Tuesday (7/21/2016)

Update:

Yesterday I had the stent removed from my right ureter.  It went smoothly and was relatively pain-free.  I felt fine afterwards especially when the doctor said that my restrictions were lifted.  Nice!  Now I can begin the process of regaining my strength after sitting in the wheelchair for almost three months while ordered not to exercise.

My brother was up from St. Louis for an extra-long weekend.  He kept me busy and I enjoyed his company.  I even went grocery shopping for the first time in about 10 weeks.  It was nice to get out but I still had limited stamina.  Usually I was forced home and back in bed to relieve the back pain I had after sitting in the wheelchair for an hour or two.  With the storm Friday night causing all the tree damage in my town and on my street, we had lots of “entertainment” getting to watch work crew clean up the mess.  My street was blocked for several hours and the power was down from early morning until 9 p.m. on Saturday.  Thankfully no one was injured.  It was great seeing neighbor helping neighbor as people pitched in to get things cleaned up.  Who says that Fall Creek is boring on the weekends?

I also got word back from lab that my liver is now back to normal.  I’ll undergo continued tests as they keep an eye on it for a while; but that is a relief.  I don’t know what this will mean long-term for my pain reliever use; but I am hoping I can get something besides the narcotics so I have more options (Everything else was taken away to relieve stress on the liver).  Obviously I won’t be able to drive if I am taking narcotics for pain.  I don’t like that potential limit, so I’m hoping for something to reduce my pain levels without narcotics.

Later this week, I have an appointment with my primary physician to discuss these pain management options.  I’m hoping that I will be given the okay to return to the pain clinic for another treatment for my back pain.  Almost all of my pain comes from my lower back and sciatic nerve in the left leg. Everything was put on hold while I healed after surgery and stressed my liver.  Things are starting to look like I will be able to move forward and make some progress now.  I also get to return to physical therapy to see if that will help relief my symptoms.

So August looks like it will be a busy month with plenty of medical appoints…that’s pretty standard now (I average two medical appointments per week).  Thankfully I appear to be moving forward again.   I’m thankful that I have the opportunity to regain some of my life and the things that I like to do.   I am feeling better than I have for several months—I’m thank for that!!!