Hello All,

Some of you know me and some don't. I've been around a lot just not posting as much. I have a big favor to ask that you keep me in your thoughts and prayers. Reason why is below.

Some of you know that I have been having some problems lately. My hips were hurting for the longest time. Hubby and I didn't really know why until just recently. We decided on seeing a new orthopaedic doctor and found out that I have arthritis in both of my hips and both of my knees not to mention my ankle. I have been on pain killers for quite some time for my ankle. It was what was acting up the most. My pcp allowed me to be on them. Then I started having real problems with my legs. No one was sure if it had to do with the rods that are in my femurs (thighs). So my pcp thought it was time to see an orthopaedic. Hubby and I didn't want the one we had been seeing since the guy really didn't seem to care about me. So my pcp hooked me up with a new set of drs. These drs. are really something. They really care about their patients. I asked him to take some new x-rays of my femurs and new to us he invited us to view them while he explained them to us. This has never happened to us before.

He showed us how I have arthritis in my hips besides bursitis in my left hip. Then he was telling us how I also have arthritis in my knees. This was really new to me. I had been having problems with my knees, just didn't know it was that. There were times my knees wanted to give out on me. So I have all of this on top of the arthritis in my ankle.

Next step up, we will be seeing one of his co-workers this coming month to see if the rods might be part of the problem. Plus I took an extra step this past week, I am getting the medical records from the hospital that I was in that put all the metal in me. This way if they need to take the rods out, they will know what to use to do it with.

Lately I have been in really bad pain. Especially when the air is changing and we have storms on the horizon. Then I am in a lot of pain like yesterday. I'm trying the ice to the heat, but man it's really bugging me. The ice numbed me up big time but also hurt like heck. Then the heat I barely felt. Hubby figured that's what the dr. meant. I'm figuring differently. My appt. is the 15th. Please pray that they let us know what the next step is if there is one? Thanks.

Cecile

I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.  Think positive.

Hugs, Sandee

You are in my thoughts and prayers.  Hope the new doctor is able to find some relief for you.

Deb

Well Mark and I have been doing some thinking and discussing. We are planning on having the rods removed. Then all depending on what they tell us about my right ankle. We might have them do something else about it, like having it removed for a fake one. This way maybe I won't be in such pain like I am now. We will talk to the dr. about it. Hopefully soon I get my medical records from the hospital that put the metal in me in the first place. We know that not all the pain will leave since I now have the arthritis.

Cecile,

You'll be in my thoughts and prayers today.  Best wishes on discovering if there's anything to be done to relieve your pain.

Thank you Deb and Nicky. Unfortunately there will be no relief in sight for the pain. That's Mr. Arthritis doing that. We just want to prevent more pain from coming. That's why we want to get the rods removed out of my legs. It will be bad enough that I will then have a hole going down the middle of my leg from the rod. If I am to have the operation, I would rather have it during the winter time. I like to be out in the spring and summer.

Well my appt. got changed to the last Wednesday of this month. Which is good since I still have not received my medical records. If I don't get them by Friday, Boston will be getting a phone call to find out why not. I want to find out all I can before going to reapply for social security. I'm figuring that not all the drs. were forth coming with the info. And I know my previous PCP didn't even bother with sending info to S.S. I read through all the papers that she sent me and it didn't make me too happy to see what she couldn't be bothered to do. It's bad enough I can't stand for long periods of time or sit for long periods on time. I'm worthless at working then. It's really sad.

Hi Miss Janel,

Unfortunately the only thing they suggested to me was ice/heat packs and either advil or pain killers since I wouldn't do the cortizone shots. It's funny, when Mark heard the cortizone shot idea, he was the one who turned it down and explained to the dr. why. Needless to say that subject didn't come up again. And I have a feeling the reason why my knees are so bad along with my left hip is because of all the fall downs I did with either Sammy (my yellow lab) or just not paying attention. As for my medical records, they haven't arrived as of yet. If I don't get them by tomorrow, Boston will be getting a phone call instead of email. Then watch, I will get them on Monday. We just want the rods out. We know they are metal, and metal doesn't like cold just like Mr. A doesn't like cold. We will soon find out.

Hi All,

First, Deb I can't do the cortizone shots because they only leave me unable to do anything. When I had it in my ankle and right hip, I was down and out for the entire weekend besides being in pain and unable to walk, sit or just get around. We had to apply ice because my ankle swelled so much. And then after it wore off, I was no better. And from what we understand, it would be an anesthia who would put it in under x-rays. So we decided against that route. And that was Mark's decision. He didn't like what I went through on the shot.

Here's an update. I saw Dr. White on the 30th. After all the poking and proding, I am scheduled to have a bone scan and MRI a week from today. I have way too much pain in my left hip. After seeing him, I had a hard time doing anything including sitting the hole 45 minutes to go back home. And then once we got home, I was in so much pain I had to take 2 pain killers to stop some of it. He wants to find all the hot spots to see if there's any new damage, if the rod is causing all the pain, and what exactly is going on in the bones. He said if nothing shows up there, he's going to dig deeper to find out what is causing all the pain. He wants to put an end to end.

Thanks for all your contiued prayers.

Well I went yesterday for the tests and needless to say, I freaked out on the MRI. I didn't do it. I felt way too closed in. So the MRI never happened. It took me almost an hour to calm down in the waiting room. Luckly my bone scan wasn't ready until an hour later. This way I could relax before it. I don't like things over my head real close. I found out that they were doing a complete body bone scan first. Which meant having the machine over my head for a few minutes. I dealt with it, then once I was able to see the ceiling I felt better. Now if only they made it that easy for the MRI. They don't need to do a full body when it's only concerning my legs. I don't want anything over my head. Monday I will find out if the bone scan was enough.

I felt like a hotdog wrapped in a crescent roll going into the MRI. So I didn't do it.

Hi Countrysister, sorry to hear about your sister. I know one of my problems is arthritis. It flairs up everytime the weather is changing. When we have way too much rain coming, my lower back is in severe pain. Hopefully the bone scan shows it. I'm also hoping it shows other things. Give sis a big hug from me.

Hi Deb,  I read in the prayer list about your brother. It's always sad to hear when a loved one so close to you might be dealing with cancer yet again. Mark and I have had quite a few loved ones either del with it or die from it. This past year we went to a funeral for one of his cousins who had breast cancer and while being treated for it, got lung cancer too. Her body couldn't take it anymore. She was a dear sweet lady too. Her name was Sally. My hear goes out to your brother in the fact that we both know how he will be with just one kidney. Mark's uncle will be that way come Wednesday. He's going in the because he has growths on his kidney. I sent him an email in hopes to cheer him up some. You see a lot of our friends and family don't know I have been living my life with one kidney. It was really weird at the hospital Friday. People were having a hard time comprehending that I was only born with one kidney. They thought it was due to my accident. Nothing like having to explain that it had nothing to do with the accident. You just have to be more careful with your life and be careful with what you eat, drink or do. Imagine not being able to take gym or PE in school. And all the kids are looking at you like to ask, what makes you so special. In some ways I missed not being able to do it, in others I could understand. Especially when I actually found out where my kidney was located. Then I really understood.

As for your sister, what exactly does her husband have? I know Mark's grandmother died from COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). She had to have oxygen for the remainder of her life. And she never smokied cigarretts a day in her life. I was with her up to the day she died since she was at home and we lived upstairs from her. Basically someone was with her most of the time unless she was sleeping. She always had oxygen going into her nose so she was ok there. I knew when the day was going to be that she was going to die. I saw the miracle that happened before she left us. And yes, I do believe in miracles since I've seen a few. What your sister has to remember is don't get so worked up, and just let things happen. When it's his time to go, just let go. Don't try to hang on because it will make him feel like he has to stay around for something. Just let go. Let him know everything will be all right. Trust me, I know.

Hi Everyone, I haven't been here in awhile and just want you all to know I and thinking about you all more than u know.  You are in my prayers.

Cece, I have to ask, with the rods being in your legs that long haven't the bones grown to them all over?  My son had to have a rod in his arm when he was in high school 20+ years ago.  It stayed in one year and the bone had grown to it.  Can they get it out without chipping the bone alot?  I don't want to be an alarmist but I keep thinking about it.  Hugs

Hi Pam,

I could never feel strange about having one kidney when that was what I was born with. It just felt weird how everyone at the hospital treated me when they found out. They all thought it had to be because of the accident. I am just really careful with what I put in my body. Especially meds. If it has anything that's against kidneys I leave it alone. Having that one kidney stone really put me through a loop. And the lithotripsy did a number on my heart. Not something I ever want to go through again.

Good luck Deb with the job interview. I can't even think about going out and working. I could never do it now. I can't stand for long periods and I can't sit for long periods.

Good morning all. Well Friday I went for a ct scan. Before I went for it though, on Thursday I did some homework to see exactly what was up plus I called the hospital to find out. It was going to be very open. And they were only scanning what needed to be scanned. I had actually talked with the ct scan tech to find this out. So when I went on Friday I was just fine. After the scan, the tech who's name was Donna was great. Like she had said, a ct scan is nothing like an mri. That's for sure. Now tomorrow I will be going to find out the results of that test and see where we go from there. I know this weekend was rough. My hip was in pain the whole weekend. So I hope they can tell us something.

Well we went and saw the dr. yesterday. The bone scan proved that I have bad arthritis in my ankle besides the arthritis in my hips and knees. The ct scan didn't show anything wrong. And from what the dr. said, it might be more on the bad side than good side to remove the rod. Just by removing it, it could cause a break. So he suggested to leave the rod alone. He referred us to Dr. Harrington. He's thinking it might have to do with my back. Whether it be a bad disc or a pinched nerve. So we will be seeing him November 3rd. At first I was going to put it off, but Mark said no. He figures we went this far, we will see what this dr. has to say. I can see in some ways seeing this dr. because there are those days when the lower part of my back is just killing me. And I can barely stand it.

Deb, you do realize he will be in the hospital for a few days. Mark's uncle just got out the other day. He is cancer free too which is great. Now he will finish healing up at home. He lives quite a few towns away from us, so getting over there to visit is out for now.

Glad to hear your brother is cancer free too. Now is the healing time.

So happy to hear about your brother, Deb! And all the others who are now cancer-free!
Cecile, I am praying that you find some answers for all of your pain issues and that your doctors can help you.
Judy, glad to hear you are feeling better too! Don't let a bladder infection go too long....my sis did and she ended up in the ICU. She had become dehydrated and went into septic shock. She's fine now, though-we are very grateful...she was one sick lady.
Everyone, keep looking up- you're in my prayers!
Much love,
Pam

Hmmm-Cecile, that is strange that the doctors thought that about your having one kidney...you'd think they would know about people who are born with only one! I've heard of some people born with three kidneys, so I guess God makes us all different...good for you for protecting that one kidney you do have!

Well on November 3rd, we saw Dr. Harrington. He was very good and Mark was very impressed with him. He told me that my SIJ joint was what the problem was. It's sounding like it has arthritis in it as well as the bursitis in the outside of my hip. He gave me some Lidoderm patches to try besides a perscription for them. Plus he put me on physical therapy for 4 weeks. Mark  told me to look up online about these patches. Besides supposedly somewhat killing the pain, they had a bunch of side effects to them. One, they acted like an anesthetic. I was wondering why all of a sudden I was really tired. It felt like I had a real hard time waking back up again. I did further research on this and read the pros and cons. Needless to say there were more cons than pros and some of the pros should have been cons. So I stopped taking the patch. Plus our copay for that would have been 35.00. Nothing we could afford. My copay for my tylenol is only 10.00. Next Thursday I start p.t.. Then December 15th I go back to see Dr. Harrington. I don't think he will bring up cortizone shots either. He tried to get me to have that, and both Mark and I said no. He said that if the patches work, then we could try the cortizone shot. Not a happening thing. We will see what Thursday brings now.