What a day
Today is a special day, so we ordered the best Italian take out in town for lunch.
I've been having serious back problems. Pain that makes me cry and gives me thoughts of suicide (no worries...but that's how this pain is). I made the mistake of sitting on a hard dining room chair to eat the food, but when I tried to get up after the meal, it was complete bedlam. Screaming and tears.
What I need is a steroid injected into a hand vein, and then have that followed up with a Prednisone one week taper.
I messaged my primary care in the portal. Got a call back from her nurse. "We don't do any injectable steroids in the office anymore. They might do them at a walk-in, but call first, just to make sure". I called the walk-in. Got the elevator music on hold. After 15 minutes, I gave up and hung up the phone.
Prior to today, I had not showered in two days, and I was getting a little funky and rank. We have two bathrooms, but the bathroom I normally shower in upstairs only has the suction cup grab bars. And the shower has glass doors, and I was afraid of falling through the doors, so that's why I hadn't showered in two days.
I never use the "fancy", recently remodeled bathroom downstairs. My wife does. I don't even know how to work the shower...there's multiple knobs and levers. But this bathroom has firm grab bars. I couldn't stand myself any longer, so I asked my spouse to show me how to work the shower. She started it up for me, and I climbed in. I was so unsteady that I asked my wife to sit on the toilet and watch me shower and try to catch me if I fell. So she did that, but I had a brutally hard time washing myself, and I was hanging onto those grab bars for dear life. I couldn't wash my feet, so my wife washed them for me.
Pain was worse after the shower. I broke down in tears of frustration.
I finally bit the bullet and took an oxycodone. I hate opiates, but it had to be done. So now I'm sitting here higher than a kite, with a warmed up bed buddy on my lower back.
The medical SYSTEM (not the professionals in this field) is so frustrating. Can't get my doctor to inject the steroids. Can't reach a walk-in on the phone to even enquire about that possibility.
I get this bad about once a year and Prednisone usually knocks it out in a week or so. I KNOW what I need, but it looks like the only way I am going to get it is to go to the ER. This sucks, because they probably will refuse to sedate me before a CT scan, and I absolutely cannot lay down flat. I would pass out from the pain.
Anyway, that's why I have not posted in the past few days.
It's very discouraging when you have to ponder how the fuck you are going to get medical treatment with something that you KNOW you need, without having to jump through hoops.
My wife is begging me to let her drive me to the ER, and I can't make her understand that I won't be able to get into the car. So that means a $1,500 ambulance ride when I can't take it anymore.
This shit is so fucking wretched that I can't put it into words to convey how bad this pain is.
My fellow DUers with spinal pain can probably relate to this though.
I wanted to go to No Kings on Saturday, but that's hopeless.
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I feel like a goddamn burden, and I don't like people waiting on me.
I hope when it's my time, I will go suddenly, because I'll never make it in a nursing home. 
a good person for a spouse. 
I'm so used to being independent, and when I can't be, it makes me feel useless.
A joke:
How is pain similar to a drum solo at a rock concert?
You know it's coming, and there's not a goddamn thing you can do about it!
I'm guessing you know what this feels like, and I'm sorry.
I'm just whining.
Can't go to sleep and I didn't know what else to post, so...
I picked one out on Amazon today...will order it later tonight. 
Those restaurant chairs can be brutal.
I finally broke down and accepted the referral. They have methods to keep you functional and out of pain that I didn’t even know existed.
The person at the front desk didn't check me in correctly.
A FOUR HOUR wait in the waiting room.
I was quietly fuming when the doctor finally called me back there...
He said he was going to pursue approval from my insurance for a PET scan.
I never heard back.
Do you have an actual diagnosis?
I get steroid injections from my orthopedic surgeon. Can you get a referral from your GP? Sometimes you can get in pretty quickly if you cry....
I agree with Marie Marie in looking for a medical transport company. My sister was a double amputee, and that's who she used for her many appointments.
Hope life gets better for you very soon.
Degenerative disc disease, thoracic foraminal stenosis, lumbar foraminal stenosis, bulging discs (both lumbar and thoracic), arthritis in hips.
Thanks, Bayard
if u can stand it get a shower chair . if u can find lyoons cloubs they might be able to help u.spinal fursion here @ age 16. scolliosis of the spine . woould have been hunch back in 6 months.abropt weather changes drive me crazy r. ive been seeing a delightful bone snapper dr for the lastt 10 years and has helped me. fitness too. 
I hear you, believe me.
I was in bad shape and had one pain pill left. I took it.
I became so upset that I called the pharmacist up again and told him I really need to get my old medication back. Fortunately, he's been told he has to cut people out that are getting the stuff they've been giving me recently which I truly HATE.
I may be getting my old pain medication back soon I hope.
I know how difficult it is to live in chronic pain.
Take care LuckyCharms!
When you need them, you need them.
This is the kind of pain that just laughs at Advil or Tylenol.
Good health to you, CountAllVotes.
Know how scary it can be when you're in substantial pain and have to have immediate medical care.
Three times over a 50 year period I've had emergency abdominal surgery . My last one was 10 years ago. No not appendicitis or child birth. Although the appendix was removed because they were in the abdomen anyway so why not!
Hope all goes well moving forward. Got a lot of folks rooting for you.
Just got home.
Same diagnosis as every time I go to the ER for this.
Stenosis, bulging discs, degenerative disc disease.
They started with a dose of Prednisone orally. They then tried plain Tylenol via IV (I can't take NSAIDS like Advil because of kidney disease). That didn't touch it, so they gave me first dose of Dilaudid before they wheeled me to the CT scan. I still could not get up on the CT table. My nurse came in and gave me a second dose of Dilaudid via IV while I was standing up next to the CT table. That almost dropped me to the floor, but the pain was still there...it took two women and one man to get me on the table.
ER Doc was a young guy. Told me he sees about 15 patients a day for back pain.
He said there was nothing they could do there, except to give me pain killers. He prescribed some more oxy, and said to go to physical therapy. He also gave me some exercises to do. He mildly scolded me for waiting so long before starting the Oxy. He said that once the pain gets out ahead of you, it's very hard to bring it back to baseline. He told me that my records do not indicate any history of drug seeking, so don't be afraid to start the Oxy next time when the pain first begins.
Dilaudid is wearing off and pain is coming back, so I'll take an Oxy before bed.
No more abdominal surgeries for you! You've met your quota already!
I agree! Relatively healthy otherwise. But I've had enough!
Take care LC. Hope all goes well for you.
They shot a 55 gallon drum of Dilaudid in me, and the Prednisone shot my glucose up to around 500 (I don't know the exact number because the Dexcom just says "high" when it gets over 400, but the graph shows somewhere around 500). So I didn't get any sleep at all, and everything is starting to wear off now and I'm back to being miserable.
Was getting a little nervous with such a high glucose reading, but it is back down to the 300s now and hopefully will be back to normal (100s) by day's end. I had to triple my amount of normal insulin, and my glucose is WAY too high still. Prednisone causes havoc for a type one diabetic.
I was diagnosed with degenerative disk disease when I was in my 30's, but it was never a big deal. I was still working out then, going to the gym. I never thought this would be the thing that kills me, but now I'm not so sure. 
Thank you for your kind words.
I also hope that the back pain resolves sooner than later.
I hope your vacation is going/went well.
I used to love going to the NYS State Fair and watch the sheep shearing.
Have fun in Rhinebeck!
My wife's an avid knitter, and this is the winter I get started. I'll continue my anti-fascist activities on Monday.
Baaaaaa!
Bahhhh. Bahhhh
