In the whirlwind of children’s birthday celebrations, I have been continuing on medications that have produced more side effects than solutions, gone back to MDA for another follow up where there was a great deal of “does THIS hurt?” and finally it was decided that it is not my joints screaming pain at me but rather my tendons. Ahhh! My tendons. Well, there you go. That make’s it loads easier!! :/ The doctor then stated, “No wonder nothing that’s been tried has been working!” Comforting!
He then decided that we would move forward with injections and that I would need to wean myself off the medication that has caused more harm than good. What was my name again??
I don’t know why I didn’t ask more questions while I was there. I am usually quite detailed that way. But lately, I have just been floating through life mentally and hobbling physically. My lower back, hips, and knees just don’t want to perform anymore…at least not without a considerable amount of pain. I have been doing water therapy/exercise since last summer. You’d think that if it were going to help it would have started by now. But I know it’s good for me, so I keep on going…even though the “old” ladies are often the ones who have to help ME get out of the pool! :/
After my appointment last week, Paul and I started trying to do some research regarding tendonitis, bursitis, etc. It mostly seemed to be related to overuse and sport injuries. That did not fit. After continued Googling, we found an article that sounded as if I had written it! It was posed as a question from a lady with cancer who had pain in several of her joints…hips, lower back, knees…. They had run every blood test, done every X-ray, MRI, CAT-scan, etc. (just like me). Nothing seemed to be wrong! They had tried a variety of medications. Nothing helped. She sounded desperate. SHE WANTED TO KNOW IF ANYONE ELSE HAD EXPERIENCED ANYTHING LIKE THIS???
YES!!!!! Oh, my word! We begin to feel like we are LOSING OUR MINDS! They throw words like “immunodisregulation” at us because I don’t think they really know what’s wrong. Chemo just screws us up…some of us more than others. But to hear that there are others out there actually going through the SAME THING is immensely encouraging, even if the doctors don’t know what or why it is.
So, tomorrow we’re going to give steroid injections into my tendons a try. OUCH! The doctor tried to explain that my joints were actually moving well but the surrounding supporters were what had given out. And tendons do not have blood flow, so they do not heal like the rest of your body. Healthy people can just rest for a couple weeks, do some rehab, and whalah! Mine has had eleven months and it just continues to get worse. He’s pretty sure that it is all damage from chemo. And since I am NOT “healthy people,” rest and rehab have not helped at all. So he is hoping that the steroids will provide 1) some relief and 2) jump start some healing. Here’s hoping!
I need it to work. I have another child’s birthday coming up!
No comments:
Post a Comment