The Pain Man

Monday 9^th May 2011

“Back again”, smiled the out-patients receptionist at Monkwearmouth Hospital, as I handed in my appointment letter to see the Pain Man.

I wish the receptionists at the fracture and orthopaedic outpatients at the Royal Hospital were as friendly as they are here. No matter whether you speak to them face to face or over the phone, they are really miserable.

Like last week, John was able to come with me so we got ourselves settled in the waiting area. One of the auxiliary nurses approached me. I hoped it wasn’t for more obs. I didn’t think I would have grown since last week….

“Marie”, she said, “Dr Kumar has asked if you could fill out this pain questionnaire please”.

It asked questions like ‘how would you describe your pain’ and ‘how would you rate it out of 10’. I hate answering questions like that.

I asked John if he would come into the consulting room with me so he could explain how my moods change when my pains are really bad.

“How did the pain in your back start”, asked the Pain Man.

I explained about the mattress’s in the hospital. He flicked through my notes.

“Have you seen Mr Roysum since your MRI scan”, he asked.

“Err, no”, I replied, “that’s a bit of a sore point. Every time I have an appointment, it gets cancelled. The next time I am supposedly seeing him will be in June. That’s nearly a year since my first consolation”.

“I see”, he said, then left the consulting room. He came back holding a plastic model of the spine and pelvis.

“It would seem that your back pain was caused by a vertebra being displaced forwards due to the soft mattresses”, he said, giving John and myself a demonstration on the model of what happened, “your spine is very susceptible to this kind of injury as there is soft tissue damage caused by treatment when you were very young”.

He expressed surprise that no-one had picked up on this when I first reported the back pain, and that it should have been acted on sooner. He was also shocked, that given the soft tissue damage, I was given a normal soft mattress instead of one suitable for my back.

He then asked how things were with my hand so I explained what the Hand (Wo)Man had said.

“I would strongly suggest you have surgery on your wrist”, he said, “as I’m afraid it’ll only get worse”.

Just what I wanted to hear !!!!!!

“What’s happening with your hip”, he enquired.

“Nothing”, I answered, then told him what Kermit had said.

“I know I shouldn’t say this about one of your colleagues”, I added, “but I got the feeling that the Plastic Man didn’t want to do the surgery from the moment he saw me. I was also a bit surprised with Kermit’s attitude”.

“I think it would be in your best interests to get a second opinion”, he replied.

Interesting……

Now getting back to the reason why we were there – my pains – he advised me to stay on the Gabapentin.

I told him I wasn’t too keen on that idea as I didn’t like the side effects. He replied that they were the best painkillers for the type of nerve pain that I have. Reluctantly I said I’d continue with them.

He’s also put me on Nortripaline, which is in the same family as Amitripaline. I used to take them but they didn’t work.

“See how you get on with these and I’ll see you in a few months”.

The Hand (Wo)Man

Tuesday 3^rd May 2011

Saw the Hand (Wo)Man today. As the appointment time was 9.am and at Monkwearmouth Hospital, which is less than a mile from our house, John was able to come with me.

Before I saw the (Wo)Hand Man, the usual obs had to be taken by one of the auxiliary nurses.

“How tall are you”, she asked.

“That depends on which leg I’m standing on…”, I replied.

She settled on the length of the longest leg.

“What’s your weight”, she asked.

“No idea”, I replied, “as I can’t stand on the scales”.

“We need to know”, she said, “so you’re going to have to try and stand”.

Easier said than done…..

After much wobbling by me and much moving of the scales needle, she eventually settled on a figure.

“Mrs Harper”, called out a ladies voice from one of the clinic rooms.

I looked to see where the voice was coming from and waved to say I was coming.

“Hello Mrs Harper”, said the lady when I go to the clinic door, She held out her hand, “I’m Dr Petreczky”.

After poking and prodding, the Hand (Wo)Man confirmed what Dr Chapman had suspected. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in my left hand.

“What caused it”, I asked.

“Your elbow crutch”, she replied, “it’s because you’re putting strain on your wrist. I’m going to refer you to a consultant neurophysiologist for an electromyography. It’s a test to see how much damage there is to the nerves in your wrist”.

“What then”, I ask.

“It all depends on how severe the carpal tunnel syndrome is. I’ll arrange for you to get measured up for a splint. Wear it during the night and whenever you can seeing as you need to move your wrist with your crutches”.

“I think though”, she continued, “the only option would be surgery”.

I shook my head, “I can’t. I need my hand to walk. I’m going to be totally immobilised if it’s out of action”.

“Ok”, she said, “I’ll put down that surgery is the very last option. See how the splint goes and I’ll see you in a couple of month”.

I can’t even being to think what I’d do if I have to have surgery on my hand.

Step building

Friday 29^th April 2011

John had been busy planning the past few weeks on how to alter the steps at the front of the house. At the moment they are too high for me to safely get in and out of the house.

We did get a quote from a builder to install four low level concrete steps. One thousand pounds !!!!!!

John, being good with DIY and never says no to a challenge, said he could do it for about £200. Happy with that…..

So whilst everyone was enjoying the long bank holiday weekend, thanks to an extra day for the Royal Wedding – John spent that time mixing bag after bag after bag of concrete for the steps.

The steps aren’t pretty, and I don’t even think the builder would have done any better, however it does help me get in and out of the front door. What more could I ask for.

An early visitation

Monday 21^st March 2011

At 8.10am I was sitting in my GP’s surgery waiting to see Dr Chapman. Seeing as I have to rely on John to take me, appointments are either very early or very late in the day.

As the painkillers I was taking at the moment weren’t doing anything she decided to contact the Pain Man to see if he could come up with something to tied me over until I see him on May.

“I’ll ring him later this morning”, said Dr Chapman, “then I’ll ring you this afternoon”.

True to her word she did and a new set of painkillers are on their way.

Booking success

Wednesday 9^th March 2011

Following John’s suggestion that I give the appointments bookings website a couple of days to sort itself out, I tried again.

As predicted the 9am appointment had been released, so with crossed fingers, I pressed ‘book now’.

Success !!!!!!