Topic : Living with Chronic Pain

Howdy Carol...It sounds like you've had a lot more than physical pain to deal with in recent years...and PROF is right...no comparisons about pain...but the last time I saw the doc (it was my regular doc's associate), he says "I've seen a lot worse than that"...I'm sure he has, but that didn't reduce the amount of pain that my throat was feeling at the time...(cold sore in the throat...very painful...worst sore throat that I can remember...but "no treatment" for it)...actually, I called the dentist after seeing the doctor...he prescribed a heavy-duty mouth rinse which had the cold sore gone in 2 days...just from gargling...so why didn't the doctor know about this stuff??

Anyway...if we had to wait in line until the "worst" cases were all treated, many of us here might be waiting a long time...and ANY pain deserves to be treated...contrary to the belief of some of my previous doctors (and that's why they're PREVIOUS doctors of mine!!)...

And...something about having a chronic pain disorder...I think that sometimes my "issues" get ignored, or lumped into the "fibromyalgia catagory"...when maybe they should be further looked into...maybe not...but I wonder sometimes...and my last few visits to my doctor, I feel like I don't have her full attention...she's probably turning her head to roll her eyes about me...LOL...probably my imagination...

So, don't let the fact that somebody else's pain might be "worse" than your own keep you from getting treated...I know that I have that problem...I currently have a sore thumb with a big lump on the knuckle...but because it seems so trivial, I haven't scheduled an appointment yet...and probably won't until it is really really painful, or until some other issue comes up to bring me to the doctor...

Anyway...I'm rambling...welcome...sorry I didn't post to you sooner...I think I need a clone to help me get all of my things on my list done...still working on that laundry...and the band stuff...and the Scout stuff...

Becky

I have a question for any cancer survivors here...what kind of follow-up tests are you getting? For the breast cancer follow-up, I have mammograms every 6 months for 3 years, and then annually after that...I also get a breast MRI every year...and a follow-up with the surgeon yearly after the mammogram...plus, I had pre-cancerous colon polyps the same year as the breast cancer...people with a history of breast cancer are at higher risk for colon cancer...and I am to get a colonoscopy every 3 years...due next year for one...oh joy...

How many here, who are cancer survivors, have had a PET scan?  And what does it show?  Several of my relatives who have been through cancer treatment have had PET scans to confirm that they are still "cancer-free"...how accurate are these?  How do they determine WHO gets a PET scan and who doesn't?  At my visit to the surgeon next week, I'm going to ask these questions...I just wanted to know the consensus here...

Are there any other tests that can tell if a person has any cancer lurking about?  It's not that I am sitting around wondering where the cancer will show up next...they said that the breast cancer and colon polyps at the same time were "coincidental" and "unrelated"...but...

Anyway...if you have any input, I'd love to hear it...

Becky

Howdy...dinner's on the stove right now...John is due home in about 45 minutes...

Prof...how goes the recovery?? I have to admit that I haven't read today's posts yet...I see that there are a lot of them...youse guys have been busy...

Pat!!  Welcome back!!  I still need to read your post too...but I just wanted to say...YES, of course I remember you!!

Dianah...(my spell checker still doesn't like the "h")...howdy-ho...we're in the high 80's and low 90's this week, with high 50's at night...I'm sure the mid-west is a little colder...I'm trying to send some of the warmth your way...with the westerly winds blowing the weather your way...is it working??  How's the knee treating you??  (maybe I should catch up with my reading before I ask so many questions...)

Well...dinner is boiling...and there's another laundry load to put into the washer...I'll check back tomorrow morning...still plugging away at my tasks...never-ending tasks!!

Everybody have a good evening...and a good early morning...Becky

Just dropping in to say hello, it's a bit late at nite and i'm tired and i'm sick and i have a dr's appt early in the mornining. So I won't have much to say, I wrote a message on Dr Phil's Greif boards because of his New show today.. Actullay i had to read about the show online cos his show was overtaken by the news here cos of McCain's affival in Youngstown, Ohio. On satelite tv you can only get the show one time and oprah one time, so i missed dr phil, and i was very upset to say the least because i needed his show because of my daughters death. And he came out with a new book.. well gotta go to be now.

                                                        Love to all.....HUGS..........................Maggie

Just wanted to tell you how bad I feel for you , you are soo soo young and you suffer so very much. As for ssdi or any disability, i wish you good luck, but truthfully if you were over 50 years old you would have a better chance of getting it . At your age you may not get it. Keep us posted cos ya never know! 

Gosh I wish you all the best. I know what it's like to suffer, cos I do too, but at least you have a husband. I am alone, to fend for myself. I need help around here and I don't have it, so guess what, I have to find a good moment ...take a med....and do it myself...then go to bed and suffer.......so i know what you mean.

you are not alone. And until I got on sos sec I did not have ANY  ins. at all either and I was ill, I needed oxygen and couldn't afford it. How about that? 

so you keep on pluggin and I'll be thinking of you.....''

    Take Care .....Maggie

hi all -- and welcome back to ms. maggie and pat --

warning, warning:  depression ahead!

these are tough days and nights -- everything runs together and i cannot get ahead of the pain.  riding in the car so much yesterday was rough.

why can't i be one of those remarkable people who get sick and then start foundations, raise awareness and money for research, give interviews,  i would be tan and svelte, independently wealthy, with long blond tresses, , and -- of course -- no outward signs of decrepitude, uselessness, or pain.

ah, well.

talk at you later.  love,

prof

Good Morning Everyone

It's 51 degree's this morning and the coffee is tasting extra good..

Happy to report.. my hard work with the horse, is paying off... well, I also dug out my leather halter with a "chain" at the base of the lead rope.. I just shake it as a reminder....

I don't like nor use the "cowboy" way... but, sometimes a little jingle never hurts...

But.. she's doing much better and I'm so happy with "me".. I guess it's like riding a bike...  I sure hope I have not spoken too soon here.. ha ha ha

Prof.. So glad you checked in.. Can't wait to hear about the Dr Go To- appointment.. And if there is any conclusion to your feet...

And congrats on the shower.. ahhh.. nothing feels better or smells better... HA HA HA.... HUG HUG HUG

Becky.. Hey Wild Lady, Thank You for sending us the warm weather.. 89 yesterday and it felt Great.. and no wind.... The knee is doing good.. of course, I can feel it when I over do it.. but it's a "sore pain" not Pain... the only downer is that I can still feel the torn meniscus in the back.. but they said it was too small to repair... Hope your to-do-list is getting smaller... HUG HUG HUG

Carol.. Too funny about digging out your winter cloths.. I know with our three weeks of cooler weather I was digging in the back of the closet getting the warmer cloths also...

I love to fish also.. my hubby too. Anything that has to do with the out-doors.. we love.. I use to be right along with the hunting. But since my accident.. the worst thing on my body is the cold..

Could you tell me about were you live. What's the winters like and summers.. I love to hear about the different States.. You have a Great Wed my Friend... HUG HUG HUG

MS. Maggie.. Great to see you posted.. I am so sorry you missed the show.. that happened a few time the past two weeks with me also... I think the book is going to be one of the "best" Dr. P has done.. Let us know and keep in touch... HUG HUG HUG.....

Okay.. I'm running late this morning.. so we all know what I need to do here...

HAPPY WED Everyone... Love Diana with the H.........

Good morning prof...and good morning to all...

Prof...I hope you can get the depression under control...with bipolar disorder, I'm really familiar with depression...it follows a manic episode...the higher I go, the lower I crash...and sometimes, it pops up for no apparent reason...

I think when a person is laid up and not doing the "routine" things of life, it does become harder to track time...and time goes so slowly when in pain...I hope that you can find a way to get the pain under  control...I'm still thinking "healing" thoughts for you...and now I'll think "happy" thoughts too...

Those "remarkable" people are few and far between...and they probably have a whole lot of help from relatives and friends...they don't do it by themselves...and "tan and blonde" aren't all they're cracked up to be...but you could get a blonde wig and some of that self-tanning spray!!

I can see the depression in your writing...I don't suppose the doctors want to add antidepressants to your long list of meds? 

And we don't see you as "useless" on this board...you are a rock and foundation...you are an inspiration to many of us here...you have so much knowledge and experience...just remember...you're not old, you're experienced...

I hope that your road to recovery will have fewer bumps as time rolls on...and speaking of bumps...a moving car on a bumpy road is the "worst" for a post-surgical body...I remember it well...it was then that I wished that doctors still made house calls...

Maggie...so glad to hear from you...how are you doing with the CPAP?  I've been thinking of you...how have you been? 

Dianah...glad to hear that you are receiving the warm weather...and glad to hear that the horse is taking to her training...I have very little experience with horses...when we went out to my sister's ranch, I always seemed to get the horse who didn't want a rider...she would walk too close to the trees as we rode by...trying to "lose the rider"...I've fallen off of almost every horse I've ever ridden...and now my body isn't up to falling off of a horse anymore.

Our dogs and the neighbor's dogs are still barking wildly at each other whenever they are out at the same time...the neighbor has lived there for 3 months...you'd think that the dogs would give it up by now...but they're getting better...I discovered that a good squirt with the hose will make them be quiet...the neighbor's labrador just wants to play...and he is very rambunctious at the fence...and our dogs react...especially Mandy...she gets her hackles up...like she really means business...but since I got out the hose, the dogs have been behaving better...maybe Pavlov really did know what he was talking about...

Middle son is working on homework...it is "late Wednesday"...the teachers have collaboration meetings in the morning on Wednesdays, and the kids get an extra hour of sleep (or extra homework time), with school starting an hour late...and I get a few extra minutes to come here with my coffee...I will have to get off of the computer at a moment's notice to let him print his poem...the kids' computer doesn't have a printer...too expensive to buy ink for two printers...so he'll use a flash drive and print from our printer...

I need to go wake up the youngest son...so I'll come back a little later...middle son needs the printer...

Becky

Hi and Welcome...yes...we are all familiar with pain here...I'm sorry that you are having a yucky day...I hate colds...

CONGRATULATIONS on the now grandbaby!!  Is this your first grandchild?

My name is Becky, and I am 47 years old. I live in Washington State, in the desert region.   It is fibromyalgia that brings me to this board...I've been posting here since July, 2006. (some here have been around even longer)... I'm also a survivor of breast cancer, and I have bipolar disorder, asthma, Long QT Syndrome (heart arrhythmia), cholesterol issues, thyroid issues...and I am on a bunch of meds...there is a 5 page list of meds I cannot take due to the heart arrhythmia...and there are many pain meds that I can't have because of the bipolar disorder...the doctors RUN when they see my name on the schedule...LOL

Besides discussions about pain issues, we share other aspects of life that are completely unrelated to the topic of pain...sort-of comic relief...some not-so-comic...we are here to support one another and share information...but I come for the off-topic banter...LOL

Welcome, new friend...Hope to see more posts from you soon...hope you feel better soon...Becky