain issue.  If not, I'll probably be sent back to the surgeon to resection the nerve ending.  That surgery would mean a month or more for the leg to heal before I could start wearing my prosthesis again.  Hopefully it won’t come to that.

As I am proof-reading this post, the phantom pain in my missing left foot has really kicked in…SIGH!  Okay, in a couple of days I can increase the dosage if I need to—right now it looks like I will.  Hey! At least I have options and a hope for the future again.  I’ll try my best and see what happens.