Post-op Day 8 *WARNING*

*SURGICAL IMAGE WARNING* I'm going to post a picture of my knee post-op without the bandage.

I haven't updated lately because my days have been similar. Rest, ice, tell Milo to stop barking, sleep, repeat. I have been healing though, i've been able to put more weight on my leg each day. I used two crutches, then one crutch, now i'm hobbling around without anything at home but used my cane when I went to see the doctor. Speaking of my GP, they didn't even send her the report! She didn't even know I had surgery until I said "well, i'm here to get my bandages off...". Lol. And what a relief it was to get them off! Wanna see a picture?

Bruises and Stitches

It's pretty bad quality...but basically my knee is inflamed and brused everywhere. It doesn't hurt much though, the feeling is like it's bruised. Which it is. And like I can't bend it all the way. And a bit achey. But compared to sciatic pain, it's nothing! I'm not sure why i'm bruised farther down the leg, maybe the surgeon was leaning on it? I'll have to ask next week. The stitches are prickly. My wrists are also getting quite sore. Whether from being on the compy/phone, arthritis flaring, or from holding my self up on counters and crutches i'm not sure.

In other news, i've started the second book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. I'm trying to catch up with the tv show (which is on season three, I think it would be around book three?) but it's slow going. I don't think I read as quickly on the computer as I do a physical book. Strange?

48 Hours Later

It's been a long 48 hours. Monday I was feeling pretty good, until the evening when my back hurt so much I had trouble sleeping and woke up a lot. Tuesday my back spasmed horribly, and more of my leg went numb (i've had a numb stripe since the microdiscectomy). ER, three crying fits, and a few hours later i'm sent home and told to see my gp and start some nerve pain meds. So thats what I do. I missed class again today (which I HATE doing) to see my gp (and have another crying fit >.>) and get a script for Lyrica.

I also got a script for sertraline. Because i'm not coping and my anxiety is up so high that i'm apparently crying infront of every health practitioner I come across. I'm not particularly proud of this...the crying or the sertraline...but I can't keep going like this, with either the pain or the emotions about the pain. I've used sertraline in the past with success, so i'm hoping it'll help carry me through this rough patch. 

So now i'm starting up a small dose of Lyrica and titrating down the amitriptyline before adding sertraline in 8 days or so. It isn't going to be a fun 8 days or so. I've already given warning to my husband. But i'm hoping this will help. I'm just so tired of this.

Being Thankful

Today was a not-so-much-fun day. I woke up with horrible back/sciatic pain. Really the worst i've had since I hurt my back working. Just aching, shooting, deep pain. Luckily, I already had a GP appointment. She was really great with everything, she think Lyrica will be the thing to help but I want to get up to the therapeutic dose of amitriptyline before I try anything else. She gave me some endone to get me through the worst days, with warnings not to get too attached. Which I wont. Because I hate the cloudy head feeling I get on anything heavier than 1 panadeine forte.

After a loooong travel back and a arduously slow hobble back to the apartment, I open up my new bag of trick to find that the pharmacist forgot the endone. W.T.F. After a hissy fit, I call them and of course there is a process to go through since it is a restricted drug (being a stronger opiate). After some time and a few calls the pharmacist says that he can't see on the security tape whether they did or did not give it to me, but as they know me he will drop it off at my apartment tonight. Really? Tonight? Yup. Returns my faith in humanity :). Thank you nice pharmacist. About an hour later I get my endone hand delivered to my door with apologies.

I'm so thankful to have people on my side, believing that i'm telling the truth. I'm so thankful to have people looking out for me :).

Milo, on the other hand, still had a sore paw. We are going to the vet tomorrow.

Lovely GP

I had a productive meeting with my GP today. As usual she was lovely, and quite concerned with my spike in pain levels. She agreed that trying the tricyclic antidepressants was a good idea, she actually has some other chronic pain patients on them so she knows that they can work well. She has also added 'round the clock panadol osteo (which is just a slow release panadol/acetaminophen) to my list of meds.

I took the amitriptyline a bit ago, and honestly i'm feeling a little bit speedy (not that i've taken speed before...just mind racy and that sort of thing) so....we'll see how I feel in another half hour. I'm hoping it will help...really really hoping.

I've also lost two kilos since my last visit! Yay! BP is also fine so...yeah...other than being diseased and symptom-ed and fat i'm pretty healthy ;)

BC and GP

Ah dear, what a day it's been.

We've had a bit of a tiff in the body corporate over what trees were meant to be cut down along our side yard. It was generally understood that tree which could cause damage were to be cut down and poisoned  I have no idea which trees can cause damage here, so Bran and I left it up to the tree lopper and other people in te BC. Well, I woke up this morning to the people cutting down almost all of the trees on the property. Again, maybe they were all potential damage inducers? I wouldn't know. But now we have some of the other owners very upset about it. It's sad to see the beautiful big trees being cut down, and I feel like I should feel worse about it...but I also feel that we need to protect our home, and it was decided that we would plant more suitable trees there once things are settled. Anyway, upset on the homefront is never nice...so thats been part of my day.

The other part of my day was going to my GP and taking care of some paperwork that I need to deal with centrelink. I've also got a new six month card for blood tests and we've decided which path to go with for the psychologist i'm seeing. I also got a big thing of good olive oil for half price :D. Tomorrow i'll need to go deal with centrelink and see of they can actually be of any assistance, if not i'll have to try somewhere else...

Overall i'm alright today, my mood has been better since I had a nice cry over labs testing on beagles yesterday. Painwise was meh, my right arm is still sore and my muscles are more tender than normal. I'll start back on my DMARDs tomorrow, but i'm glad I got a blood test done while i've been off of them for a while. It'll be interesting to see what they say.

I will also say i've taken a tramadol, I need a bit of pain relief. Goodnight

Supplement Update

You would think i'd learn to write in the middle of the day when i'm trying not to do too much since it's so hot....but no. Somehow I write before bed. Eh, maybe it's a good way to de-stress? I seem to recall hearing that somewhere.

Today was a quiet day at home. I got some laundry done but that was about it. Made a salad with bbq chicken on it for dinner. Bran and I are really digging salad with chicken on it now-a-days. I started taking my new animo acid supplement today as well. It's too early to notice a difference, but I can say I was able to do an extra loop around the park on our walk. I haven't really had stable energy though, going back and forth between wanting to be up and doing things to desperately trying to make some coffee so I can do something useful.

Pain wasn't too bad today. R wrist and elbow mostly. Shoulders are back to being stiff. My back is getting sore when I sit too long. Speaking of which i'm also back on the InflamEze Activ which is a mix of devil's claw, cat's claw, and a tumeric extract. In the past it did seem to help my back pain so i'll see how it goes as the saligesic didn't really help at all. At least I can say i've trialed some of the things i'll be prescribing ;). I'm still on the valarian complex, Remotiv, vit D,  activated vit B's, and the withania complex until that runs out.

GP tomorrow to talk about centrelink stuff and mental health plan.

Tall Stack

It's been almost a month since I last updated. Oh, and what a month it has been!

I ended up getting food poisoning and being quite ill for two weeks, this ended with me deferring one of my exams. I also ended up going off my meds because obviously there is no point in taking them if they just go through you (or potentially make your immune system even less able to help).

Being off my meds has brought on some interesting symptoms though. I've found i'm much more cognitively impaired at times (brain fog) which would mean that is an autoimmune aspect and not a mystery fibro symptom. I've also started developing psoriasis plaques again. Which would mean I do indeed have psoriatic arthritis and no sero-negative rheumatoid (though it's possible that could develop at any time). I've kept off my pharmaceuticals so I can show this to my doctor on wednesday.

I have gone back on my naturopathic medicine, and while I definitely see the benefit in the anti-anxiety and anti-depression herbs (St. john's wart, hops, and valerian with passion flower extract as an emergency for panic attacks), I don't think i've had much help with the saligesic or the herbs that are meant to help with energy. But considering most of my pain is fibro, i'm not too surprised. I also tried taking some magnesium, but it caused stomach upset. My next course of action is to go back to Mark the acupuncturist and see if that will help.

In other news, I am a permanent resident. That actually doesn't mean so much...they can't kick me out as easily. In a year I can apply for citizenship. I can access centrelink if need be (although Bran is thankfully earning a good living, thus I cannot access anything). And I pay domestic prices for uni. But I am not able to get the HELP debt (which is a gov't loan for school which you start paying back once you earn a certain wage). Which I thought I could get... So i'll likely only be going to school part time this year and hopefully finding a job.

I got a new phone. It's shiny.

Finally, i've gone to a few more meet-ups. One of my usual pagan ones, one for a fibromyalgia group, and one for a different pagan group. The fibro one was nice, it was good to be able to talk about things with people who understand a bit more. The other pagan one was quite fun and i'd like to meet up with them again. Quite a lively bunch! We had a nice discussion about crystals, contacting the other side, and a bit about older magic systems. I also had the opportunity to try mead, which I quite enjoyed.

Thats about it for me. I'll try to get back in the habit of regular updates.

STRESS

Oh. My. Goodness. It's been a very stressful last few days. My anxiety has been increasing anyway as I have final exams coming up, my family hasn't contacted me, as well as dealing with the ever ongoing pain and problems that come along with PsA and fibro. Now i'm having problems with my neighbour. I wont go into too much detail, our dog scared her cat and that caused some upset. I can understand that, I just hate knowing that someone who shares a wall with us is mad. Plus I know Milo didn't mean any harm :( he just hasn't met a cat....but it also puts a stop on our plan to adopt a cat until we know Milo will calm down.

Anyway, it's all caused too much stress and I was really starting to break down. My naturopath gave me another herbal tablet and a vial of passion flower extract to help deal with anxiety, i'm very thankful for that as i've been able to function much better for the past day and a half than I have for the previous week! Which is good, as I have a very busy week of meeting with my GP, rheumatologist, and osteopath. I met with my OT already today to deal with my wrist brace hurting my thumb, as well as class and getting blood drawn for my monthly tests.

Honestly, i'm tired and really in pain from my wrist, elbow, hips, feet, jaw and ankle. But my back is feeling mostly better! It's nice knowing I have some people on my health care team who are doing their best to help.

Surprise MRI

I had my visit with the neurosurgeon about my back today. It was just so workcover can figure out whats going on really. He said basically i'll be fine, just that there isn't a particular time frame of when i'll start feeling better (the back injury, anyway). So i'm not really sure what workcover is going to do with this information...

Anyway, I also got to jump ahead in line for my right hand MRI! This will show whether the arthritis has damaged my joints yet. Despite the fact that I only put in the request today, they had a cancelation so i'm up tomorrow afternoon. I'm not really sure what I want it to show...of course I don't want there to be damage, since that is irreversible and bad, but part of me wants to have something to show to my rheumatologist to say "See! Told ya! Now I would like it if you gave a crap!". We'll just have to see. It'll be good to get a baseline anyway for in the future to judge if any/how much damage is done in a specific time period. If there is damage, it'll also help say whether it is PsA or RA. I'm not really digging either, but there are some different ways they are treated.

On a very good note, my Naturopath has me on some new tablets that I think are helping. One is a pain tablet which I do notice helping, since I can tell when it wears off (lol). Another is one thats meant to help me calm down and sleep better. I think it's helping, I did sleep well last night. The last is st. john's wart which has anti-depressant/anti-anxiety properties. That one has for sure helped me get off the stupid cymbalta! I've actually not has any brain zaps today, and even over the past two weeks they've been bearable and decreasing. I feel a bit bad that I wasn't able to tolerate the liquid mixes he made, i'm not sure if it was the alcohol base or what...but I just couldn't do it.

Now i'm off to bed to prepare for another full day tomorrow of class, MRI, and a doctors appointment all in different areas of town >.> Yay!

Gp and Fibromyalgia

I am soooo cold :(. I've had a hard time warming up all day. Even with a hot shower and bath, I just can't seem to keep heat...

Met with lovely GP today. She discussed fibro in more detail with me and we decided to switch from sertraline (zoloft) over to duloxetine (cymbalta). It's an SNRI as opposed to an SSRI, and it's meant to help with nerve pain and fibro symptoms along with being an anti-depressant. I don't know how i'll go giving up sertraline though...it's been really great with bringing down anxiety without making me feel like a zombie.

Other than that I baked a whole chicken, my first. It turned out alright. I've also been quite sore, maybe because it's cold? Donno. But wrists hurt too much to type anymore. Goodnight.

Moving, Meds, and Milo

I may or may not have been looking at Lolcats for the last hour or so >.>...

Bran, Milo, and I are all cuddle up on the couch. Bran is watching his footy, Milo is sleeping, and i'm looking at lolcats and typing.

We had a somewhat busy day. The lot of us headed over to the apartment to do some unpacking and cleaning up for the big move next weekend. I still have some bits and bobs to pack, but most of our small things are over already thanks to Sarah's help (my MiL). Milo is starting to get more used to it and i'm sure once his bed is there he'll be happy enough.

Other than that I had a bad cognitive day yesterday. I ended up going to bed around 7:30 and sleeping for about 12 hours >.>. I am feeling mostly better today thankfully, though I did nap after we had a long walk to find the dog park in Northgate.

I'm still struggling a bit with figuring out what fibromyalgia means. I've looked up some studies, medicines, and whatnot but I think i'll just have to have a chat with my GP about it. She's been great with explaining things and helping to find the right mix of meds. I'm not sure if going on another medicine is the right thing, but I don't want to be talking the tramadol all the time. It lessens the pain a bit, but I know it's only covering up the symptoms (and making my brain foggier) and not actually helping.

Tomorrow is a relaxing day. Maybe grocery shopping though I can do that on monday and safe us a trip.

Milo has been doing much better on salmon, brown rice, and greens. He's just about entirely healed up though he had dropped weight :/. We're upping his salmon this weeks and trying out lamb to see if he can handle it.

Update of Dooooooooom

We has another visitor this morning :). It was a little fluffy cream coloured pup. Of course she didn't have any tags, so I spent 40 minutes walking around the giant hill here knocking on doors >.>. Lots of people still in their pjs. We did eventually find her owner, who said she was just on her way to get some tags...yeah. She was a nice little pup anyway.

After that adventure, I had to rush to get to the RBWH for an MRI of my knee. I have no idea when i'll get the results, I guess when the ortho-surgeon feels like getting back to me. Always fun to have to wear just a thin little gown and go into a small noisy tube.

After that I had to rush back home to let Milo out and rest a bit before class. I. Was. So. Tired. But Milo wanted love (and to go in and out plenty of times) so I didn't get to nap.

In between this I called the property lawyer to set up a meeting (tomorrow), called the real estate guy to make sure he had talked to the owner (he had), and called the loan guy to see where he is at with that (he was seeing if he could lend us more, thanks anyway RAMS :) ).

Now i'm going to bed to hopefully get a good nights sleep so I can be awake for class and the meeting with the lawyer tomorrow x.X.

Pain was a bit annoying today. My R foot was angry after the MRI so I used a cane for the trip to uni and back. Still getting the pain on the side of my leg. GP thinks it's refereed pain from my back :/ so thats a bit concerning. I guess as long as i'm not getting any nerve side effects it should be ok.

Migraine of DOOM

Had my GP visit today. She has upped the prednisone to 10 mg a day and has concluded that my random vertigo/wiggly vision was indeed a migraine. Thats good I guess? Better than it being a more serious problem :). I'm also going to get some of the blood tests for rheumatoid re-done to see if anything has changed. I guess we'll see.

I have been quite sore today. Mostly in my hands, I think because it was so cold this morning. I'm also very tired.

Off to See the GP...the Wonderful GP of Oz >.>

I wasn't too sore today...until my physio exercise class >.> now i'm really sore. I have been quite tired though. Going to the GP tomorrow to talk about the weird vertigo thing. My brain isn't working so well...

On a lighter note, the physio did note that my leg muscles are getting stronger :) huzzah! Now if only it would actually help my knee!

It's Not Everyday That You See a Platypus Pole Dancing

Pretty much what the title said. I started off my day with a trip to my (lovely) gp. While walking down to the bus I was greeted by a person dressed as a platypus pole dancing on a light post with a sign saying something about saving the wild rivers. If thats not an interesting way to start off your day than I don't know what is!

My (lovely) gp trip was to have her fill out my student disability paperwork. Which she did, including adding in some extra things that I hadn't thought of and asking if I want to add more :). She's such a great gp. I still don't quite know how I feel about having a "disabled" label in my student files. I don't feel like i'm disabled, just that my hands don't work sometimes >.>...and I can't lift heavy things....and I need to stretch often....and sometimes I can't think very well...

Anyway, i'll hand that in tomorrow and be done with it.

I also met up with one of the people from the chronic illness meetup for coffee. She is such a lovely person :) I really enjoyed talking to her. Hopefully we can meet up again.

Pain level not too bad today, a bit sore this morning. I have been having problems with my R knee, it's displaced itself twice today and once last night. Not my favorite. I was feeling pretty bad this morning, fever-y and unwell. It got better by the afternoon after I had rested. I wonder if it's related to the potato curry? Or the change in weather? It was much cooler today.

Short Stack

Only a quick update today. I'm terribly tired. Doctors went alright, had the blood test early and everything looks fine. It is a nodule on my finger but that doesn't actually mean anything >.>...

School was nice except for the random make shift presentation we had to do. I totally rocked it. I think i'm a kinesthetic learner as I tend to learn best by doing as opposed to seeing or hearing. 


I think i'll fill out the paperwork for the student services. That way if I need longer to physically write an exam i'll have it on record.

Went swimming, I had to share my lane with two other people who were way faster :/ but it did get me working harder!

Now i'm sleepy. Goodnight.

Pain: hands, arms, shoulders, sternum, R knee, ankles, heels, toes, some nerve pain down R leg, some stomach upset (from pizza? Wheat or dairy?)

Stuff and Things

Ah dear. It was a long day today, and will be a longer one tomorrow. Today was new student orientation (which a total of 5 out of 110 new students went to >.>) and class.  I was also able to get some housework done so that is good :). Tomorrow I have a GP appointment to check out the bump on my knuckle, grocery shopping, class, a meeting with the student assistance head and swimming if i'm not exhausted. I'm tired just thinking about it! Or maybe because I was up at 5:30 am today >.>. Been a while since i've seen sunrise.

My foot has mostly been alright, it's starting to flare up a bit now. I've had to ration my prednisone to 4 mg for the last two days, 5 mg today. But i'll get it filled tomorrow :). My poor doctor, I have a bit of a laundry list for her...

On a lighter note, we had home made pizza for dinner :D I have to say...my wheat crust is much better than my not wheat crust...but thats mostly because I make awesome pizza to begin with (with the help of my happy hubby <3 he kneads and cuts things up :D ).

I also found out that I won't have to sit a test to get my Aussie driver's license! That was super exciting. So i'll be legal to drive (despite not having a car) this weekend or so :) it will be useful on the other hand to have a legal form of ID other than my passport. That also means i'll FINALLY be able to start the name changing process (much to Bran's joy, poor guy has had to wait nearly two years for his wife to have the same name! [not that partners need to have the same name, but it was something we decided on before we got married and he has been very patient :) ] ).

Pain: R FOOT, wrists, hands, elbows, SHOULDERS, R knee, ankles, toes, getting some nerve pain down my R leg which is a bit concerning...

Fun Times With MTX

It's been a hecktic few days. On monday I finally got to see the rheumy, who once more told me my arthritis is mild (I know that, but telling me over and over doesn't make my knuckles hurt less!) and seemed irritated that I was doing my own research >.>. I had to badger him a bit to sign a form for me to get some occupational therapy for my hands :/ but I persevered!  He then gave me a script for methotrexate (mtx) and folic acid and sent me on my way. I'm awfully glad i've done my own research though, because he told me absolutely nothing about methotrexate beyond it's a chemo drug but the dose for arthritis is much much smaller. Nothing about avoiding too much sunlight or tanning beds or not taking NSAIDS within 24 hours (bad for your liver) or call your doctor right away if you develop a dry cough because your lungs could be dying >.>...

Anyway, I was pretty sick about 6 hours after I took my dose, and continued to be nauseous for most of yesterday. I also was nauseous today about an hour after taking my normal meds. Thus prompted the call and trip to the gp. Wonderful gp discussed mtx with me, we talked about options for dealing with the nausea, she asked about other problems and sent me off with a script for an anti-nausea med to take a few hours after I take the mtx.

I also saw my counselor for the first time yesterday. I have the feeling it's going to be difficult to work though the problems I want to, but it'll be worth it in the end :). She seems like a really lovely person as well, very easy to talk to. Which is always a plus for a counselor XD.

Pain: arms, shoulders especially (might be more muscle), jaw, ankles, toes, R knee, hips

Thanks for Noticing

Thank you to the two people who have chosen to follow me :). I'm afraid i'm not a very interesting person, and this is more of a boring personal type blog, but I appreciate that someone is interested in my story. I try to type at least something daily.

I'm not looking forward to visiting my GP tomorrow. I know it's something that is needed, because I know i'm not coping particularly well, but I hate the idea of doing a "mental health plan" >.>. It'll be wonderful to eventually see a therapist and learn better ways of coping with chronic illness, but it's so hard to talk about the emotionally painful things i've been through. I've decided to be strong though and accept the help that is being offered. It seems like this is the time in my life to start getting things fixed up within myself.

In other news, i've gotten a new vegan "cream cheese" which is wonderful! I've tried some vegan cheeses before and they have mostly been pretty awful, except for this one. The brand is Tofutti, it's called "better than cream cheese" haha :D. Although I wouldn't call it better, it had a nice texture and a pleasant enough taste. It also melted, which some vegan cheeses don't ever do. Now I just need some GF bagels ;).

Pain: arms, shoulders and fingers especially, back is mostly better, R knee is a bit off. Still flaring, but not as bad as yesterday. Hopefully it is going down.