Trifecta Grumble

For the past week, I’ve been coping (more or less) with an arthritis flare up in my lumbar spine. I usually have a flare up every August so I haven’t been too surprised, but the previous two years I managed to avoid it. Funnily enough (or not) that was when I was dealing with the hole in my side. I just commented to Rod about it and we have 2 theories. The first is that infection in my back and side kept my back warm so there wasn’t a flare up. The second possibility is that the swelling from the infection changed the dynamics in my back, avoiding a flare up. Or it was a combination of these factors. As grateful as I am that I didn’t have to deal with both issues at the same time, I wish I didn’t have to be dealing with this now.

I finally went to see the doctor this afternoon for it as the pain was also in my leg where I happen to have a huge bruise. She poked in all the different spots (oh my that was so not fun) and declared I have a trifecta… a flair up of my osteoarthritis (which I knew about), sciatica (I’ve had that before but it’s been a very long time), and bursitis. She wrote out a care plan for me and I have an appointment for a CT scan of my spine tomorrow afternoon. I’ll then go back and see her on Wednesday for the results. She also changed my prescription from plain Panadol (like Tylenol) to Panadol Osteo which is a slow release and lasts 8hrs instead of the usual 4. My care plan is to take the meds (including a Panadiene Forte (Panadol w/ Codeine) as needed, rest, keep heat on my back all day, don’t stand too long, don’t sit too long, sit and stand up straight, and when a bit better add stretching exercises into my routine. I can also have up to 5 physiotherapy appointments as part of my diabetes care plan but that’s on hold until I’m a bit better.

I knew about the heat from the past – in fact I have two large gel packs that fit into a holder that I can wrap around my waist to hold the heat pack against my back. It’s just been so long since I’ve had a flare up that I kind of forgot about them until she mentioned heat. Since my appointment I’ve been using the gel packs and have to admit, it helps a lot.

The last time I had a problem with bursitis, I had an ultrasound and a shot of cortisone right in the affected spot at the same time (they use the ultrasound to pin point where the shot should go. It gave me relief within only a few days so I do hope I can have that again as one less source of pain would be a very good thing at this point. I guess we’ll be dealing with that after the results of the CT scan are back. Before I do that though, I’ll make sure and get my HBA1C taken as my glucose results have been so good for the last several months, I want to make sure that’s what shows on the test. not wonky results from the cortisone shot (cortisone can really make one’s blood sugars erratic for a few weeks).

I was also able to do a little bit of work today and yesterday but certainly not at the same pace I had been moving into. Alas, there’s nothing for it but taking each day as it comes and going from there.

Anyway, just thought I should post an update.

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