"...died after five years of courageously enduring and battling whatever...".
I'm afraid that mine will be more like,
"...passed away after years of griping about her stupid foot. She didn't endure it well. She complained constantly and we're all glad she's finally at peace, so we can be too."
Nevertheless, the neuroma on my left foot is acting up again, and I feel compelled to write about it. I really wasn't in that much pain from the it - maybe a 2-3 on a scale from 1-10. Or maybe I was just used to being in pain all the time and this has become my normal. But I knew it was there and I was babying my feet all the time (griping), waiting for the real pain to start. Plus, I could see that it was growing from the way my toes were spreading apart. It was looking worse than it felt, but I knew I needed to start shrinking it.
At the urging of some friends, I decided to try their foot doctor and get a second opinion. My appointment was yesterday. He was very nice and acknowledged that yes, I have a very large neuroma. My orthotics are doing all they can to help, no cute shoes for me - ever, and just to be sure there wasn't any old fracture or something, he took an x-ray.
Usually, the affected nerve is in between the third and fourth toes, but for some reason, mine is between the second and third. I'm sure that my location is known as the more painful of the two. The x-ray showed that the bones right by the nerve are touching - no empty space for a nerve to happily sit.
I'm already wearing the orthotics, limiting some activity, wearing wide- width shoes, and complaining loudly, so the only two options left are more injections and as a very, very last resort, surgery to just cut that nerve right outta there. Surgery, however, might not even be very successful because of my freaky bone structure - the ends of the nerve would develop the same problem, or scar tissue might grow, etc. We're going with more injections right now.
The injections are of an alcohol solution with a little bit of cortisone to reduce swelling, and some anesthetic for instant relief. The alcohol is supposed to break down the nerve tissue. He wants me to come back 2 more times over the next two months - it can take several injections to make this work. Now I've had probably 9 of these injections over the past 5 years, but they haven't been one right after the other. I usually just wait until I'm in pain again. Maybe it will work this time. The new doc also said he uses a higher amount of alcohol in his shots than most.
The shots hurt.
Alot.
It's straight into a nerve, nice and slow, turning the needle every which way. But then the pain is gone. I love anesthetic! And I realize that my pain wasn't just a 2 or a 3, it was much higher, and a numb foot is really a good way to go. I walk kinda funny when I can't feel my toes but it's a good trade-off to be pain free.
The anesthetic wore off about 9am. I can barely walk. Even just sitting here, I can feel the injection site burning. I would love to take a few ibuprofen and chase 'em with a Tylenol or two, but I can't because I'm scheduled for a colonoscopy tomorrow and I'm not allowed to take any pain meds. This was lousy timing on my part. Never schedule a minor procedure too close to a semi-major procedure! It will interrupt your pharmaceutical plans., and you'll end up laying around the house, feeling all grumpy and maybe even a little bit weepy from the pain.
Do you blame me?
Did I mention that this hurts?
8 comments:
OUCH! That just looks painful. Hope the shots will do you some lasting good.
Holy crap! Your foot looks bad! Can I do anything for you?
That looks so painful! But almost as painful is that your toe nails were not freshly painted for the photo. Sorry. Just a little something Yvonne instilled in me.
Good luck tomorrow! I am proud of you.
Oh Wendy, just looking at it make me cringe. Foot pain IS THE WORST. I walked around on a broken foot for about two years not knowing what was going on til the doc said let's x-ray. Yep you have a bone split in two and won't ever heal. WHAT, never heal. Anyway the pain finally went away some two or three years later. I feel for you. And yeah on the colonoscopy. I have 7 more years til I have to have another one. GOOD luck and hope the results are good.
That looks like it really hurts. You poor girl. And a colonoscopy on top of that! That scariest part is that it just makes us realize how old were are getting. For example just today I had to get a dexascan to see if I had osteoporosis! It was so weird to answer the question that were so obviously meant for the elderly, which at 37 I am not! Things like do I fall a lot! The test came back good, thank goodness. But i will now be better at taking my calcium. The reason I needed it was because I had an x-ray on my hand and they could see the starting of ostio. So lesson to all, we are getting old! Start now to take care of ourselves, like taking calcium supplemens and gettin colonoscopy! Good luck tomorrow wendy.
Thanks, everyone. Sympathy helps, it really does. Chocolate and pain killers would help more, but I can't have either.
Wahwee...I was dying over the chipped polish - and the close up shot is never good anyway. I was just too weak from hunger to give 'em a fresh coat. I'll do better next time. Pinky swear.
Mrs Pickle! A dexascan - seriously? Crud, I don't take any calcium supplements - hadn't even really thought of it that much. Now I will. Glad yours turned out okay.
I've been trying to get all my appointments taken care of: foot, colon, and all my womanly parts get checked out next week. Still need to make a dental appointment, and now, a dexascan. I think I've hit my deductible for the year.
I'll be thinking of you. Poor footsie.
It looks almost like your middle toes don't get along too well. You ought to name them. Like, the Democrats & Republicans or Donald & Rosie or Martha & the IRS.
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