Tuesday, November 15, 2011

It's been a while since I could hold my head up high...

I know I haven't written in a few days. I've been reminded by a few people. I greatly appreciate their reminders though, because it also reminds me that someone is reading.
So, I was super excited to get out of the house Saturday and go to the craft show with Mom, Mimi, and Isabella. It went pretty well, and we went to Big Lots afterward. I was already hurting when we left the show, but I trucked on. By the time we finished at Big Lots, I'd been 6 hours without pain medication. I was tired of being treated like I was just a pill head and taking the meds when I didn't really need them, so I didn't take them. I was miserable. When we got back to Mom's house, I was getting out of the Envoy and when I stepped out with my right leg, I felt and heard a snap. I couldn't catch my breath, the pain was so bad. I started sobbing and screaming every time I had to take a step and bear my weight on the right leg. Keep in mind, this is supposed to be my good leg. After sitting on Mom's front porch in a chair for almost half an hour waiting for my pain meds to kick in, I started to realize that they weren't going to work this time. They had to put me in my wheelchair and wheel me inside. I wasn't having any pain whatsoever on my left side, where I normally hurt, but all on my right. I couldn't sit or stand comfortably. I finally gave in and called Shaun to see what he thought. He said he thought I needed to go to the ER. I didn't want to, but I figured I needed to see if maybe I'd hurt something even more. Mom refused to drive me, so Shaun and Ashley came to get me. When I got to the ER, I was put in a room, and the doc gave me two shots of dilaudid. It didn't even touch it. As long as I didn't move my leg at all, the pain was tolerable, but any sort of jostle or bump and I was back in tears. Ashley drove about 30mph the whole way in for fear of hurting me. For the record, she did a great job. I had X-rays done (the funny part of this will come out once I catch up) and the doc stated that either I "reinjured the pelvic fracture, or it just wasn't healing right in the first place." I was leaning toward a reinjure, because I figured I would have had the pain all along if it 'just wasn't healing right'. But, hey, I'm just an EMT. What do I know, right?
I was discharged with no changes to pain medication and orders to do absolutely no weight bearing on either side until I see my orthopedic surgeon (Tucker). I went back home with Mimi, and was in tears just from slight movement. She gave me vicoprofen, and surprisingly, I got relief. Even when the Roxicodone and Percocet wouldn't work.
Fast forward to today, when I visited Dr. Tucker. He came in, looked at my X-rays from TRMC and asked what happened. I explained to him that I stepped out, and heard a snap. When I indicated my right leg during the explanation, he was looking at my X-ray, and freaked out, saying, "You shouldn't be bearing ANY weight on that leg!" I looked at him, confused, and told him that that's the only way I can get around. He then asked if the right side was the one he did surgery on, and I said no. He said he'd thought so, but apparently TRMC labelled my X-rays wrong, showing the reconstruction on the right and the fracture on the left. Way to go, TRMC. So he ordered more X-rays, and basically told me that the calcium that was forming over the fracture (which is directly under the tendon that connects my femur to my hip) was broken loose by the tendon. He also said the 'tendon is pissed off'. I'm not sure what that means, but then again, I'm not a doctor, so maybe I'm not supposed to. I explained to him that the Nucynta didn't work, and he looked at me like I had four heads, stating that I'm the only patient he's had that it didn't work for. In the end, he wrote me a script for vicoprofen, saying that the anti-inflammatory would be good for it, and told me to stay off of my right leg as much as possible, so that the 'pissed off tendon' can 'calm down' and to call him in two weeks for re-evaluation. In the meantime, no physical therapy, and as little mobility as possible. This is going to be a long two weeks.

So, here I am, parked on my usual spot on the couch, and trying to work on some new crafts to occupy my mind. Maybe, in two weeks, I'll be able to get around a little more.

In the meantime, if anyone knows what a 'pissed off tendon' is, PLEASE enlighten me.

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