Progress

Friday, April 9, 2010

Bloodwork and Tailbone Results

Well, the results are in and my tailbone region looks normal.  It's not broken, dislocated or bruised.  So, basically, they have no idea why I have pain there.  Doc wants to send me to a "pain specialist" now to handle it.  Here's what bugs me about it. ****If you're a big supporter of pain management people...you may not want to read this next part even though I don't mean for it to be offensive *****  All this guy is gonna do is stick a needle in my butt and shoot high doses of pain meds to the bone to ease the pain.  While that sounds all good and well, it's possibly only a temporary fix.  If it's just enflamed, this may help until it gets tampered down but it's been two years, this isn't just enflamed.  If it's something more permanent, I'll have to go back every few months for more shots.  I don't like the idea of that.  Who the hell has time for that?!?!  Also, I don't like this trend in the medicinal arts that we're going to treat the symptoms without trying to find out the root cause of said symptoms.  It's not a great approach.  Also, this doctor I've been referred to...hmmm...not inspiring a lot of confidence on his website.  Under "Accomplishments", he says "graduated from college in two years because skipped the 12th grade."  Ummm...yeah...OK.  What a dork.  Anyway, I'm thinking of exploring other avenues of treatment first like acupuncture or a chiropractor or something.  "Chronic pain" is just a term they made up for this since they don't know what it is.  Athritis, Bursitis, Fibromyalgia..THAT'S chronic pain.  Pain while sitting?  Not so much.  Needless to say, this frustrates me because I'm uncomfortable but I'm not sure I want shots up my bottom to make it feel better...will have to think this one over.

Bloodwork came back as well.  Sugars and liver look good (Damn! Was kinda hoping to be prediabetic but I know it's actually a good thing).  My cholesterol and triglycerides are elevated so the doc wants to put me on a low fat diet and have me exercise 5 days a week.  Yeah...OK.  Well, while I agree that I absolutely should be doing that, did he miss the whole lapband, supervised diet thingie???  Not to be cavalier about it but my cholesterol is elevated by 4 points...I don't think that's going to kill me in the next two months while I try to finish these insurance requirements.  The whole point of the lapband is to get healthy and not have any numbers elevated so I'm taking the results with a positive outlook and feel assured that these numbers will soon be heading in a downward direction.

The doc's office also confirmed they received my fax with the sample letter of medical necessity and the addendum with some personal information.  The receptionist said she left it on the doctor's desk and he'll get to it as soon as he can.  We'll see how long this takes.  The results of the tests and stuff have been pretty speedy so I'm hoping he gets to it quickly.  I also instructed his office to call me when it's done so I can swing by and pick them up instead of having them faxed.  Yes, I'm a control freak.  Right now, I don't see any reason in trying to change that but I will eventually.  If there is one lesson I'm taking from Lori's blog is that if you stay on top of what's going on, good things will happen!  I'm hoping, at least.  So anyway, there's my update.  Hope everyone's doing ok...Have a great weekend!

5 comments:

carla said...

Happy that the tailbone is nothign serious but undersdtand your frustration on the pain management etc. Hope you have a great weekend too

Lynda said...

How does skipping the 12th grade make college go by faster? I see where it makes High School go by faster, but college? Makes you wonder what he skipped in college. And really, once you're an adult (and out of college) who really cares about your High School accomplishments anyway?

Amanda Kiska said...

I have the same question as Just Lynda. I'm sorry that you didn't get better news on the tailbone, but YEAH! for the LB approval moving along!

Ashli said...

I had tailbone pain when I was in the 6th grade. I never fell on it, bumped it or anything but it hurt like the devil. Took a LONG time for it to go away, but it eventually did. Has never bothered me since. Hopefully yours will disapate over time as well. Good luck.

Cheeseburger Girl said...

I have often had tailbone pain and was told it is my sciatic nerve. I thought they were wrong until my hip started feeling like it was grinding or out of socket sometimes. Now when I sit or stand or exercise for too long my tailbone area and hip hurt SO BAD.
This pain is what actually motivated me to seek out the lapband. I'm hoping beyond hope that getting some weight off will help.
I hope you get some relief soon, because I know it is no fun at all. And if you find something that works, please let me know!