A Series of Unfortunate Events

I know I said I wasn’t really going to talk about my foot/leg issue unless I had great news & well, I have good news in that I was able to find a doctor, in Columbia, that treats chronic regional pain syndrome-CRPS (the current name for RSD). So that was really good, no more trips to Richmond, VA needed. The Pain Specialist increased some medications that I was already on & gave me three new meds to help manage my pain. “Finally”, I thought to myself, “I will finally not be in such horrible pain!” The very same day I came home from the doctor to find a lovely potted plant on my steps, a gift from my neighbor.  I felt like things were really looking up.

I excitedly packed my bag for a weekend with some girlfriends. We weren’t going anywhere, just a local hotel (so we could get some sleep) with girly activities planned-pedicures, pottery, & a play…it was going to be wonderful. Friday evening we went to dinner & then a movie. One of the ladies needed to go home the 1^st night to take her daughter to dance class in the morning so we dropped her off at her car. We sat chit chatting in the car for 5-10 minutes before she got out of our car to get into her own. She left & we attempted to turn on our car. Dead. We tried a few more times & it wouldn’t turn over. It was12:30 at night & we were blocking three cars so we called AAA & they came to jump us (very quickly I might add) . We drove around for 10 minutes to charge the battery & got back to our room around 1:30am. My pain tends to get worse as the day progresses so I decided to take one of my new pain medications as I didn’t want anything to spoil my weekend with the girls. We stayed up talking for another hour or so & I drifted off to sleep in a lovely bed full of pillows & comfort.

I woke up naturally Saturday morning. We relaxed in the room until a little before 10am heading downstairs to a delightful continental breakfast of fresh fruit & coffee.  I felt a little tired, attributing it to a late night & my untimely monthly “visitor” coming the day before. I drank another cup of coffee to perk up & enjoy my friend’s company. She was talking but I was seeing two of her, I was getting nauseous & asked for a cup of water thinking I might be dehydrated. After a couple cups of water did not make me better I confessed that I needed to lay down. It wasn’t a big deal as we didn’t have anything planned for awhile & we were waiting for our friend to arrive from being with her daughter.  My head was spinning, I was super nauseous, laying down was NOT making me feel better. I remembered that I had a pain patch on so I took that off thinking maybe my pressure was dropping (I have passed out on several occasions in high school & during pregnancy. Every time it was due to low blood pressure & dehydration). I tried to drink some more water but it wasn’t helping. I knew I was sick, too sick to be hanging out with the girls. I weakly called my husband to come get me (my friends had gone to lunch). When they got back I was crawling on the floor, too weak to get back in the bed. I sat on the floor with tears of disappointment & frustration streaming down my face. They helped me back to bed, suggesting a little rest before the play that evening. I knew I was NOT going to make it to the play, I couldn’t even see my way to the bathroom! My husband arrived & my friends got a wheelchair for me & wheeled me to the car.

I am not sure if it was the movement of the car or what but I felt like I was going in & out of consciousness in the van. My words were mumbled & I felt limp. The AC was on but I felt like I wasn’t getting air. I managed to ask my husband to take me to the ER. I didn’t want to pass out at home with the boys. He took me to the hospital & they wheeled me in. We had our 2 youngest sons with us & DJ calls a friend from church to pick up the boys. What wonderful friends we have! They not only picked them up from the hospital but they went to our house to get my 10 yr old & the boys pj’s! Then they took them to their house, fed them, spoiled them & the boys spent the night with them while we were at the hospital for 6 hours.  I got fluids & nausea medicine & left the hospital with only a minor headache & nausea.

Sunday morning I awoke to a gloriously quiet house & some fresh fruit my husband had prepared for me. I stayed in the bed most of the day. I went outside in the afternoon to sit in the sun & listen to squeals of delight as my boys ran in the sprinkler & had mud ball fights. More friends came to bring food for the boys & vegetable sushi for the adults. I was so encouraged by all the love shown to me & my family in a difficult time.

This week my chiropractor is concerned that I might have a ruptured disk causing my foot & leg pain. I have an MRI of my back Friday so we shall see what it says & go from there. I am slowly reintroducing my new medications to see if I have an adverse reaction to any of them (you would think I would know better as a nurse!) J