Category: The Body Electric

The journey north

~ susie

I rarely go to Bucks County, but yesterday I had an appointment to see a neurologist about lingering concussion symptoms from last year’s car accident.

The trip on I-95 north was a freakin’ nightmare. It wasn’t just that the rain was so heavy, it was that all the cars were throwing up plumes of water that made it very difficult to see. My neck and shoulder were locked up from the tension. I remained that way until I finally got off at my exit, where I was in a much higher income bracket.

I forgot that the doctor’s office was near the Newtown Athletic Club, whose members are part of the Trump cult. The owner held a huge rally with Trump on the grounds when he first ran. It’s a cross between a more tasteful Mar-A-Lago — and Disney World.

Ah well. I made it there in one piece, they admitted there wasn’t much they could do for me that didn’t involve steroid injections, and to call the office if anything else came up.

And when I got home, the newly-refurbished PC was here and was very easy to set up. The only hard part was turning down all the permissions for Microsoft services and add-ons.

Fortunately, it turns out I just missed this clusterfuck, which was the first exit past mine.

Princess Kate has cancer

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

There, now we know. Leave her alone.

When I had cancer, I didn’t tell anyone in my family because I didn’t have a biopsy yet and I didn’t want a lot of people second-guessing. It’s exhausting.

Then people were upset when I turned down chemo and radiation. I knew enough to know breast cancer is often overtreated, and I did a LOT of research before making my decision. My tumor was fairly rare; the only two reports I could find in the medical journals were one woman who got surgery and no other treatment, and she was still alive 20 years later. The other refused any treatment at all, and she was alive, too.

So I got a second opinion from a top specialist at Penn, and I assured her I didn’t have a death wish, I just didn’t want to be overtreated. She agreed with me and told me as long as I came back for a checkup every year, she didn’t see it as a problem.

Whatever choices people make, it’s private. I have a friend right now with a rare cancer, she and her husband are going all in on alternative remedies she found on Facebook. (Don’t get me started.) She’s also bitter about Big Pharma. But I stopped arguing the finer points with her because she’s had three years of grueling treatment, and the final decision is hers.

 

 

 

 

Rebuilding, continued

~ susie ~ 2 Comments

I never realized PT would be so grueling, but it is. Especially when it’s a rainy week, because my knee is now an actual weather barometer and it swells and throbs whenever rain is in the forecast.

Still, I love my PT and he clearly knows what he’s doing. Says it’s really important not to lose the bend in my knee (telling me this while he’s pushing my kneecap down on the table as I grit my teeth).

So yesterday, we started with me sitting in a chair and resting my foot on a large yoga ball. He told me it would give me a good stretch and God, he was right. But after five minutes, the pain was so bad, I felt like my eyeballs were rolling around in my head.

I did it again today, here at home. It doesn’t hurt as much as it did yesterday, so that’s good, I guess. Onward!

Pain

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

What I learned through my recent surgery is that once you’re out of the hospital, doctors won’t really treat pain. I was told to take two extra-strength Tylenol four times a day, when finally I said, “Why am I destroying my liver for something that doesn’t even work?” Oh no, my surgeon told me. It was “synergistic” with the other drugs. It was part of their special pain modality.

I don’t think anyone should be in charge of prescribing for serious pain who hasn’t gone through it themselves. The fact is, opioids work. Doctors should of course be careful with them, but I have no history of abuse and no risk factors. I was taking a minimal dose in the hospital.

And then they sent me home with ten pills. It’s really hard doing physical therapy and bending things that don’t want to bend when you’re in severe pain. (Mind you, I have a very high pain threshold. If I say it hurts, it hurts.)

But the pendulum has swung all the way from handing pills out like candy, to pinching them out as if they were grains of gold. Crazy.

More progress

~ susie

Yesterday was my first attempt to ride the bicycle, and while it was hard (the first time my arthritic bad leg went around, I screamed. No, really!), I feel like I’m making some inroads.

I didn’t ride it normally, like I would with a real bike (as if!); but just getting it around very slowly seemed to help. And once we figured out how I should position my foot on the pedal, it got easier. It seems to lessen the pain.

 

Now the REAL work begins

~ susie

Yesterday I had my first “land therapy” session. Holy moley. You don’t know what pain is until you’ve had a man sit on your foot while he’s forcing your knee down on a table.

I can see that the PTs who were coming to my house weren’t really pushing me the way I really needed. My surgeon said I’m losing the straight line in my surgical knee, and when I told them, they just sort of shrugged: “You’re going back to therapy, right?”

The therapist was apologetic. “Most people go home and curse me in their sleep, so I’m used to it.” I told him no, I wanted things to get better and I appreciated his effort. But man, it hurt.

 

 

Progress report

~ susie ~ 4 Comments

I went back to aqua therapy this week, and it’s already making a huge difference in my ability to move. Everyone keeps telling me how well I’m doing, and all I can think about is how much farther I need to go. Oh well. (I live in fear of the dreaded MUA — manipulation under anesthesia, where the doctor goes in and tears your scar tissue open because you don’t have the expected range of motion.)

The PTs in the rehab center told me they don’t usually get patients who are this engaged in their recovery. It’s more common that patients get the surgery and believe their job is done — when it’s only just beginning. I know what the PTs mean; I met some of those people in aqua therapy. They constantly complained about how the surgery didn’t work and how long they’ve been in pain — while they walked around the pool talking on their cell phones. I mean, there were some people who I never once saw do actual exercises. (That said, the doctor did not give me enough pain pills, and that was rough.)

I, on the other hand, overprepared. Read lots of books, watched lots of rehab videos, asked lots of questions. When I started aqua therapy again, my therapist told me she couldn’t believe how well I was doing. (Which was what I told her all along. I think she just assumed I would follow  the same timeline as her patients who didn’t take an active role in their recovery.)

So far, it’s paying off.