Tag: neurologist

Doctor Visit

On By Michel McDonaldIn DoctorLeave a comment

I went to my regular doctor today and told him that I’m still having shoulder pain despite the steroids and muscle relaxers the RN from the Neurologist gave me.  I told him that she was going to give me a referral for another specialist but that could take weeks, months even and I just can’t suffer like this for months.  She said that I would have to see a specialist before I could get a cortisone shot.

Well, my regular doctor said if they had those x-rays they could just give me the shots there.  I called the neurologist office and asked them to send the x-rays to my doctor’s office because I’m tired of messing around.  This has been going on for too long now, 5 weeks in excruciating pain.

In the meantime he gave me a prescription for Vicodin (SWEET) and that should be ready soon.  The thing is, I’ve taken that for this pain and it doesn’t help.  Well, then again, that prescription expired on 2/09 so maybe that has something to do with it lol.

When my toenails were taken off I was in a lot more pain than this and the vicodin numbed the pain so if it works for that then it should work for this.

Sad news about my doctor though, today was his last day.  He’s moving back east and he said something about making more money so that’s good I guess.  It’s not easy working for the city in a clinic I guess, you just don’t make as much as you would’ve thought you would when you went to Medical school.  I’ll miss him and have to get used to yet another doctor.

Suffering Side Effects

On By Michel McDonaldIn Doctor, HealthLeave a comment

Well I’ve already started to suffer some of the side effects from these medications that the neurologist gave me for my shoulder.

I’m taking Methylprednisolone 4MG Dospack 21’s which is this pack that has all the pills that you pop out the back.  The first day is at the top and you have to take 6 pills in 1 day.  2 before breakfast, 1 after lunch and supper (I guess that drug company has never heard of dinner) and 2 at bedtime.  Then day 2 you take 5 pills at various times throughout the day.  Day 3 4 pills and so on until day 6 you are just taking 1 pill.  This one is the steroid drug.

Then the other one is Baclofen 10MG tablets that I have to take 3 times a day so like every 8 hours.  That is a muscle relaxant drug.

I read the possible side effects for both of them and some of them are similar.  The muscle relaxant doesn’t have nearly as many side effects as the steroid but I’m getting quite a bit.

1 of them isn’t even listed and I’m not going to air that dirty laundry in here but believe me, it’s painful to sit down hint hint wink wink.  The other ones are that my teeth don’t feel like they belong in my mouth lol.  They just feel strange like the dentist shot something in there to numb them.  Also I’ve got major joint aches and pains especially in my legs at the hips and well just everywhere in my legs.

Let’s see, I can’t sit, I can’t stand and my teeth don’t feel like they belong in my mouth lol.  What else can go wrong?  Oh shoot, I just jinxed myself by saying that.  One of the other side effects are that I’m hungry more which happened today, I got extra hungry, I had 2 sandwiches for lunch, not just bread but these really big rolls with 3 slices of turkey each and lettuce and mayo.  Oh and we went to Hometown Buffet and I stuffed myself silly and one of the other side effects is weight gain which I guarantee you tomorrow I will see that side effect come into place thanks to the hometown buffet but we’re just gonna say it’s a side effect from the pills ok?

UGH and my shoulders are experiencing joint pain too.  Ok, I think I need to lay down because I’m becoming too fragile to be sitting here typing.  One of my fingers might fall off and we don’t want that.

Back Meds

On By Michel McDonaldIn HealthLeave a comment

I went to the neurologist today for my regular appointment for my carpel tunnel syndrome and I mentioned the problems with my back and they gave me a steroid and a muscle relaxer.

I have to take one of them every 8 hours and the other one I have to take 6 pills today, 5 tomorrow 4 day after, 3 day after that, 2 day after that and then 1 on the last day.

I really hope this pain is gone at the end of this because I really want to resume my exercise.  I’m going to add strength exercises as well because I think that my back muscles just were not prepared for this new seat.

Back Pain

On By Michel McDonaldIn HealthLeave a comment

Well apparently this back pain is a bit more severe than I thought.  I just called the chiropractors office that I used to go to in 2005 and had to leave a message so I hope they get it by tonight so I can make an appointment to hopefully come in tomorrow morning.  I have a doctor’s appointment with the neurologist for my carpel tunnel syndrome near where they used to be but they aren’t too far from there so I will be able to walk there from my neurologist.

I was thinking of bringing my bike with me but I don’t have the proper locks and I’m afraid that my new seat and/or my wheels will get stolen.  I don’t have the money to buy 2 new locks/chains so I’m screwed and have to walk there from the bus stop in pain lol.  Maybe I can think of something though, we have some padlocks that maybe I can borrow from what they are locking and look for some chain that I can use.  Now that I think about it I’m going to start looking for those so I can at least chain up my seat for now.  I really don’t feel like walking all that way tomorrow especially with this back pain.

New Crafts

On By Michel McDonaldIn craftsLeave a comment

I haven’t been able to do crafts since around November or December 2007 because my hands would get numb and I would even feel some pain when crocheting in my wrists so I was forced to give it up.  Not too long after that I was diagnosed with carpel tunnel syndrome after harping on my doctor every time I went 3 visits in a row.  He told me it’s probably carpel tunnel but sent me to a neurologist to get a proper diagnosis.

Ever since then I haven’t been able to do any crafts at all.  I’ve had to wear wrist straps every night to bed which helps for some strange reason.  Also not doing any crafts helped too.  I still type because I don’t feel that I can use voice recognition because when I do talk my voice is carried into the living room so nothing is private.

Since I haven’t been doing ANY form of crafts I’ve been going nuts.  Last week I picked up a crochet hook and some yarn and started crocheting.  I’ve actually done a good amount of a new blanket.  I went looking in my closet to see if I had more of the avocado color but instead I found these embroidery Christmas stockings that were given to me last year that I knew I couldn’t do.  I gave 1 a chance and so for the last 2 evenings I’ve been working on it and I have to say it’s not as hard as I thought they would be.  I’m actually having fun with it.

My left hand has been getting numb while holding it and my right hand was getting a little bit of pain here and there and so when I get the numbness and pain I stop for a while.  This stocking obviously will not be finished within the next week and half so I’m going to just keep working on it at my own pace and hopefully it will be done by next year.

There are 3 stockings (below) and I would eventually like to have them all done but I gotta do baby steps here lol.  1 at a time for now.

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Bad Week for Riding

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

Well today I didn’t get to ride at all because of the delivery mix up.  Since they finally showed up at 1:45pm I thought it would be ok to go out but I really prefer to go in the morning after breakfast.  I’d prefer to get it out of the way and not have to worry about getting too hot.  What am I going to do in the summer time?  Sheesh I’m gonna have to get up at 4am in the summer time.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with the neurologist for my carpel tunnel syndrome and that appointment is at 11:30am which means I’m going to have to get up really early to leave.  I’m usually gone for an hour and half, I could leave at 9am and be back at 10:30 so I have an hour to get ready.  I think I’m gonna do that.

But then on Friday I have a doctor’s appointment with our regular doctor for a regular visit at 10am.  There is no way I’m getting up at 7am to ride my bike lol.  I normally don’t get up until 9:30am so I’m just going to go after my appointment, that is if I get home by noon lol.  We’re usually gone for 2 hours even when we have an appointment.  What’s up with doctors?  You come early and you end up waiting in the waiting room for 45 minutes AFTER your appointment time even if you were there half an hour early.

I know one thing is that I’m going to ride this Saturday and Sunday no matter what.  I know that I’m keeping my weight down (even though I’m eating a PB&J right now) but in order for me to really keep my weight down I gotta exercise as much as possible.  I’m talking about maintaining my weight loss as well as losing weight.  That’s been my problem, I can lose about 10-20lbs but then I start to just maintain it.  Even if I am able to maintain my weight I need to keep going.

Missed Appointment

On By Michel McDonaldIn DoctorLeave a comment

On September 30th I had a follow-up appointment with the neurologist for my carpel tunnel syndrome but since we were in San Diego I called the doctor’s office and rescheduled my appointment for today at 12:00pm.  Well, at 2:20pm I realized I had missed my appointment.  My main concern was that they charge you for missed appointments.

I called them to ask if there was a way that I could still make it and they said no, the doctor doesn’t take patients past 12.  So I then asked how much this was going to cost me.  I was put on hold for about 1 or 2 minutes.  She came back and said that I wasn’t even on the computer for today.  WHEW!!!

I don’t know how much that would’ve cost me but I do know that I couldn’t pay it right now.  She rescheduled me for November 20th so it’s going to be some time that I have to wait.  On the bright side my carpel tunnel syndrome isn’t that bad.  My hands still get numb when I’m playing with my PSP or riding my bike for a long period of time, then again they get numb after 10 min of riding my bike so it’s not that long.  Oh well, I got a month heh.

Neurologist

On By Michel McDonaldIn Doctor, HealthLeave a comment

Well I went to the neurologist today for a follow-up appointment. My first appointment was to find out what was going on with my hands. At first they started getting numb when I would crochet and I got to the point where I didn’t like to crochet anymore or do any crafts for that matter. Then they started going numb for no reason and next thing I knew my hands were constantly numb.

When I would crochet I got this pinching in my right hand and sometimes in my left hand too, that’s when I knew for sure I couldn’t crochet anymore. I told my doctor about 3 or 4 times which was in a row, every time I saw him, that my hands were numb and he would tell me it’s because of this or that or the other.

So finally I told him that my hands are numb constantly and I get a pinching in my hands too so he sent me to the neurologist. Well I went, he gave me a prescription for wrist splints for both hands to wear to bed so I do.

A couple of weeks ago I went to get the nerve test which means they wrap these wires around 2 fingers then they take this thing that looks like a stun gun and they zap you on certain spots for a few seconds at a time and the computer does all the work.

So today was the follow-up to that and he said I have a very mild case of Carpal Tunnel syndrome but because they are not numb all the time (thanks to the wrist splints) that I don’t need surgery, in fact he said it would be the very last resort so I have to see him in 2 months to see how it’s going. I’m really happy I don’t need surgery and my hands are good again as if nothing happened.

Yarn

On By Michel McDonaldIn craftsLeave a comment

A few months ago Chips moms friend Julia passed away. Darrin sort of latched onto Julia after his mom passed away and so when Julia passed away her niece Noretta “Jean” Cade gave us some of Julia’s things. Julia was a hoarder, she had a lot of everything and she loved to do crafts. All this yarn is what Jean gave me because she didn’t want to throw it all away, she wanted it to go to someone who can use it. There is also a lot of cross stitch projects, project books, plastic canvas and knitting needles and Cro-Hooks (a long knitting needle with a crochet hook on the end).

It’s very ironic too because I can’t crochet anymore because today I was diagnosed officially with Carpel Tunnel Syndrome. I need surgery to fix it which can take a while. I have to go to a neurologist to get the diagnosis so my insurance will pay for the surgery.