It's been awhile since my last post. I figured I'd use this method to let people know what's been up for the last few weeks.
WARNING: TOO MUCH INFORMATION
If you're not interested in a lot of personal details hit 'n' now (or whatever your method of moving on is).
As those few of you who read this blog may know, a few months ago I started having back problems. You may also know that I've been separated from my wife for the last year or so. I'll get to how these two things are related in a little bit.
A few weeks ago my back started getting worse. The pain increased sharply and I was unable to walk more than a few feet without the pain becoming blinding and debilitating. One of the things my doctor has wanted me to do is drop some weight. From the time I was weighed when I initially went to the hospital for the first back pains (431.9 lbs) to the time I'm talking about I had lost 32.9 pounds. A significant amount in that time frame.
As an aside, I don't recommend this method of weight loss. It requires so much pain that you can't even stand to eat. Also, unexplained nausea, reduced appetite and having to take massive amounts of prescription grade laxative just to stay regular, which means toilet visits are individual experiences to be forgotten as quickly as possible lest you put off the next visit until its too late.
So, anyway. My doctor decided at this point that he needed more information. I was scheduled for a cat scan that afternoon. He called me that night and asked me to come immediately so blood could be drawn for some tests. I may be slow on the uptake, but I knew this wasn't a good sign. It seems there was an "anomaly" on the cat scan. Wonderful.
The next morning (a Saturday) I get a call from my doctor again. He's been able to get someone to come in on the weekend to give me an mri and could I show up in a few hours. Hmmm ... I'm not liking this much, but what choice do I have.
Did I mention I have some back pain, and that it's been getting worse and worse? The freeway has some bumps on it that you just don't appreciate when you're healthy. And I will never think of going over a bumpy driveway the same way again.
And let's talk about cat scans and mri's! Why do they require you to lie down when you have back pain! For the cat scan the poor tech tried to help me up (if she weighed more than 120 lbs I wouldn't believe it) but all I could really do was throw myself into a sitting position. People came rushing from all directions to see what the screaming was about. I'm not kidding. All I could do for I don't know how long was sit there and cry until my back recuperated enough for me to think clearly again. At which point I asked for a wheelchair ride out to my car. I think they did it for me just to get me out. Poor ladies were fairly freaked I think.
The mri the next day was even worse. They told me it would be a 2 hour process, so I took my pain medication (with a little extra in anticipation of the troubles in getting up). Now ... I should clarify here ... I can lie down ok (getting into a prone position is painful, but doable). And, with the pain meds, I was able to relax enough to actually get some decent sleep during the scanning process. They woke me up a few times to get me to move my arms and legs a little, but for the majority of the time I got some real sleep for the first time in weeks.
I needed that sleep. The scan actually took longer than the original 2 hours told to me. They finished just as the pain meds wore off. So getting up was an adventuresome 5 minutes of excruciating pain. I barely remember getting home. I think I cried myself to sleep. I took my pain meds early.
Late afternoon that day my doctor calls me again. I need to check into the hospital. I'll post the rest tomorrow. I'm really tired and I still need to get this project done for a contract I'm trying to keep going along with everything else.
