I always come away from my pain doctor appts in a horrible mood

[DammitJanet]

Number one I was there for almost 6 hours and I wasnt feeling well to start with. I dont do well with morning appointments and I consider anything before 1 a morning appointment. This appointment was for noon exactly. That meant I had to wake up by 9 just to start to get the waking up process going. For some reason in the last week or so, I think my fibro has really been hitting me hard with the fatigue part of it. I know its not the medications because nothing has changed recently. I have been on the new pain medications long enough for them to me to have gotten used to them and a few weeks ago I was fine. This just hit me the last week or so. I got up this morning at 9 and got dressed then promptly fell right back to sleep sitting up on the sofa. The only thing that woke me back up was buddy barking at something and it was a quarter till 12! I grabbed some drink, my keys, my smokes and my purse and ran. Not that it made a whole hell of a lot of difference. The computers went down this morning and people who had got there this morning first thing were still waiting to be seen. One guy had been waiting since 8 am and he left at 4! I got there at 12:05 and left at about 6:30.

Tony did call me while I was out and we met for dinner which was nice since the last thing I could even think about was making dinner. I was literally too exhausted to stand. Then I get home and when I walked in the door I noticed that a bag of groceries that I had asked Billy to bring in from the car for me the day before yesterday was STILL sitting on my counter FILLED with some meat. Now how I missed this for almost two days I have no clue but I have to admit I dont go in the kitchen all that much lately. Wednesday he cooked the dinner...spaghetti. I was exhausted from going and buying the food and I asked him to bring in the food and put it away. I went to lay down. On Thursday, Tony brings home Chinese. Billy was home on Wednesday so that was the only way I had to get him out of his room to do anything...and I did that by telling him I would take him to pick up his car if he would do that for me but he claims now he had no clue that I wasnt the one who was putting the groceries away...ugh.

I always feel so ugh inside. I finally got the docs to give me the rx for water therapy but I looked online and I cant find anyplace that does it close to me. I asked him and he wasnt sure. oh great. So I get the script but I cant do anything with it...lol. Wonderful. Meanwhile I am getting bigger by the day because I cant get out of the bed for more than a few minutes at a time. I dont even want to see Keyana. I could care less if she comes at all. I dont want her to come to my house because I cant get my bedroom cleaned up. I only have one week to even attempt it and I know there is no way in the world that will happen. I would rather just see her at Cory's if I see her at all and I doubt Tony will go over there much, if at all so this is not going to be a good summer. Im about done.

 

[Liahona]

I sorry you are hurting and the doctor was an idiot. A pain dr. having people wait that long. Shame on him. People in pain just can't do it. He should've started rescheduling when the wait times were so long.

Aspies just don't see what is right under their noses. That could've been husband with the bag of groceries. He leaves groceries in the car so much I've just gotten used to it. "Oh, there is a dozen eggs from a few days ago." The last thing was a jar of pickles he had rolling around the back of his van for a few weeks before I found it. Glad Tony met you for dinner.

When I'd go to see my good friend with the incredible pain I would sit on her bed (because she couldn't get up) and we'd talk about my kids. She was always so embarrassed by the way her feet looked, that she was messing when eating, that her room was messy, she had laundry piled on her bed, ect... I didn't care. I just wanted to be with her. She was one of the very few people in this world that loved me unconditionally. You have a special bond with Keyana. I'm betting she is the same way.

What does the dr for your fibro say?

 

[LittleDudesMom]

Janet,

I'm so sorry that life is hitting you so hard right now. You shouldn't be in a place where you feel like saying, "I'm about done."

Couple suggestions - most rehab facilities have therapy pools. Check rehab hospitals and rehab facilities. The temperature in those pools will probably be maintained around 91 degrees. After seeing if there are any of those places fairly close, then look into health club facilities with pools. The water will be maintained in the 80's, but it's water! Most health clubs now actually have arthritis walking/stretching classes in the pool. Since this is doctor ordered, you wouldn't have to come out of pocket for the membership. I hope you can find one or the other nearby. Again, rehab would be better, but the bottom line is getting in the water, moving, and get the massage benefits of moving in the water.

In regards to Keyana, I totally 100% agree with Liahona - Keyana loves you and won't care what shape you are in or what shape your house is in. She will be thrilled to just be with you. If you feel really strongly about it, if you can scrape a little bit of $ out of the food budget, see if you can pay someone to come in and do all the laundry and straighten up the house. Around here a high school student would be thrilled to get a day of work and some cash!

Love and hugs to you,
Sharon

 

[buddy]

Soft hug Janet. I wonder if things can go thru the internet. I suddenly started feeling sleepy at the wheel and so achy but no fever. Much like when I was diagnosis with fibro but I haven't had any serious symptoms for many years. They took the diagnosis back anyway because the found a positive autoimmune test and pain medications work for me which they don't? ?? as much for fibro they said ( tramadol ) . But whatever it is it seems to have flared and also for my aunt and cousin who DO have fibro (they're in Ohio ) is there a seasonal trigger? Certainly there is a stress trigger and you have had your fair share--plus--of extra stress. I consider my issue inconvenient so I can't even imagine what you are feeling. The doctor office should have called people and could have seen people the old fashioned way...writing things down and putting it in the computer later I bet. Maybe they didn't even know who was scheduled without the computers I suppose? But something could have been done.

Hey ...I found out once that some nice nursing homes / care facilities also had warm water therapy. Even if small ..could allow you to stretch. Most insurance here pays for most of a health club Occupational Therapist (OT) YMCA membership. And I have visited with friends who are members ...they are much more full of real people. I was not at all embarrassed.

I hope this is a blip and you find a place to get the pool or hydro therapy. Sorry about the food. Very disappointing. But we all do it ..well I have. (Blushing )

Oh ...I know we r in a city but ...is there community ed there. I saw at my moms house a brochure and they have very low cost ($8.for the whole session ) for seniors (we aren't quite there yet lol ) and disabled people ....did you say you get rsdi? Just a thought ...
Very beginning level pain -friendly classes. Wish you were here. SR. Kenney institute has a fibro program including warm water pool therapy. You can come stay with me when we move and go through a session any time!

Love and cyber massages ....Dee

 

[DammitJanet]

KennedyKriger or something like that? Yeah it comes up anytime you put in water therapy...lol.

Thanks guys. I have no clue what it is with this pain clinic but they will not do anything with their computers down. And for some reason I think their reception computers are not on the same line as the ones that the doctors keep the patients files on. They dont keep any paper files. Everything is on computer. Even though they do sometimes make a printout to come in to talk to you, I think that is because they only have so many laptops...oh they arent actually laptops...they are very small notebooks that dont even have cd drives. If they got any smaller, they would be pink and have the Disney label. They cant/wont printout prescriptions without the computer up. I have no clue why they wont just hand write one and copy it...oh yeah...no charts! And no way to insert them into the charts...lmao. If you cant scan...idiots. I dont know why their computers go down so often. I have the same company and mine doesnt.

As far as hiring someone to come in. I have begged Tony to let me and he says no and at this moment I dont have the money. I may be able to attempt to work on my bathroom this week. I think that is why we are at a standstill. I promised to clean it after Nina gave birth in there but I refused to do it until he got rid of Buck. Well, I still havent done it because I have just felt so badly.

Oh and yes, I do think that there is something to do with stress, weather, heck...maybe meteor showers that cause Fibro to kick off. I dont often get the pain and the fatigue together but when I do, its bad.

 

[buddy]

It's called Sr. Kenny Institute part of Abbott Northwestern hospital. Not an endorsement over anything else ..just saying its here if you ever feel the need. The nuns many decades ago lead the way for alternate therapy for people with neuro conditions and polio recovery. Now it is mainstream medication to do what they do ...also pair up with Rehab / pain docs and clinics. I imagine many states / cities have similar clinics. Even the therapy clinics q goes to ...most renowned for spinal and stroke Rehab now does all neuro Rehab ...residential and out patient including camps for all ages. I saw several fibro myalgia posters there. So come any time ....smile.

 

[1905]

Can you call Cory and ask him to come over and help you for a little while? If he knows it's in preperation for Keyana's visit will that motivate him? How about Mandy? She lived at your house rent free for so long, maybe now she can give back a little. Ask for a specicific area instead of "can you help clean my house". Maybe ask if one of them can clean the bathroom and the other can help in the kitchen. You'll watch Mickey. I'm sorry you're in such a bad place right now.

 

[pasajes4]

My best friend has fibro and I have seen first hand how it can just knock you off your feet. Do you get triger point injections. These seem to help her for 2 to 3 weeks after she gets them. They do them once a month.

She also qualifies for help with house work because of her disability and it is paid for through her medicade or medicare she is on both. Fibro is one of the conditions that soc. sec. disability covers.

 

[DammitJanet]

Pasa...Im gonna ask about that. I would think I would.

 

[Tiapet]

Janet,

I'm so sorry you had to sit there so long. I can identify with some of your struggles with the doctor's office poor time management as well as their inefficiency in handling their office procedures when without a computer, though it is more personal to you as we each always share our own struggles on a different level. I also believe that part of their problem in not being able to deal with the patients without the computer wasn't so much having to do with knowing who was scheduled or not but a lot more to do with the writing of the prescriptions and histories of their medications and such. Due to the fact that medications are highly controlled and monitored these days (as they should be) they have to be absolutely sure they are doing the right thing with the right people at all times. If they have a computer they have instant access to how much medication they are on, what they take, how they did in the past, allergies, any kind of abuse history or missed appointments/call in's for extra, what their last pill counts were, etc, many issues to have to know. Having to do this all manually may very well be almost impossible if they had no back up paper trail. If they did have some sort of trail written then it also means they would have to read each persons file much more thoroughly then a quick glance at certain areas on a computer screen that would give them a "heads up" or "fields" of information that give the information they need quickly. In the age of computers all this is too easily done and quickly. Back to old school ways and some just aren't ready for it. As you know, pain clinics are very busy and have a lot of patients at any given time in the office so of course it's going to cause a back log more so then the average day.

I do agree, however, that there is absolutely NO REASON that they couldn't have had someone manning the phones calling patients and warning them that there was a backlog like that and offering to reschedule (for those that could) or at the very least, a heads up to those that can't be sitting around so long at once time so that they can come in at a more appropriate time closer to when they would actually be seen on that day.

I'm also sorry that you are struggling with a flare up. It could be the weather and or stress you are feeling that isn't helping as well. I know in the past week or two I also haven't been the greatest either (as others have also commented). We all live in different areas and weather is different. I've also had quite a bit of stress so all factors considered, I know why I'm feeling why I do. No fun I know and especially for you not having anyone that really backs you up and helps you at home very much ever.

I did a little searching in your area for water therapy. I came up with some information. I hope it helps you. I do hope that one of the sources can help you as they all look like they can. I'm so happy that you did get the prescription written for it because that is part of the battle. The next step is finding it and then actually GOING to it. That might be a bigger hurdle for you but Janet, I think you really are ready for this and wanting it and know that it will help you. It will help you feel better not only physically (no it won't be a miracle) but it's going to help you emotionally and psychologically because you will be getting out of the house and getting some exercise as well as interacting with other people. Once you've been doing it for a little bit of time, that is when you will begin to feel and maybe see the difference in your self. You will be stronger in many ways. At first it's going to be hard no doubt to do it. Just getting up and out of the house each time when you may not feel like it, when you may feel pain (physical or otherwise) but I know you Janet, we ALL do! When you set your mind to something you do it!! You WILL do this!

Here you go:

Southeastern Lifestyle Center for Fitness & Rehabilitation
300 Corporate Dr
Lumberton NC 28358
910-618-9807
http://www.srmc.org/main/rehabservices/615-rehabaquatictherapy.html



Rehabworks
1170 Linkhaw Rd
Lumberton, NC
(910) 671-4624


Carolina Complete Rehabilitation
300 Corporate Dr
Lumberton, NC
(910) 671-0704


Physicians' Total Rehab
2930 Village Drive
Fayetteville, North Carolina 28304
Office: (910) 323-9010
http://www.physicianstotalrehab.com/aquatic-therapy.php



Cape Fear Valley HealthPlex
1930 Skibo Road
Fayetteville, NC 28303
(910) 615-7539
http://www.capefearvalley.com/healthplex/aquatics.html



BreakThrough Physical Therapy
530 Sandhurst Dr.
Fayetteville, NC 28304
Phone: 910-483-9300
http://breakthroughptclinics.com/services



Cape Fear Valley Rehabilitation Center
Formerly Southeastern REH Adult Outpatient Therapy
1638 Owen Dr
Fayetteville, NC 28304
(910) 615-4990


YMCA
3910 Ellison St # D
Hope Mills
(910) 426-9622


YMCA
2717 Fort Bragg Road
Fayetteville
(910) 323-0800

 

[DammitJanet]

Thanks Tia! I will try the first three. I cant go into Fayetteville once or twice a week because its at least an hour or more round trip depending on where it is in the city. Actually that Cape Fear Rehab was where I was when I had meningitis and I never saw a pool! Guess I didnt get the full tour. One would have thought they would have tried that on me considering I couldnt even walk at that time...lol.

I was hoping that Southeastern Lifestyle does this because it isnt too far and it is the fitness center associated with our local hospital but I didnt see anything on their website that said they did water therapy but maybe you found it sense you actually found rehab...I didnt. Years ago I remember they had a class for arthritis patients that I read about in the paper but I think you had to be a member...I sort of hope maybe this rx will serve that purpose. I think if I can just get in the pool and walk, I will start to feel better. I always feel like I can move so much better when I am in the water.

 

[InsaneCdn]

. I think if I can just get in the pool and walk, I will start to feel better. I always feel like I can move so much better when I am in the water.

YES. It works. I'm the same way - not because of weight (I have more than enough, but not extreme), but because of an extreme case of klutzitis... in the pool, once I'm in the water (all bets are off until I get there), I'm "safe". Just moving, stretching, and feeling "free" is worth it.