Emergency Room Woes

Well I saw "Batman: The Dark Knight" on Friday evening, it was ok. I liked Batman Begins better but this one is still worth seeing. I was in a lot of pain when I got home (sitting in a movie theater can be difficult on my spine sometimes) so I took some vicodin and got a ziploc bag filled with ice to put on my spine. I woke up at 4am in HORRIBLE pain (and I was wet and laying in a puddle, I guess I fell asleep with the ice still there). Normally when my spine is in pain, laying down is what feels best. But this time it hurt to lay on my back, it hurt to lay on my side, and it REALLY hurt to lay on my stomach. Well I guess I was crying so that woke Trevor up. Then we were trying to decide what to do. With my insurance the emergency room is $50, but if I waited until the normal offices open at 9am then I can get an urgent care appointment for only $15. Well I thought about it for like an hour and decided I was in too much pain to wait so we went to the emergency room. We got there at 6am, it was EMPTY! My biggest fear was going to the emergency room and then having to wait several hours to be seen anyways. They admitted me immediately. They said my spinal disc was probably inflamed, normally when my spine is bad I have pain shooting down the from of my leg and into my shin and foot. This time I had pain down the back of my leg shooting into my buttock. Normally it hurts to sit, this time sitting actually felt 'good' and it hurt to lay! They gave me a injection into my butt of some pain reliever. It made me sooo nauseous, but it also made me sleepy so that was nice. They didn't want me to stand because they were worried I would pass out, but I told them I didn't want to lay becasue it hurt, but they made me! I had some interesting times flopping about the bed trying to get comfy, I flashed everyone my underpants 100 times (I was in those stupid ties-in-the-back hospital gowns) and I almost feel off the gurney once! After a few hours of observation and tests they sent me to the pharmacy, they sent me home with steroids to helps the inflamation and to strengthen things up, they also gave me some percocet for pain. When I got home I was able to sleep for several hours, that was nice. But when I woke up I was in terrible pain again. I took the percocet and it did not kick in for 1 1/2 hours!!!!! It only helped the pain barely, plus I think it made me nauseous again! So I tried to lay down to go to sleep that night, but it hurt soo bad. I tried sitting in my computer chair, which felt better, but I just could not fall asleep sitting up (it is too bad I don't have a recliner chair). So I got into bed and was in and out of sleep all night.

I decided to go back to the doctor on Sunday, this time I waited until 9am to go to urgent care (I just couldn't afford $50 again for the emergency room). The funny this is even though I had an appointment it actually took me longer to be seen this time! I told the DR. the percocet wasn't helping at all. Also Saturday the pain was just in my spine, butt, and the top of my leg, today my whole right foot underneath had gone numb. It made it very hard to walk, I am very worried I will twist an ankle before all is said + done. He gave me another shot in the butt (I guess it is a hydromorphone solution) and then he sent me home with MORPHINE and muscle relaxants (flexeril I think). Well this time the injection helped a LOT. I went to bed right away, stayed asleep for hours and never felt nauseous! It helped so much I did not need to take pain killers all day! I did take a morphine and flexeril as I went to bed that night, but I fell asleep right away so I did not know how much they helped.

Now it is Monday and my Dr. told me to stay home all week to rest up and get better. Makes sense, especially since my foot is still numb and it is hard to walk. Also for some reason, they did not want me to go to work on Morphine, heheheeh. Well at noon I took a morphine and I did not notice any difference until 1:48. Then I felt a slight flush and my pain was slightly better. I am somewhat disappointed. I thought Morphine sounded very powerful, hey now I am finally using the big guns I thought, but nope!!! Morphine helped a little, but it was hardly much better than anything else I have taken! At least I am not nauseous today! So I am not loopy, or anything, does that mean someday I can go to work and take morphine!!! Still seems kinda weird! I really think there must be something wrong with my metabolism! Well all-in-all I do feel better than this weekend, still in pain, but nothing like before. Maybe the injections helped? Or maybe the steroids are starting to take effect, who can say?

Well one other thing I wanted to say was this last weekend was Gay Pride Weekend in San Diego, and obviously I did not get to participate in the activities and show support for my friends that are walking a different path in life than I am, but I did want to say to everyone, "Have a Gay Day!"