I wanted to post an update for my friends here who have been concerned with everything that has been going on with my health.
First, thanks so much for caring about everything that is going on with my health. I'm getting a lot of messages of concern and well-wishes (as are Nurse Kelley and Richard Lyon on my behalf) and constant offers to help me figure things out and see a doctor who will fix my pain and spinal cord issues. You people are all incredible and I'm really thankful. It's great to know you all care (especially considering my lack of real-life friends down here in south Alabama, it's pretty lonely.)
Yesterday I had outpatient surgery to remove some kidney stones I've had for a long time. It seems like for the past couple of years, any time a doctor was willing to address the problem of the stones, I always ran into other issues - infections, decubitus ulcers (pressure sores), nutrition issues - so they finally got rid of the damn things yesterday. It was a 20 minute surgery and there were not even any cuts involved. Everything went fine (in fact, the worst part was getting the IV since I have tiny veins.) The doctor said the stone was so big it had to be broken up into fifteen different pieces.
I went to the hospital wondering if the surgery would do anything to relieve my chronic abdominal pain, but when I talked to the doctor he told me that he's never seen kidney stones that are on one side and cause referred pain to the other side. So I still have the constant pain going on here, and I'm really only writing this because, for at least this moment, I feel okay enough to type something out for my friends here.
It was a bit frustrating knowing that I'd been in pain all day long, unable to take my pain meds (couldn't have anything by mouth after midnight the previous night) and then having the doctor come in and tell me that, oh yeah, this surgery would not, in fact, relieve any of the pain. But at least it's one less problem I have to deal with.
Next up will be my appointment with a neurosurgeon on December 8th. I had been told that I'd need to go back and see the surgeon who paralyzed me when I was fifteen (during a surgery for scoliosis) but thankfully, I am seeing a different doctor instead. I've seen this doctor before and he's good.
Regardless of what he says, though, I'll be following up on all the suggestions and leads I've been getting from people here in the Daily Kos community. Thanks to all of you I now have a whole lot of options and a lot of hope I didn't have before. Now, it seems like if I end up needing to have spine surgery, there's at least a chance that an excellent doctor can do it and I may not have complications. Just a few weeks ago I was terrified and thinking that my only option was going back to a surgeon who already caused permanent damage so that he could do surgery on me once more. Either that, or live with constant pain for the rest of my life.
Beyond December 8th, I don't know. I'm in the process of getting my medical records together to send them to all these new doctors. This is tedious and complicated, both because my mom seems to want to help one minute, and then she thinks it's useless the next, and because all my records are at a few different hospitals spread out between different cities down here (not to mention the fact that I'm not sure how many of my records will be on discs or digital, and I may need to scan a ton of them.) Once I get the records together and send them to these doctors, I'll just see what they think - if they think I should see them, I'll go. I'm hoping that at least one of them will be willing to take my case on. I will feel a lot better if someone with a lot of experience can take a fresh look at my case.
Anyway, I really don't have that much to report - as I said, it was a 20 minute outpatient surgery without any cutting involved. Simplest procedure ever. No complications. Thanks everyone for caring and asking questions, and I promise to keep you all updated as I get more information.