So...you thought I wouldn't post until next week, huh? Well, I guess I fibbed! :-) This is a good thing so I thought I would post. I was very excited today and I don't know that anyone will really care, but I was happy. My abdominal swelling has gone down to the point that I could wear "real" pants today. No work out pants...a pair with a zipper and button! I still have a little pooch, but it's easily hidden. So either I didn't have a hematoma or the heat has helped it to reabsorb. My incision is very sensitive right now, but I expected that for the first few months so I'll just deal with the weird sensations.
However, something not so good happened today, as well. I finally got a call back from my PCP's assistant regarding my call to her to discuss my pain meds and getting the prescription from her to start PT. Well, unlike what we discussed pre-surgery, she had her assistant tell me that I need to go to a pain specialist now to get my pain meds filled or I need to consult an ortho. As I informed the assistant, it is going to be hard to find an ortho that will follow me post-op. Plus, the 2 orthos I consulted here prior to going to Spain will in no way follow me because I went against their recommendations. This is a complete 180 from the conversation we had in October prior to me leaving for Spain. She advised that anything I needed, including meds, she would take care of for me when I got back because she supported my decision to go to Spain. She advised she knows that there are a lot of treatments that are available and better options for patients outside of the US, so she was on board.
So...my question, what happened between then and now. I told the assistant that I needed to talk to her personally because I'm confused about the change in plan. Hopefully, she will call tomorrow and we can address this issue. The thing that concerns me is I'm close to being out of pain meds at this point. Yes, I'm weaning myself and am almost able to get away with only using one pain pill daily, but still, I'm only 3 weeks post-op and don't want to play around if I need something. Fingers crossed we can work something out without me having to find go to another MD.
Other than that, did some Christmas shopping today and was out for about 3-4 hours with no problems walking and no sitting until we went back to the car. I'm kind of tired, but happy that I did so well today.
Let the good days continue!
K
My GP is (was) taking care of all pain meds. I have no ortho in the states either. I figured it wouldn't do me any good to have and ortho that doesn't know anything about my devices that aren't US FDA approved anyway. Is that a route you can take? Just a family doctor?
ReplyDeleteJS,
ReplyDeletePCP and GP are same. Yep, that was the route I was taking for same reason as you. I was already told the 2 I saw didn't agree with me even exploring ADR, let alone seriously thinking about having done. Good news though...she called me bright and early this a.m. and we have come to an agreement about her role in helping my recovery. I guess there was some miscommunication on both sides so it was good we talked.
How is the holiday season treating you? Things going well, I hope? Recovery still going well? Think I'm doing too much so I'm hoping to slow down the next couple of days and see if the soreness lessens. How long did it take for you to get more comfortable sitting? Still bothersome for me.
Have s good weekend,
Kim
Glad you got the medicine straightened out - guess I didn't read that closely enough! I've been fortunate that sitting has never bothered me. It was week 7 that I finally got rid of virtually all aches and pains - which were all in the legs. It will keep getting better! Massages helped a lot - maybe Santa can load you up on some!
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