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in reply to: I’m home #1171899

to nancy and shirley – thank you both! the pain seems to get worse a couple times a day, that’s when I use the polar pack, which is the name of the unit, may not be the same one you had shirley, but same purpose. the only hard part is connecting the inline clips, I lean on 1 end on the counter and use the right hand to push them together, can’t push with left hand at all, but I was told I can use the hand, as long as elbow stays touching my side, but can’t use for pressure. I have several exercises that i’m doing 2-3 times a day, but passive for shoulder and some for elbow and wrist/hand, to prevent ‘freeze up’. I am in a sling 99% of the time though, except for shower, exercises, etc. like I said, the surgery area improves daily, it’s like the pain has moved from the site. I dunno, I know it’ll take a long time and I haven’t had anyone here since Tuesday, daughter-in-law has classes, etc and had to leave then. The idea of being like this for weeks is an awful thought, it’s only been 9 days and I want to pull my hair out, between pain and ‘cabin fever’, gonna see if a friend can take me to the store tomorrow.
thanks ya’ll I appreciate the input. hugz!
oh, also, my polar pack doesent have to be above the head, it has a pump, its electric and sits in the floor, I’m either on the recliner or in my desk chair. you don’t have to move it around. you take top off, dump some water, add ice, top back on and attach to shoulder pad and plug in. I think mine must be an easier one to use, thank heavens, no way I could do the one you had, by myself.

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in reply to: I’m home #1171896

hey shirley…. I know you’ve dealt with this shoulder mess, did you have pain halfway down your arm? I mean halfway between the shoulder and elbow? the surgical area doesn’t hurt that much now, but I have sharp pain about 6 inches below it, doesn’t make sense to me, wondered if you remembered this happening in any of your surgeries. if it doesn’t ease up by monday, will call ortho, this doesn’t seem right to me.

thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers! hugz!

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in reply to: I’m home #1171893

yes, I have the ‘polarpack’ and had help the 1st few days, was alone yesterday and she’ll be leaving tonight. had to wrestle the pp by myself once so far, don’t know what people do without help, guess I’ll figure it out. will call one of the girls from work and have them stop over to help me with it. the weekend was awful, pain meds didn’t help, I told them percocet doesn’t work well for me, good thing I had vicodin to fall back on, they phoned in a script yesterday, so I’m good with that. I got good advice from people, don’t scrimp on the pain meds, it hurts like hell. I hear ‘open’ surgery is worse, if this is better, my heart goes out to those that have to have it. i’m sleeping (kinda)in a recliner, son’s roommate loaned me his, for as long as i need it.
time for meds and shower, hugs to all!

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in reply to: Had the Scan Done #1171859

Hang in there lady! At worst, a couple weeks. We’ll all be praying/sending good vibes, for a speedy recovery. BIG HUGZ!!

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in reply to: May be a strange question #1171806

Hey, when I went for my pre-op, someone mentioned me getting the ice thing, so I guess I’ll have that, was told to buy ice because the freezer ice maker wouldn’t be able to keep up the demand. I don’t have an ice maker! 😆 I do have room in the freezer though, I rarely cook any more, got plenty of room up there. Will pick up a bag Thurs night and have son get me another bag Saturday evening when he comes to pick up daughter-in-law, who will stay with me from the time I get out Fri until Sat evening, doctors are insisting I have someone here for 24 hrs.

Alexis, glad to hear things are coming together for you! Made my day

The pain thing, well……..guess I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. They (drs) have already said they will probably up my patch dose and my pill dose for a while after the surgery and hopefully that will keep it at least tolerable.

I don’t have a recliner, but have been told by many, that it is the thing you need after the surgery. My son just threw one out! It was his ex-roommates’ and he didn’t know I needed it, I never thought to mention it. But I’ll see if I can pick one up cheap on Craigs list, son can bring it in his truck. Don’t matter what it looks like, I’ll throw it out when I’m better I have a sectional sofa that I love the looks of, but it is NOT comfortable IMO. I never use it, I’m rarely in the living room, everything I need is in the bedroom. I think I have enough pillows, I should be able to make it work, propped up in the bed, if I can’t find a cheap recliner.

Thanks to everyone! HUGZ!

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in reply to: May be a strange question #1171799

Yup, 5:45 am! I am so ready for the whole thing to be over, I can’t even tell you! I just want to be on the ‘healing’ end of this. Up at 4am due to pain, sleep has become almost none and the pain pills all wear off and I’m up. Can’t take them before bed, they keep me awake. I’m looking forward to getting rest at the hospital, maybe can get a few hours. Still don’t know what they’re using, besides the nerve block. Don’t care, just let me get some sleep. 😆 I am concerned about after the surgery, neither my PMP or the Ortho are sure they will be able to control the pain, due to the amount of pain meds I’ve been on for years. If they can’t control it now, how they gonna do it afterwards? Beats me!
Have you got your date for the scan yet?

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in reply to: May be a strange question #1171797

Lack of replies is reply enough, I think its time to have the Dr up my patch dose. Thanks ya’ll, you did help, without realizing it. Apparently, this just happened to come about at the same time as the shoulder injury and the Grave’s. Nothing ever happens to me all by its self, always one thing on top of another and another, I should have known.
Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day. HUGZ

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in reply to: Sorry, but I need to vent! #1171811

Aw hon, I can so relate! Got diagnosed 4/26 and it’s been hell since. Until recently, I worked full time. Last week and this, I had them cut me to 27.5 hrs, cause I just can’t do it, I’m having shoulder surgery Fri and hoping the several weeks I’m off, I’ll not only heal the shoulder, but get the Graves under control. I had 2, count ’em!, TWO decent days last week, so maybe it will get better eventually. The fatigue can be severe for me, sometimes I can’t do anything. My apartment was always spotless, not any more and I hate that, but I do what I can and let it go. Saturday, I got everything cleaned, even floors mopped, (wood), except for the bedroom, although I did change the linens. This is the cleanest it’s been in a month. Only took 2 painkillers and half a pot of coffee! Joking aside, I sooo understand how you feel and I am grateful right now, that I don’t have a yard to take care of, my house plants are dying and some are over 25 yrs old, but haven’t even had the energy to water them, its an all day process. I’m gonna try to do a couple a day, I have many house plants, some very large that I can’t move with the bum shoulder. Please know, we do understand, you are not alone. Something else, if you are as independent as I have always been, it may be hard, but ask for help. Ask a friend to come help you clean up a little, offer to pay them a little something, although mine won’t take it, if you have a friend struggling financially, an extra $20, for a couple hours, would be helpful to them and make you more comfortable in your home. There are times when you cannot do it by yourself. Because of all I did Saturday, I felt terrible yesterday and my son and DIL was here all day for mothers day, but I pushed past it to have time with them, which is rare.
Didn’t mean to write a book, but that’s just me, hope all will forgive.
Keep us posted sweetie and hang in there! HUGZ!

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in reply to: Sent home from work… #1171795

Thanks all!
Yeah, it’s 40mg a day, 20mg, twice a day and I’ve gained 8 lbs in the last 2 weeks….oh joy. Can’t believe it (the weight gain) started immediately. But, yeah, being the reason for the high dose, guess I’ll have to deal with it, Dr said it will be reduced after surgery. 😡 I want so bad to cut back on it, but know that isn’t an option right now, besides, I have no labs to go by until after surgery. ‘Breathe’………’relax’……like that’s possible right now! 😮
I have managed to get the apartment clean, all except the bedroom and that will have to wait till tomorrow, I’m exhausted. Hadn’t mopped my floors in weeks, have all wood floors here. But, it’s all nice and clean and that makes me feel better, I hate it when the place is a wreck and it never was until recently. When I’m working, I can’t do anything, I’m so wiped out from my job, so everything gets pushed to weekends. Gonna take a rest for a bit…. maybe after I change the sheets.

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in reply to: Graves and pre-op – what a mess! #1171752

Oh, forgot, have no idea what causes the nausea, started a few months ago during the hyper period, got extremely sick whenever my stomach was empty, Dr said to snack a lot, my metabolism was moving so fast, it was trying to eat something that wasn’t present. Milk helped but now, not so much and it doesn’t matter if I have food in there or not. And there was a pattern of nausea increasing over a 3 day time period, then vomiting and then start over for 3 days, now that isn’t the same either. Used to be, once I vomited, the nausea was gone for 10-12 hrs and started up slowly. Now, no rhyme or reason or pattern. Don’t know if this has been a problem for anyone else or what causes it.

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in reply to: Graves and pre-op – what a mess! #1171751

I don’t know, maybe I misunderstood, but they said they wouldn’t be using a general, but the pain block for the surgery. I don’t know if they’re giving me something else to sleep, if that’s the case, why the nerve block except for after surgery pain control? Not knowing what’s going on, makes me even more apprehensive. I guess I’ll find out when they do the surgery, since I can’t get the Ortho’s office to return my calls.

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in reply to: In need of support #1171740

So glad you’re getting the scan and the good news! My Dr also told me low iodine, no seafood, no prepackaged stuff, no fast food, only natural things, fresh veggies and fruit, lean meats, etc. I laid off the dairy, almond milk for cereal. This was hard for me, milk keeps my nausea down, but had to deal with it for a week. Took a month for my appointment, will be great if you can get yours soon. Everything looks better for you!, Baby will be fine and you can go back to nursing soon, that’s a win/win in my book! Sending good vibes your way! HUGZ!

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in reply to: Graves and pre-op – what a mess! #1171749

WOW I didn’t think about nausea during surgery, I’m just trying to control it now. That’s what they give for colonoscopy? I LOVED that! Nurse fluffed my pillow and thats the last thing I remember, woke up feeling like I slept for 12 hrs and ready to go home. Seriously. I saw no reason why I had to have a ride home, I felt fantastic and more rested than I had in yrs, sleep has been an issue for a long time, made worse by graves. As for the surgery, they say they are doing “nerve blocks’ not general anesthesia, they say they will inject in my neck, under my collar bone, around the shoulder and make it numb…….I dunno…….I’ve had a multitude of injections to try to stop pain from the nerve damage in my hip and leg and it never works, this sorta scares me. They need to give me the gas that the dentist uses, I’ll allow anything with that! It makes me sooooo easy to get along with.
Well, I’m up, my shoulder is screaming, my apartment needs cleaning and I need coffee, will check back later. Thanks all! HUGZ

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in reply to: Sent home from work… #1171792

Of course, I didn’t hear back from the Dr, they have yet to contact me. When I called yesterday, I expected to speak to the DR’s PA, now I find out that the assistant has an assistant. Did you ever play that game when you were in grade school, where you got in a circle and someone whispered a phrase and this continued around the circle until the end, when you find it is nothing close to the original phrase… the more people it goes thru the more screwed up the message becomes. It would be funny if not so damned tragic.

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in reply to: Graves and pre-op – what a mess! #1171745

Feeling like ME only lasted a couple days. I never did hear from the Ortho’s office and have called them again, still nothing. Just called a third time to see if there is an anti-nausea drug that doesn’t knock me out. I doubt I’ll hear from them, considering they haven’t returned the other messages I left. I called my PCP about the meds and they said to call them, since they wrote it. I’m about to scream, I am so frustrated!

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