Chronic Pain in the Ass

Welcome to my pain diary! Medical professionals have suggested I keep a pain diary, and while I'm quite certain their goal wasn't for me to put it online, I'm hoping this will reach people who are in a similar situation. If not, it'll make you feel pretty good about your life!

Let's get a quick background: pain was sudden onset June 1, 2008. So, yeah, it's been a while. Pain and I are well acquainted. Really. I've seen it naked.

I'll skip all the boring tests I've had, but they've pretty much run the gamut on me. Surgeries, scans, scopes in orifices, the whole nine. Nothing showed up, which means I'm not pregnant, and I don't have cancer. Duh. If I'd been pregnant I'd have a walking kid right now, and if I'd had cancer, I'd be dead.

Today's pain actually wasn't that bad. Woke up at about a 6, which is completly normal for me. I accidentally left my back brace at home, but I made it through work OK. As an experiment, I didn't wear it to my night job either. Final result: nothing traumatic. No hospital visits, no screaming agony. Which is great because I have no pain meds should things flare up. Inevitably, they will flare up, and we'll worry about that when it happens.

I did some Pilates last night before bed - nothing too strenuous, just working on the core with some leg work. It felt good to sort of work out again, and I know it was good for my leg muscles, which have been seriously effed since sudden calf pain woke me up a few Fridays ago and put me in the ER...again. Seriously, I should get a punch card for Vanderbilt. Nine visits and your tenth is free!

Yesterday I got muscle injections, and I think that contributed to not feeling like death today, although last night that was not the case. After my injections, my pain was at a 9 by the time I got to work. Luckily, the Pill Fairy (this is not an actual person in my pain saga) left me half a pain pill, so I took that and managed to make it through work. Then I went to PT, had some pool therapy, and went home for some pajama vegging.

I don't know why it gets worse after injections sometimes, but it was unbearable. I'm afraid it's going to happen again, and I really don't want to end up in the hospital every 2-3 months because it flares up. I've been told when it flares up that I need to sit and stretch, but I don't see how this will help. I've tried that; it doesn't work. My flare-ups don't last minutes, they last about 36 hours, and I sure as hell can't stretch that long.

Stay tuned for our next episode.