Tag: Physical therapy

Health · PAIN · Primary Progressive MS · Quotes · Ramblings · Strength

Oh the pain… the pain!

Tracy8 Comments

I had my FaceTime neurologist appointment and PT yesterday. Both went well. But… I am paying for the PT today. 😳

I so hope this is true for me. We actually got my right leg into a 90° angle. That was crazy. My left side, not so much. Today Roger (hubby) rolled blankets to keep my knees and legs a little more normal. It hurts quite a bit, but no pain no gain! Thank the universe for cannabis. 😏

Stretching everything is going to be a painful process, but the outcome will be phenomenal! Now here is the shitty part… No more visits per Independence Blue Cross. 🙄 I have to call Monday and get the pain management doctor to call in more visits. WTF!!! My concern is all the work we have accomplished last week will fade away waiting for Insurance to allow me more visits. I really don’t understand how they have the right to run my healthcare. It’s mind boggling. The worst part is that it will start all over. What that means is, I will have to have an admission visit again, then an evaluation visit again, and then the PT visits start. What a fucking racket. All the while people like me are screwed. I just keep telling myself to keep breathing. This will work out, we will find a way. Sadly this just proves to me why people do give up. We have to jump through so many hoops, it weakens our soul.

^^^ I say this, I just wish I could truly believe it.

Have courage and be kind. 

Happiness · Health · Medical · mental health · Multiple Sclerosis · PAIN · Primary Progressive MS · Ramblings · Strength

The light at the end of the tunnel perhaps…

Tracy6 Comments

I had my first in-home physical therapy appointment today. I’m almost afraid to be as happy as I am about it. Muscles were moved today that haven’t been moved for 6+ years. My right leg knee hip ankle, yeah the whole thing 😜 after a few minutes, didn’t hurt as badly. The left leg, on the pain scale a 10. He was almost afraid that my hip was out of the socket. Thankfully it’s not. I realized how the body protects itself today when at a certain point my leg went tight. It basically said, no more! Some of the problem is the knee. I have a frontal torn meniscus and wow!  It’s something that was never taken care of because it was the second time it happened. That’s a whole other story. A good thing is he is going to let them know what I need for my legs. Starting with a knee brace for my left knee. He was so helpful and even did the breathing with me. I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but a couple times I thought my leg was going to snap.

He will be coming back Friday. The problem I may run into is, of course, Independence Blue Cross. At this point I have four visits. Technically the first nurse visit to fill out the paperwork, and the PT visit just to assess my situation, along with the last visit when they sign you out of rehab whatever, and the visit today, that’s already four visits. 😳 Now that he knows the range of motion and what it’s going to take to help me, I should get more visits. I think I’m going to have to send an email to Jason at Independence Blue Cross. * I know there are many run-on sentences. I’m a little medicated as the pain right now is pretty high. Kind of like me. 😏

After PT I actually felt positive. That is kind of a strange feeling for me. I am going to go with it and see where it takes me. I just hope that Independence Blue Cross will allow me enough visits. I am definitely going to need a month or two since it’s only a couple times a week. If we can get everything stretched out then I’ll be able to get back in my wheelchair. Right now, that’s really all I’m pushing for. Once that happens, I can possibly get Physical Therapy to help me be able to transfer on my own. It could happen…

Have courage and be kind.

Health · Hope · Medical · Multiple Sclerosis · Primary Progressive MS · Ramblings · Strength · Stupid Stuff

Some days…

TracyLeave a comment

Seriously, some days I wonder why the hell I even bother waking up. No, I don’t mean the alternative. It just gets harder and harder it seems, to be trapped in this bed. Three months ago I was at the point where I didn’t care anymore. I kept my self medicated so I didn’t have to think about being in this prison. But then, I got help. My mind set changed and I saw that there was some hope left.  In a perfect world I would’ve been able to remain there until I could actually get up on my own. And no, I don’t mean up being a dancing fool, just able to transfer myself from my bed to my wheelchair.  In this world, insurance would have none of that. 😳

So I’ve been lying here for the last two days, angry and a little bit lost. It seems that since I had a glimpse of what might happen, I am not handling being trapped very well anymore. Hell, without the help I need, nothing is going to change. I feel like I’m fooling myself in a sense when I say that I can do this on my own. I want to keep that positive facade going so everyone thinks everything’s great… but it’s not. And no, I’m not giving up, but I am looking for alternatives. 🤔

I’ve been mindlessly watching movies for the last two days. Anything to keep my mind off of everything that I cannot do anymore. As I’m watching I constantly wiggle my butt 😏 move my arms 💪🏻 and try and strengthen myself. But in all honesty, that’s not going to change very much for me.  Right now while I’m talk typing, I’m wiggling my hips back-and-forth. Just keep moving is my new motto, and moving is what I will keep doing as much as I can. If only my dogs 🐶 had opposable thumbs and could understand me and be able to talk  and be strong enough to lift me up, everything would be aces. 😂  It could happen.

Okay, back to the real world. I think the worst part for me is that in my mind I can see myself moving my legs enough to be able to get transferred to my wheelchair. I can’t explain it properly. Sometimes as I’m lying here I can almost feel my body move on its own. I know that sounds like some crazy  psychotic shit. LOL  I wish I had the proper words for it. But I am literally drawing a blank. It’s like I can see myself outside of myself. Okay, now I’m  really going in to the realms of crazy psycho woman. 🤣  And I think I just said back to the real world. Welcome to my mind. 😳

I am now going to bid you farewell for the night.  You can thank me later. 💋

Have courage and be kind 🖤

 

Craziness · Family · Fear · FUCK · HELL · Hope · Love · Medical · Multiple Sclerosis · PAIN · Primary Progressive MS · Quotes · Ramblings · RANDOM · Sarcasm · Strength

Positively unsure…

Tracy7 Comments

I’m positive that I’m unsure about everything right now. Day in and day out I lie in this bed and wonder if things are really going to change. When I say being positive is new to me, it’s a true story. I never realized that it’s very hard to keep a positive attitude. And when your life takes a turn like mine took two decades ago, it’s fucking hard. When I found help on February 23, I believed my life was going to change for the better. I’m still hopeful, but it’s much harder than I thought it would be. While I can move my legs and feet a little bit, I still am unable roll on to my side. I cannot sit up without something supporting my back. As I sit/lie here all I have this time. I’m looking at this blank page before me with tears in my eyes not even sure what to say. I miss the girl I was. I’m so angry at everything and everyone and at nothing and no one. Half the time I don’t even know what I’m saying or thinking anymore. I’m alone and I’m lonely but I don’t want anybody around me.

Most days I just want to scream at the top of my lungs for no apparent reason. The highlight of my day is watching the hummingbirds drinking the glorious nectar that keeps them going. Sugar water, go figure. I can stare at them and keep staring praying that they won’t fly away too quickly…

Is it so wrong two want to escape from this prison that is my body? I don’t want to sound negative or sad but nothing really is changing. We can’t afford a caregiver and I can expect my family to spend every free minute they have aside from what they’re already doing to help me. The whole physical therapy aftercare is a fucking joke. I can only call so many times without a return call. And in reality, if they do call I have no way to get there… So does it really matter. My husband cannot keep taking off as much work as he already does take care of me. My kids work and they shouldn’t have to take care of me. They have done that their whole lives already. And then there’s the pain… the pain that never goes away. The physical and the mental pain Is exhausting. I’m trying so hard to stay strong to keep that positive light flowing.

No one understands that when just sitting like a normal person causes so much pain, it makes a person not want to get out of the bed. The minute my hips go to the proper sitting position the pain latches on and won’t go away. My legs have plopped the side [frog legs] for over four years [11/2013] and when my hips rotate it’s excruciating. Pain meds, muscle relaxants, cannabis, CBD, nothing stops it. I’ve l earned to grit my teeth, quietly let the tears flow, bare it, and warrior on because I have to! I have orders to get ultrasounds on my legs to check for clots, an order to have x-rays of my hips and lower back to check for arthritis aside from my degenerative disc, an order for a mammogram that I’ve put off for the last 2 1/2 three years. Breast cancer took my sister from me I miss her so much…

And I digress. So as I said, I have all of those things I need to get taken care but have no way to get there. I know that my husband will take another day off work to get me to these appointments and that is why I don’t want to make them. It’s also going to suck big hairy donkey balls because of the pain that’s going to happen when trying to get me out of my wheelchair to lie flat for the x-rays. I hope they have some strong men working that day and maybe even a chaser of morphine.

On the outside looking in people probably think I’m lazy. Although I don’t know how I can do much more from my bed. I fought for the last two decades against MS and it didn’t change a thing. I Just kept progressing to where I’m now. But don’t worry, I’m still going to fight and do what I can from this bed to keep going.

I’m going to put my arm weights on every day and do my exercises. I’m going to have my family help me move my legs when they get a free moment. I’m going to keep moving my legs as much as I can even if it is only a little. I know right now I can’t move them very much, but with hard work it can only get better. Or it won’t. But even in the dreary depressed mood I am in at this moment, I will never quit. I will never end up in the hospital again after trying to take my life. [2/2017] I will never end up in the hospital again contemplating taking my life. [2/2018] Because what that month of physical therapy DID give to me was a glimpse in to what might be. I know now I was just a body in bed but while I was there I learned the tools to better myself. I have all the paperwork showing the specific exercises; I know what to do. And even if nothing changes, no one can say I didn’t fight and fight hard! One thing I learned and I’m still learning is there truly is something beautiful in every. I didn’t see that before. That’s how I make it through now. As I’m reading through this I’m not even sure what I’m trying to say. But, I’m in here and I’m saying it and that alone is strength.

Have courage and be kind.

Anger · Health · Multiple Sclerosis · Primary Progressive MS · Ramblings · Strength · Stupid Stuff

Fighting through…

Tracy5 Comments

I’ve been trying to figure out a way how to approach leaving the rehab facility and continuing on at home. Sad to say, the ball was dropped once I left. I truly feel like I was just a body to fill a bed. Since being home, (March 23) I’ve had exactly four in-home physical therapy sessions. I’ve seen the pain management/rehab doctor twice and was told I would have more rehab appointments. No one has called to set those up, and when I call, I never get a return call.  So I am taking the bull by the horns, so to speak, by bustin’ my own ass at home. I wear my Velcro arm weights and do arm exercises daily. I’m doing my best to strengthen my core. And when my husband feels like it, he helps move my legs around for me.

Right now I’m dealing with another wonderful bacterial infection in my bladder and kidneys. Because of the bowel section they used to build my urostomy there’s always a little bacteria that ends up in my bladder. I’m not gonna lie, I think it’s stupid AF that they use part of the bowel knowing it has bacteria and can cause problems. I’m not sure why they didn’t choose another way to build the urostomy. hmmmm I was told by having the urostomy done it would stop my infections etc. Well slap me silly and call me stupid, but it’s made it worse. I have to take a daily antibiotic, Nitrofurantoin, twice daily every day for the rest of my life. Last year I had bladder stones and kidney stones which were all surgically removed. When my urologist went through my stoma with a camera it was like looking at rocky beach inside my bladder. She said she’d never seen so many bladder stones. The removal of those wasn’t that hard. A tube was inserted through the stoma and they were vacuumed out. The kidney stones were a whole nother story. I went in for an outpatient procedure to place the tube into my left kidney which would stay there for five days and then they would vacuum those out. I ended up staying in the hospital for five days. Then when they went in to take out the kidney stones, they could not remove all of them so the tube had to stay in my back for another five days. Unfortunately it caused me a lot of problems and constantly leaked, so for the five days I had to be put into a nursing Center. When I finally had the procedure to remove the kidney stones, all was well. But alas, I have more bladder stones and kidney stones yet again. So what, do I have to have surgery every year to remove these? I feel like I get two steps forward and I’m thrown four or 10 steps back.

unhappy
I know my newest bacterial infection is due, yet again, to the wonderful piece of bowel in my urostomy. Then of course, since things don’t always go as planned, Walgreens where I get my prescriptions fucked up. LOL my prescription for Augmentin was called in on Friday. On Monday I called Walgreens as it seemed to be taking quite some time. They said they were out of stock and would be getting it in the next day on the shipment. So I called the next day and was told they weren’t getting any at all. That my doctor wanted the name brand and they do not carry the name brand. They said they would call my doctor and see if I can use the generic! Okay… why the fuck didn’t they do that in the first place and call me. Meanwhile I’m feeling awful! I went to the doctor because I knew my fatigue and sheer feeling like I was dying was not due to my MS. Not everything is MS!! So I kind of needed this medication right away. I was curious as to why no one called to let me know this. And of course dead air on the other end of the phone. To make a long story short, I finally had enough and yesterday, Wednesday, I called Rite Aid and they called Walgreens and within an hour I had my medication. We have used Walgreens for forever, but since the main pharmacist left a little over a year ago the service has been crap. So now, buh-bye Walgreens!

I will say that my new outlook, trying to keep the positivity floating, helped me through the situation. I didn’t lose my shit, too much. I just chalked it up as another little bump in the road that I would get through. I really believe it helped me to not feel worse by causing me added amount of stress. I will always find a way to make it through the rain. We must remain strong in times of trouble. We must have courage to keep fighting! Those are the markings of the true warrior!

strenght4

Always remember to have courage and be kind!

Craziness · Fear · Health · Hope · Love · Medical · PAIN · Primary Progressive MS · Quotes · Ramblings · RANDOM

The Strength Inside – part IV

Tracy4 Comments

I had entered the hospital on February 16 and by now, with my best recollection, it is February 22. I had agreed to go to the rehabilitation Center at Palmdale regional. Or at least that’s what I thought. Again, I was heavily medicated with morphine and being in the hospital I wasn’t sleeping the best. I was just about to fall asleep when two very, umm, loud women came in my room.

Hurting my ears

The one woman mentioned that she was from a rehabilitation center in San Bernardino which was an hour plus away from my home. She and the other woman, the hospital case manager, both explained how ‘their’ rehab center had been in business for 22 years (maybe 24) and they were the best. Now in my morphine haze, I thought they were actually talking about Dr. Nasser’s rehab center. If I had been in my right mind I would’ve realized that his (Dr. Nasser’s) center was not an hour plus away from my home. But these women were so forceful in their ‘sales pitch’, that I just sat there nodding my head saying yes. Somehow they had heard about my interest in going to a rehab center, and ended up in my room pushing their place on me. I was a little taken aback because the case manager from the hospital was with this person. In my mind, this was a conflict of interest. [ya think] I felt as if these women were tag teaming me. 😂 I don’t remember much more except, I think, I agreed to go to their place. When they left I was very anxious and in tears.

As I was falling asleep, a man entered the room. Instantly I felt calm. He was good looking, he was dressed nicely, had very nicely trimmed and well-kept beard going on, and he was Zen like. He told me his name was Scott and that he was from the rehab center at Palmdale. So now my mind was going in all different directions. I explained about the two women that had shown up in my room and how they told me theirs was the best rehab center around. He smiled and told me that they are a well-established rehabilitation center. He explained that the rehab center at Palmdale was fairly new, only a tad over one-year-old. I knew immediately I was going to go with Palmdale. Not just because it was only five minutes from my home, but because this guy made me feel calm. His voice was even, he had a pleasant laugh, and he was not throwing me a sales pitch. I know I was high on the morphine, but he also made me feel high just talking to him. I told him my mind was made up and that I wanted to go to ‘his’ place. We talked a few more minutes and then he left. I was so calm by then I just remember falling asleep for a good four hours.

When I woke up, that evil little voice inside my head was making me very nervous. Telling me I wasn’t strong enough, that the pain would be too much, that I can’t forget I have primary progressive MS. As usual, I started to weep. And yes, ugly cry. And yes, snot running down my face. But then, as if a fire was lit inside of me, I dried my eyes wiped my nose and said to myself, “I CAN do this! I know it will be hard, but I know I have the strength and the courage to do it. My life and my families lives depend on this. I’ve got this!”

The next step…Life!

Love and Light