MEDICAL MATTERS

[Marilyn]

Thanks guys. I don't expect any tears or screams until I have to get out of bed tomorrow morning. I have tried all sorts of ways but it is still unbearable. Hubby can't help me though I know he wishes he could. And once I am out I can't sit down or get back into bed. I have to wander around the room hanging on to furniture until pain relief takes affect. ( paracetamol takes about 40 mins...Tramadol about 20 mins)

[LizG]

( gosh it is hard to walk with a numb foot and rubber leg!)

My foot and leg are still numb. I'm accustomed to it now. I did have to work hard to make my leg work properly though. Have faith Maz, you will work it out.

[PanBiker]

I still have a degree of numbness down my right side, mainly in the upper arm and neck. I am told that it can take a long time after neurosurgery for this to dispel. It has improved dramatically though in the last 12 weeks since my surgery. I have my first post op, (3 months) MRI scan coming up next Wednesday, proof of the pudding time! This one if clear will be used as the benchmark for following yearly scans over the next 10 years.

[Sue]

Ironically I had a ruptured disc a year after my daughter Claire. She had a different operation from me and had to wear a corset for weeks and could only lie down not sit. It was done by an orthopaedic surgeon at the local hospital. Mine was done at Salford Royal by a top neurosurgeon by keyhole surgery on my back and I was back to normal as soon as I came round from the anaesthetic. Apparently the difference between us was simply that we saw a different GP and was given a different referral.

Claire still has problems regularly with numbness and pain, I do very occassionally, usually after strenuous gardening or a very long journey in the car. We both still have other damaged discs which are the main cause of our problems. Poor Claire has suffered since she was 12 when a child in her class thought it was fun to pull her chair away as she sat down!

[plaques]

I have tried all sorts of ways but it is still unbearable.

Have you tried raising the height of the bed by putting some blocks under the feet? I noticed a big difference when we got a new bed which was only about 3 inch higher than the old one. Anything that makes life easier is worth having a try at.

[Stanley]

"Anything that makes life easier is worth having a try at." Tht's as good advice as any..... Keep at it Maz, it will eventually improve.

[Marilyn]

Our bed is one big ( king sized) leather covered box...no legs to speak of...I'm not sure how we could raise it.

Hanging on to get that spinal cortisone next Tuesday. Having good times and bad times in equal measure at present.
The bottom floor of our home is very well dusted, because it gives me something to do. I just mooch along at a quiet pace with cloth in hand. I am not allowed upstairs...hubby gives me a bollocking if I go up there...so that remains dusty.
He has been very good - hangs the washing out and brings it in. He does the hoovering and the dishes. I've been doing the cooking, as it is mainly salads we are eating.
I can't seem to get this blood sugar down much. Currently it ranges from 14 - 17. I see the GP on Monday, so maybe he will adjust the Metformin.

[Stanley]

Give it all time to settle down Maz before you ask for any changes in medication. Blood sugar is only a number and as long as it isn't affecting you...... After all you are under stress!

[Big Kev]

Blood sugar is only a number and as long as it isn't affecting you......

Really?

[Wendyf]

I was trying to keep from commenting Kev, pleased that you have.
Metformin has a very small effect on blood glucose levels Maz. Do your levels stay high all day or is it just early morning?

[Stanley]

In my defence, "as long as it isn't affecting you" was my point. I fully agree that long term elevated levels need to be addressed but at the moment Maz is under stress and now could not be the time for long term decisions. It may well be that in a couple of weeks her blood sugar could settled down.
Believe me I am not rubbishing the idea that it is of no consequence. Perhaps I could have worded it differently?

[Big Kev]

I was trying to keep from commenting Kev, pleased that you have.
Metformin has a very small effect on blood glucose levels Maz.

Just to clarify, a daily 2000mg of Metformin has the potential to show a 1% reduction in your hba1c...

[Marilyn]

I've had such little time to find an "average". I've only known I have Diabetes for less than a fortnight.
However BSL's since commencing on Metformin seem to be about 14 in the morning and 17/18 after evening meal.
Today I tried a different tack. I ate nothing all day. Started off at 14.2 this morning. I had to see the duty doctor this afternoon as I didn't have enough painkillers to see me through to the GP appointment next Monday. They took my BSL and it was 8.2. Very happy they were too, until they heard I hadn't eaten owt since last night's tea. Then I got told off. But I was still sat there with a grin from ear to ear ( silently singing "I did it my way")
8.2 is a long haul from the 22.9 it was in hospital.

[Wendyf]

Let's hope it's your stress levels that are causing the high figures Maz and that they will reduce once you can get back to your normal housekeeping routines ...... imagining all that untouched dust upstairs must be sending your metabolism Crazy!!

[Stanley]

Maz, I would have been singing as well. A degree of fasting is part of my strategy, I eat nothing between 6PM and after 10AM , 16 hours a night. I didn't do it consciously, it just happened and it suits me. Your metabolism must be in chaos at the moment. I really do believe that stress is playing a role here. I know it played hell with my blood pressure readings when I was in the middle of all the interventions and worry and Hassan, my GP, told me to ignore it, it would settle down. He was right. I hope you have the same experience....

[Marilyn]

well...apparently...the cortisone injection in your spine puts blood sugar levels up...so my self induced respite may be short lived.
Bought some Diabetic sweets from the chemist today, as some of my meds give an awful dry mouth.
Not worried about the dust upstairs Wendy, but if this goes on too much longer hubby is going to have to bring my desktop computer etc downstairs AND I think we may need to pay for another Ancestry subscription to stop me polishing the family heirlooms to dust...
I don't think I could sew at the moment, but I know how Ancestry grabs me and absorbs me for hours. ( I need something!)
After a relatively pain free day, I've been dancing about like a giddy kipper with the return of extreme pain tonight. Just waiting for pain killers to kick in....

[Moh]

Don't go mad when you are pain free, you suffer for it later as I have learned. I wish I could get pain free, it is affecting my rib cage now. I see the specialist next week so hopefully I will get a scan to see what is going on.

[plaques]

I ate nothing all day.

I believe that if you could keep that up for three months your blood sugar would be at zero permanently. I'm sorry Marilyn but by messing about like this is wasting both your time and their time.
On a more serious note. My brother's kidney transplant resulted in him becoming diabetic. All sort of changes go on in your body when you suffer traumatic injuries, you never had bladder problems before. Even if your diabetes is permanent its better to know about it than living in ignorance. Always look on the bright side of life.

[Marilyn]

Moh...I'm sorry to hear you are suffering. Have they increased the Oramorph? Sounds like you need more tailored pain meds. You can't be expected to live with constant pain.
I will take your advice about not going mad when pain free. Sitting down is no good for me though, so I shall lay on my tummy and do more reading.

Plaques...my bladder problems aren't related to the Diabetes. My herniated disc is pressing on the nerve that services the bladder and bowel. Having tested my blood sugars about 4 times a day since coming home, my high blood sugars are directly related to the level of pain I am in. Interestingly, with my blood sugar being 8.2 at the medical centre, I was kept waiting quite a while and my pain was starting to crank up again. So I tested my blood sugar when I got home. Though I still hadn't eaten anything, my blood sugar was 11.3. Once this spinal problem is resolved, I'm interested in what my blood sugars will be. My elevated blood pressure is directly related to the pain too.
I start a new pain relief regime today...slow release pain killers twice a day with other fast acting pain killers for breakthrough pain. I think this may work better for me. Happy to give it a go anyway.

[Stanley]

Moh, Pain is a bugger and I am so sad to hear you are suffering it. It isn't fair! I hope they can do something for you and that the scan gives some certainty that can help you.
Maz, I always found that gentle walking with my shoulders back and thinking about the shape of my lordosis helped my pain as it gently persuades your spine to get to the right shape which relieves pressure on the nerves.

[plaques]

Marilyn, I was trying to say that pressure on your spinal chord covers a wide area of control. Some affects are quite obvious like bladder control, pain in leg muscles, loss of feeling in parts of your legs and feet. But these 'wires' go all over the place and can have an indirect affect on things that at first appear quite unrelated. I think you have worked out that the first priority is to reduce the pressure either by keeping the inflammation down or surgically removing the damaged tissue. Don't be embarrassed about lying down if you have to wait anywhere for a long period. Its you that's suffering the pain not those who want to keep the place tidy.

[PanBiker]

MRI scanner for me today over at St James's in Leeds. I am hoping for a good outcome on the results, this one is the first post op and will become the benchmark for the annual scans after this one. Non contrast as far as I am aware, nothing in my appointment letter to say otherwise.

[Marilyn]

Good Luck, Panbiker!

[PanBiker]

Thanks Maz.

Just got back from Jimmy's. We got a taxi from the station up to the hospital after a bit of lunch. He took us more or less right to the correct bit where the scanner is located. Mobile scanner is run by Alliance Medical and is a two unit setup, one trailer mounted job for the MRI scanner and control unit and a secondary port a-cabin which acts as a waiting area and where they scoop you up after you have filled in the questionnaire and it's your turn comes up. We were on our own in the waiting area. It was a contrast scan so first job was to shove a cannula in for later use. I only waited about 5 minutes before being called. You enter through the control section so good to see the other side of the glass for once, you don't see that bit in hospital, all computerised of course, monitors for control of the scanner and more for the resultant imaging. Different location but basically the same as when I was in the AAU. Ear-plugged, headphone and visored up, 20 minutes or so for the brain scan, short break while they shove the contrast dye in and then another 10 minutes for the contrast data and the noisiest bit in the machine, the scan produces 8,000 - 12,000 images. Back out to the anti-room in the port a-cabin for the cannula removal, card to say who will receive my results (my surgeon, Ian Anderson) and the warning sheet with all the possible nasty side effects and what to do if I react and we are done. My scan data will go first to the image interpretation radiography team who will report to my consultant, he will then report to me within 14 days, so end of the month, earlier if there are any problems.

Came back down to the station on the bus, first use of my bus pass so cost me nothing, £2.50 for Sally but better than the £7.50 in the taxi. It will be bus both ways if I have to go there in the future now I know where to go. 15.18 Carlisle train was available so we were back in Skipton by 16.00.

I have not chucked a wobbler with the acid they shoved into me.

A chilli from the freezer, made a couple of weeks ago beckons, ready for my tea. Cancer support group tonight at the centre.

[Stanley]

It all sounds good Ian. I know only too well that there is no certainty and until you get the results you will not be totally satisfied. Going on your progress so far my bet is on a good outcome.... but best of luck anyway. We all need that!