29 November 2023
It’s been a busy day. I wrote yesterday I got one hour of sleep. I improved on that last night getting 1.5 hours. I thought I was doing pretty good after the infusion on Tuesday but when I crawled into bed at 6 pm, I started aching. First, it was low back pain. It then spread to my hips. Then to the thighs and then to the calves. It was excruciating pain. I tried everything in the book and got no relief. I thought I was going to have to call someone to drive me for today’s appointments but as I started slowly moving around, I got better. Apparently standing helps. Lying supine does not.
My first appointment was with Amy Sear, acupuncturist recommended by Dr. Velez to help alleviate/mitigate the peripheral neuropathy. She had to temporarily move her office from Johnson Street near Hollywood Memorial to Washington Street near Memorial South. Actually, her temporary office is in the same building as my cardiologist so I had no trouble finding her.
First, she’s a talker. She would ask you a question and before you could complete the answer, she was off on another tangent. Every malady I mentioned, acupuncture would help. I also needed more than one session – of course.
The process was relatively painless. The most I felt the needles were in my left ear (she didn’t do the right ear). She worked needles into the feet, the sides of my hands where you find the pinkies, the top of my head, and my forehead. I was well and properly stuck. She would leave the room periodically and come back and twist or tap the needles deeper. On the fourth visit she removed the needles.
My next appointment is at the old office on Johnson Street, assuming the plumbing problems are solved. I think we scheduled 4 more. Medicare only covers acupuncture for back pain. I was quoted a price of $150 for the first visit and $50 for each visit thereafter. For that price, I wanted her to take a photo of me with pins stuck all over but I didn’t ask.
I’m not really sure acupuncture will work but I’ll give it a try. She did make one comment I took to heart. When I told her the Cyclobenzaprine (muscle relaxant) did nothing for my back, she suggested it wasn’t muscular but neural. She recommended her chiropractor. When I went back to the jeep, I called and got an appointment for 4:30 this afternoon. I can’t go through another night like last night.
I made it back home after a quick stop at the Walgreen’s pharmacy and Winn-Dixie – collard greens tonight to go with our winter temperatures of 56°F.
Next up was my wellness check with my primary. He hold me the Gabapentin I’m on (100 mg) is the minimal dose to alleviate pain. You can dose as high as 900 mg. He suggested I do 100 mg twice a day instead of once. I’ll also probably have to increase the dosage over time to help with the peripheral neuropathy. Sadly, he said I’ll probably have nerve damage for the rest of my life. It’s been exacerbated by being a diabetic. I can’t stand to think it will never get any better.
The other thing he suggested is to stop taking the blood pressure medicine Losartin. My dizziness is probably due to my pressure being too low. He said stop it if I like and we can always go back on it if my pressure stays too high for too long.
My GP is worried about my glucose levels. I assured him that Dr. Jellinger was more than looking after me.
I met with Dr. Masterson, the chiropractor recommended by Amy Sear. It seems my Medicare and United Health covered today’s session. I figure he wants me to come twice a week until…. He put something similar to a Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) unit on my lower back and let that run for a while to loosen up the muscles in that area. He then did a simple manipulation that immediately allowed me freer movement in my legs.
The big concern is that I’ve developed weakness in my lower extremities to the point that when I first get out of bed, my legs almost collapse on me. He’s concerned there may be long term nerve damage if this isn’t corrected. He’s requested my GP to authorize an MRI. He can do it but it will cost me out of pocket but if the GP requests one, Medicare/United Healthcare will pay for it.
To be honest, I’ll do anything to get a good nights rest.
I have tomorrow off! I may go to Bliss Nails and get my fingernails and toenails clipped. I’ve tried for the last two days and I just don’t have the strength in my hands to do it. Bliss Nails is where Jim and Holley go on a regular basis. Chemo has made my nails brittle and they flake off and form notches in the nails which catches on any and every thing. Looks like I’m ceding small parts of my life to someone else’s control.
Stay tuned to see what falls apart on me next!