Living with pain

No one should have to live with pain.  I'm so tired of hurting all the time.  I'm tired of the constant pain and stiffness in my neck.  The meds they gave me at the ER last weekend for my back worked wonders on my neck.  My pain level stayed right around a 2, instead of the usual 4-5.  The last three days though, having been out of the ER meds for a few days, my neck pain has increased to about a 7-8.  I broke down and called my doctor today.  I almost burst into tears telling her that I've tried everything and I just don't know what to do anymore.  I've done 3 rounds of physical therapy, met with a neurologist, neurosurgeon, pain management doctor and am now on my third chiropractor, finally getting acupuncture.  And after two years, the pain is still there.  Today I couldn't even focus on work because my neck hurt so bad.  So, I told my doctor that percocet is the only thing I've taken that has ever dulled the pain in my neck.  She filled the prescription, as well as a prescription for ibuprofen and more Robaxin (muscle relaxer).  She gave me specific instructions for taking them and made sure I understood that the percocet was a last resort.  Now, in order to try to retrain my neck muscles, I will be taking ibuprofen every day, 3 times a day.  I'll take a muscle relaxer if the ibuprofen doesn't seem to help, and then, from there, if I am still feeling bad, I can take the percocet.  I plan to follow this, especially since I only have 30 percocet and likely will not be able to get any more.

But here is what my doctor told me.  She told me that she didn't want me to be in pain, which is why she was giving me the prescriptions.  But what she really wanted me to understand is that it is stress and me NOT relaxing that is causing me so much trouble.  She didn't think that the bulging discs in my neck are actually causing the pain.  She believes that it is stress and tension.  She believes that all my problems presently are muscular and relaxing is the only way to relieve the pain.  So she told me about this Yoga for Beginners DVD that focuses on poses that will promote deep relaxation.  She also told me that I needed to have a deep tissue massage once/month, twice if we could afford it.  Imagine my delight in telling Kris that my doctor said I needed to get a massage!!!  I ordered the DVD and scheduled a massage for tomorrow night.  I've been trying to get one for two weeks now and I am probably going to have a mental breakdown if another trip to the ER interferes with my plans for a massage!  I will try this and see what happens...I've tried so many different things over the last two years, but hopefully this will be it.

So, now that you've read through all of that boring medical nonsense...how is YOUR week going?  Anything exciting happening?  How many of you still have kids that haven't started school yet?

Don't forget to check out my daughter's blog:  Take a Look at This Book!