Well, things are going fairly well with me lately. I decreased my pain meds to 10mg Opana-ER twice a day (from 20mg). When I first did it, I had increased tingling and hot feeling in my feet and my right leg, but that has mostly gone away. Sometimes when I first get up in the morning, my feet feel hot and tingly, like they have been slapped on concrete or something. It mostly (always have a little strange feeling in my feet) goes away after I've taken my meds and been up for a while.
But one thing that just hasn't really been in my consciousness is taking breakthrough meds. I have percocet, and my doctor confirmed that it was okay for me to use them when I needed a little extra relief. The pills I have are 15mg, which are too strong for me to take as they are, so I will cut them in half, and keep a few with me for when I need them. She did say, that if I was needing to take them more than twice a day, that she would say I should increase the long-term meds (Opana-ER).
Even with decreasing my meds, my pain level has been fairly low. Ranging from 2-3.5 on a scale of 10. This is good for me, as I had been averaging 4-5 several months ago. I feel like I am getting the pain under better control, finally.
Next week, I may try to increase the amount of work that I do. I am very afraid of losing my job, with my current limitations. But, I don't want to risk my health, either. If I can manage to do more, while managing with my meds, then maybe it will work out all right.
My PM doc also ordered the Dexa bone scan, that will be on Feb 13. I also asked about getting my records, and there doesn't seem to be any problem with doing that. I will wait until I have the Dexa scan finished, so it can be included in my records. And since I will be having the MRI on Feb 11, it seems reasonable that I would have to wait at least until I have the follow-up with the surgeon on Feb 18, to get those results/records as well.
The PM doc also suggested seeing a Chiropractor. She did a little bit of manipulation when I first started seeing her, and at the time she didn't think it would help me all that much to do more. But now, she said it might be worth a try, though with someone who could see me more frequently than she could. Chiropractors scare me, but if they are as gentle as she was with me, I can see giving it a try.
This turn of events (pain level), has me questioning surgery. I am wondering if I should give some other things a try first. Like exercise (walking and stretches - particularly my hamstrings, they are always tight), maybe Chiro, and meds. I did try PT when I first started having problems, and it made my pain worse. But I wonder if lighter activity, like walking and stretching might help. I am so bad about doing "exercise", there have only been a couple of times in my life where I've gotten into a routine of some kind of exercise. But those times have never lasted more than a few months, until some pain interferes and I stop.
Even though my pain level is low, it still interferes with my ability to do my current job. And that has me wondering whether surgery then is the answer. I have thought about looking for a different type of job, so that my boss can find someone to do what I can't (he has specific needs coming up in the next few months, which currently I can not do). But with the economy the way it is, that is going to be extremely difficult. And I can't imagine taking a new job, and have my back all of a sudden get worse, where I absolutely need surgery and have to be out of work. Where I am now, I have accrued time and benefits. Losing this job would be bad. I am so conflicted, I want to do whats right for me, and I don't want to put my boss in a bad situation either. The outcome for me -- surgery or no surgery, is unknown -- how do you work with that?
Sorry, about that. I've just ranted, stream of consciousness kind of thing.
