Finding Flattop

Since my last posting it’s been a combination of good and bad days.    Sometimes I feel like I’m taking a few steps forward and others several steps back.

Last Wednesday I took my first walk, which was three blocks.  that turned out to be way to much and I feel like I’ve paying for it ever since.  Before the walk I had gotten to the point I was only taking pain meds once maybe twice a day and since I’ve been back to taking them on a the regular prescribed basis every few hours.

On Thursday I had my first physical therapy appointment.  The main focus is to regain use of my right arm.  It’s amazing how fast things atrophy when they are not used.  Activity is all movement oriented and not weight bearing as I’m only allowed one pound on my right side until the bones heal.  the half hour at PT is the most movement I’ve had in my body in several weeks.  Let’s say I feel like I’ve made one step forward and ten steps back.   Since that session, I’ve been having problems breathing normal breaths without pain in my abdomen.   My breathing therfore is very shallow and short.  Thus walking anymore than a few feet makes me extremely winded causing deeper breaths accompanied with knife stabbing pain.

I return this afternoon for PT and will be addressing the regression with them and go from there.

Since my emergency room visit just over a week ago, I have been taking it easy at home in a motorized recliner rented from a medical supply store. It’s my bed as well as where I spend the day sitting. The new medication routine has worked well and maintained limited pain. most of last week I spent sleeping 12-18 hours a day. In the past week I’ve noticed a good improvement in my condition and have gained significant more use of my right arm. I’ve been out of the house twice and up daily for about an hour or so, which is enough to get me good and sore. At the moment I’m only takng pain medication as needed which is growing farther and farther apart. I go thorugh fazes of feeling well and then will have chest or shoulder pain. Sometimes breathing is painful or
labored and at other times is fine.

All in all, I’m improving and greatful for all the outpouring of assistance from friends. I will be starting physical therapy later this week for the next six weeks.

I hope to get details about what happened posted yet this week along with photos from my time in Africa.

i had a set back tonight and spent the evening in the emergency room.  The meds which had been prescribed, vicodin, for pain had been working and stopped.  The pain became so incredibly intense, i’m not sure there are words to adequately describe it.  I’ve had kidney stones in the past which where insanely painful and this pain easily exceeded any agony I’ve ever experienced.

In the ER they gave me 5 doses of Dilaudid, supposedly one of the strongest narcotic pain relievers in existence, over a 6 hour period with zero pain relief.  I don’t think I’ve ever cried from pain and I spent a large percent of the time with tears running down my face while waling in extreme agony.

They performed more x rays and completed a CT scan of my chest, abdomen, and legs.  intially they found a small amount of pooling liquid in my lungs and came to the conclusion it was produced by shallow breathing due to the pain.

The CT showed no other organ damage and verified there are 6 ribs broken in multiple locations along with the scapula break.  Thank goodness there are no other problems.  The pain in the end was being produced by spasming muscles near fractured ribs.  Thus they have removed me from the vicodin and put me on a regiment of muscle relaxers, anti-inflamatories, and alternate pain killers.  With the 3 way approach my 6 hours of torturous agony came to an end quickly.

I hope and pray this new approach is effective in pain management.   The next few weeks are going to be quite sendentary to allow more healing.

I want to thank my friends Annie and Sae for all their assitance tonight.  It would have been harder to go through tonight without assistance than it was to spend the week in a nightmare Africa situation due to the level of pain.

saw a doctor here in the good ol USA today for 1st time.  the mental n emotional load of being in survival status is beginning to unwindhad a little.  more xrays taken to thankfully exlude anything broken in my hip.  otherwise, ribs n scapula will take 10 weeks to heal.  the next two weeks is pain management with limited activity.  then get more xrays to check progress n most likely start physical therapy. 

only have use of left to type still so will get to posting more slowly.  i’ll have plenty of time though as im stuck mostly in a chair.

found out the sores on my ass r bed sores from the hospital in Namibia.  probably due to sand in the bed for a week. 

several folks have requested to stop by.  anyone is welcome to drop in n say hello or give me company.  the door is unlocked n i wont get up, so let yourself in.   thanks to the half dozen visitors i’ve alredy had.

made it home safe.  go see the doc tommorow to get fully checked out.