Recap of 2009- Pains, Pains and More Pains

Soooo... a quick recap of the last year and maybe then people will understand why I've been in such a bad mood this year...

*December 22 - Heel Spur Surgery (after a year of horrible pain I FINALLY got surgery.)*January 3 - Found out I had parathyroid problems (extreme fatigue, wretching, diarrhea, bone pain, etc.)... at Covenant hospital for a week (MANY tests). Transferred to Iowa City for a week (MANY tests). Had two ambulance rides to the hospital this month! Rode to Iowa City twice in an ambulance. All this while recovering from recent foot surgery... on crutches... yeah... awesome.
*January 22 - Parathyroidectomy (aka: surgery on my neck) still in Iowa City... Had the most painful I.V. meds that felt like my veins were on fire... HORRIBLE PAIN!
*January/February - Healing from both surgeries and using a walker because of short term osteoporosis which is actually really painful!
*March/April - Still healing after two surgeries and being sick for 3 years without knowing what was wrong.
*April 10 - Found out I'm pregnant and NO we weren't trying for anyone who really wants to know.
*April - Now: Pregnancy issues... Emotional issues (deal with on a daily basis - Mental Illness and with crazy hormones my regular meds aren't cuttin' the mustard. Anemic = very tired.
*August - Now: Hurt my back (see Chiropractor, Physical Therapist, massage therapist) worse than my regular back pain from the last 10 years. Some days can't walk. Hurts to breathe. No meds take the pain away. Think it's sciatica.
*September - Strep and other nasty seasonal craptasticness... gestational diabetes scare.
*October - After an Endocrine appointment, found out my parathyroid hormone is back up again. Which means I may have to have another surgery... this time with a newborn... what timing!
*October - During an OB appointment... found out I have H1N1. Wouldn't be so bad, but I'm pregnant... not good... and I have two children with chronic asthma... not good.
*October 31st - Horrible vomiting episode in the morning. My face was swollen, glands were HUGE, throat felt like it was closing and extremely painful, felt like my eyeballs were going to pop out of my head. Went to the E.R. found out I had pharyngitis which is an inflammation of the pharynx and extremely contagious. Had I.V. meds and was there for several hours.
*November 1st - Horrible headache and bloody eyeballs resulting from nasty vomiting episode. The eye doctor said what most likely happened was from retching so forcefully causing a spike in my blood pressure thus causing my blood vessels to rupture in my eyes. Sooooo nasty. It took over a month to fully heal.
*November - Pregnancy pains... extreme ligament pain, feeling like the baby will fall out at any moment. Lots of insomnia and back pain.
*December 2nd - Pulled over by cops on my way home from a friend's house resulting in two tickets adding up to $227.00. Just in time for Christmas... BOO! Then... several hours later... having contractions TWO WEEKS EARLY, heading to the hospital, being dialated to an 8 resulting in all natural child birth... OUCH!!! I'm wondering if it was related to stress.
*December 3rd - Recovering from child birth... LOTS of horrible cramping in my abdomen. Woke up with a sore throat, congestion and fever of 100. Great.
*December - Still recovering. I have forgotten how painful recovery from child birth is. I'm happy that this is the last time I will feel this way, but I'm sad that this is my last baby...

T'was the Morn of My Surgery...

Monday, December 22nd, 2008 - HEEL SPUR SURGERY

This morning I was to be at United Medical Park at 6 am for my heel spur surgery scheduled for 7 am... I am NOT a morning person! I was really starting to get nervous as 7 am got closer and closer. I had a cold for about 2 weeks before today and still had a stuffy nose so I wasn't sure if they were going to postpone my surgery for a second time. The nurse talked with the anesthesiologist and he agreed that I would NOT continue with the general anesthesia, but I would have a local and something else to make me sleepy. I was so scared that I would be awake for it... knowing that they were cutting into my foot at the end of the table!!! Luckily I fell asleep and don't remember a thing!!! THANK GOODNESS!

I was out of it for a while and I remember Ed reading a bit of "Pride and Prejudice" aloud by Jane Austen, one of my favorite authors. Soon I felt good enough to leave. I had my boot on and left the building with my crutches as well as support from Ed. We stopped by the video place and rented tons of DVD's since I'd be restricted to the couch and recliner. We also got something to eat on our way home as well.

Ed was wonderful, as always, getting things for me non-stop. The kids were very helpful as well. One day I woke up and Eden actually got a bowl and made me some cereal! I was pleasantly surprised! Then, Oliver chimed in, "I GOT YOU THE SPOON!!!" I said thank you to him as well, of course!

We've been watching lots of movies and I have been slowing healing since. It's amazing how we take so many things for granted when we can't do what we normally do! So many times I've wanted to get up and vacuum and help out around the house! It turned out to be a success.

One More Week...

Well, today I was SUPPOSED to have my heel spur surgery on my left heel, but since I've had a cold for several days and threw up yesterday morning (while Jaren stood laughing at me...) it is now postponed until Monday, the 22nd of this month. I've been dealing with this pain for some time now and it's only been getting worse. To top it off, my back pain has been amped up because of how I've modified my walking due to the pain in my foot. To put it plainly... I'm 30 and I'm falling apart.

I've tryed different exercises, medicine, ice packs, heating pads, prescribed pain meds, new shoes, losing weight, trying to stay off my feet (VERY difficult when I have a small toddler scampering around), orthodics ($400 - NOT covered by my insurance) AND several cortisone shots in my foot. I've also been seeing a chiropractor for my back pain. Still in pain... hence the decision to get surgery.

You'd think that by losing 42 pounds (hey... every pound counts) I'd feel great! Yeah... no such luck. So, my heel kills, my back kills, my knees and sometimes elbows have been giving me problems, not to mention that I just generally don't feel well. I'm going to see a specialist in January for some of those concerns.

I'm starting to get a little anxious because of my AWARENESS ISSUE during my gallbladder surgery after I had Jaren. It's like I could foresee it happening. I had the surgery with no problem, but the next day I went under again because a gallstone was too large to pass through a tube. They had to go in and cut my tube so they could retrieve the stone. ANYWAYS... I was still awake and there were lots of nurses coming in and out of the small room that I was in. The doctor was in and out and I thought, "Man... are they changing shifts or what!? I sure hope the lady gives me enough meds to knock me out for this!" Eerie thought BECAUSE... during that procedure, I woke up (I couldn't see, hear, speak or move) and FELT someone SHOVING this long tube down my throat and I could feel myself gagging. It only lasted for a few seconds, but I remember it vividly!!! HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE!!! I do NOT wish that on ANYONE!!!

Needless to say... I pray most fervently that it doesn't happen again! I will welcome anyone to pray that all goes well for me on Monday!!!

Unsolved Mystery Heel Pain

I've been dealing with some nasty pain in my left heel for over 3 months now and I've been to the doctor, who said it was Plantar Fasciitis, my chiropractor who helped with my back pain that was out of control... I'm sure because of the way I've been walking and FINALLY I went to the Podiatrist who took an x-ray of my heel and found that it was a heel spur. This is where the tendons and ligaments pull a part of the bone away from the heel and cause lots of pain.
He said I was extremely inflammed and gave me two cortizone shots in my heel. Yes... it was the most painful shot I'd ever received, but it wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be. My podiatrist said that it would last for 2 - 4 weeks... I'm guessing helping with the inflammation and NOT the pain because I'm still in a good amount of pain right now. He also gave me a wrap to wrap around my ankle and under my foot to help support my arch a little. I wear that whenever I'm on my feet (always with shoes), ice my foot at least 3 times a day, take ibuprofen and do my stretches throughout the day. He also said to stay off of my feet. I laughed and said, "Yeah... I have two young kids and a 6 month old! Like that's gonna happen!"

He said that most people live with this by getting orthodics to help, in my case, with my high arches that are the cause of the heel spur. It's just fantastic to learn that these orthodics will cost upwards of $400 and then to find out that my insurance does NOT cover it! Oh... FANTASTIC!!! (See the movie "SiCKO" for more outrageous insurance screw-overs)

Anyways... I thought, "Well, I guess if I can 'live with it' I HAVE TO HAVE the orthotics to help." So... I went back to get my feet scanned by walking on a mat and seeing where the most pressure falls on my feet. It will be about 2 weeks until they arrive and I pray that it helps!!!

http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/generalinfo2/a/heelspur.htm