On October 13th, I had my initial consultation with the person who is my new pain doc.
Granted, she's not what I would deem "local" to me, it SHOULD only take a half hour to get to her office, yanno, provided I put her CORRECT address in my Waze. And driving into CT now is an exercise in "rage management," my god. The traffic. So between the traffic and my gaffe at the wrong address, I managed to show up a half hour late to the office--and MERCIFULLY, they still managed to see me.
Granted, due to the time constraint, the appointment was thorough and stayed on point, and no room for chit chat. I articulated quickly what my chronic issues are, and what my acute issues are. I provided diagnostic imaging reports for everything, blood work, you name it. I come prepared. No real room for too many questions on my part, but she was able to come to a very quick theory of what is causing the acute issues. She was able to do in about a half hour what the previous (SHITTY) pain doc couldn't manage to do in a year's worth of visits, and come to the conclusion that the hip problems are the result of some injury or instability to my knees (which isn't a wild goose chase, as I have taken two very bad tumbles in the last ten years).
A follow up appointment was scheduled for 10/24. We discussed some sort of injections, possible cortisone for the elbow (not my first choice!), trigger point injections of lidocaine in my neck and shoulders, and if the insurance would approve it, hyaluronic acid in my knees.
The appointment on 10/24 went as planned. The shot in the elbow was guided by ultrasound imaging, and I was watching on the screen as she did the injection. Which, I've heard horror stories about cortisone injections, and while this was not "pleasant," it wasn't the worst possible thing I've endured.
Next up were the trigger point injections. She started between my shoulders and worked her way up my neck, working quickly and without any real reaction from me, with the last shot to be pretty much behind my right ear. Once the last shot was done, my stomach churned a bit, and I started to feel disconnected like I was entering some sort of vacuum. Before I knew it, I was on my way to passing out.
Fortunately, I recovered quick, and I also had a therapeutic massage scheduled with her therapist, immediately after the appointment. And immediately after that, I went across the hall for xrays of my hip (which I cc'd my chiropractor).
She sent me on my way with prescriptions for an MRI of my right knee (which I had done 10/22), and I need to go in for an arthrogram this coming Friday, which I am not looking forward to, as they will be injecting contrast material directly into the capsule of the hip, and doing an MRI.
I see my chiropractor tomorrow night, so I should get all my copies of the reports thus far, as well as get more info from him on his knowledge of what to anticipate during an arthrogram. Initially I was just going to take a half day off from the office--but I reconsidered, and am taking the whole day. I'm just going to go home after, and nap until physical therapy at 4, and pretty much take it easy the rest of the time.
I follow up with the pain doc for another appointment on 11/11, where I suppose I'll have more shots and another massage.
At this rate, I hope to be feeling considerably better by the time Christmas is here. I hope.
Granted, she's not what I would deem "local" to me, it SHOULD only take a half hour to get to her office, yanno, provided I put her CORRECT address in my Waze. And driving into CT now is an exercise in "rage management," my god. The traffic. So between the traffic and my gaffe at the wrong address, I managed to show up a half hour late to the office--and MERCIFULLY, they still managed to see me.
Granted, due to the time constraint, the appointment was thorough and stayed on point, and no room for chit chat. I articulated quickly what my chronic issues are, and what my acute issues are. I provided diagnostic imaging reports for everything, blood work, you name it. I come prepared. No real room for too many questions on my part, but she was able to come to a very quick theory of what is causing the acute issues. She was able to do in about a half hour what the previous (SHITTY) pain doc couldn't manage to do in a year's worth of visits, and come to the conclusion that the hip problems are the result of some injury or instability to my knees (which isn't a wild goose chase, as I have taken two very bad tumbles in the last ten years).
A follow up appointment was scheduled for 10/24. We discussed some sort of injections, possible cortisone for the elbow (not my first choice!), trigger point injections of lidocaine in my neck and shoulders, and if the insurance would approve it, hyaluronic acid in my knees.
The appointment on 10/24 went as planned. The shot in the elbow was guided by ultrasound imaging, and I was watching on the screen as she did the injection. Which, I've heard horror stories about cortisone injections, and while this was not "pleasant," it wasn't the worst possible thing I've endured.
Next up were the trigger point injections. She started between my shoulders and worked her way up my neck, working quickly and without any real reaction from me, with the last shot to be pretty much behind my right ear. Once the last shot was done, my stomach churned a bit, and I started to feel disconnected like I was entering some sort of vacuum. Before I knew it, I was on my way to passing out.
Fortunately, I recovered quick, and I also had a therapeutic massage scheduled with her therapist, immediately after the appointment. And immediately after that, I went across the hall for xrays of my hip (which I cc'd my chiropractor).
She sent me on my way with prescriptions for an MRI of my right knee (which I had done 10/22), and I need to go in for an arthrogram this coming Friday, which I am not looking forward to, as they will be injecting contrast material directly into the capsule of the hip, and doing an MRI.
I see my chiropractor tomorrow night, so I should get all my copies of the reports thus far, as well as get more info from him on his knowledge of what to anticipate during an arthrogram. Initially I was just going to take a half day off from the office--but I reconsidered, and am taking the whole day. I'm just going to go home after, and nap until physical therapy at 4, and pretty much take it easy the rest of the time.
I follow up with the pain doc for another appointment on 11/11, where I suppose I'll have more shots and another massage.
At this rate, I hope to be feeling considerably better by the time Christmas is here. I hope.
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