Pain!

I started back to work on Wednesday of last week.  I pretty much sat with my heating pad affixed to my left side where I am still having quite a bit of pain.  It was a long day, but I made it through.  Although I was still sore, I thought I was on the home stretch to healing.  Boy was I wrong.  As the evening went on, my pain increased.  I was laying down and using my heating pad but really trying not to have to take any pain meds.  Finally, the pain was so bad I took two pain pills around 11:30 p.m. and waited and waited and waited.  Finally, a little after 12:30 a.m. I was still in significant pain.  So much so that had I had someone else in my house, I would have had them take me to the emergency room for stronger pain meds.  I decided though to get in a bath of really hot water.  It helps with cramps so I thought it might help with my left side pain.  After about 35 minutes I could no longer stand the heat so I got out.  To my surprise, the bath did help the pain.  However, it didn’t take away the pain.  It took my pain level from a level 8 down to a level 4 on the 1 to 10 scale.  Now, a pain level of 4 isn’t that great, but considering how bad my pain was, a level 4 was livable.  Being that it was nearing 2 o’clock in the morning I called my boss at work and left her a voice mail of what had been going on and that I would check with her when I woke up.  The last time I remember looking at the clock was at 3:34 a.m.  I slept good until about 5:30 a.m., then catnapped.  I finally got up and decided against my better judgment to try and go into work.  I knew we were short staffed and I really felt like I needed to be there.  By the time I left my house, I was again in terrible pain.  As I drove to work, I called the doctor’s office crying because I hurt so bad and because now I was really nauseous.  Brittany, the P.A., alled me in Flexeril to try and help with the muscle pain which is what that left sided pain is.  She told me to wear a binder, use a heating pad, take 2 pain pills, a nausea pill and 1 Flexeril and do it as often as I could.  She assured me this pain is totally normal especially since I just returned to work.  Anyway, I arrived at work a few minutes later knowing in my heart that is the last place I needed to be.  I hurt so bad.  I only ended up making it about an hour before calling it quits for the day.  I drove straight toward my house making a stop only at the pharmacy to pick up my Flexeril.  As soon as I got home, I did as Brittany had instructed me to do and within an hour, I felt so much better.  I dosed again with the meds before bed hoping it would be enough so that I could go to work on Friday.  I did.  However, I’m still in pain.  I guess it is just a waiting game.  While I was at work on Friday though my knees started to HURT!  For quite some time now, my knees have been grinding when I walk up stairs.  There was never pain.  Just the grinding sound when I’d walk up stairs.  However, after using my knees and legs so much to avoid using my sore abdominal muscles, my knees are swollen and very sore.  It makes it pretty hard to get up when my abdominal muscles and your knees both hurt!  Right now, I feel like I’m falling apart.  I’ve made an appointment with my family doctor to discuss treatment for my knees as wells as to discuss my blood pressure meds.  I was taken off them in the hospital and told to follow up with my doctor in 6 weeks to see if I still needed the medicine.  I will be 4 weeks postop tomorrow but am going to talk to her about it at my appointment today since I will be there anyway.  I have a feeling she will put me back on them but I’m hoping I’ve lost enough weight to come off of them. 

~Amy