SLEEPY

 

This is another one of those entries that I have to first type in MS Word.  Something seems to be going wrong with AOL.  I have like 2/3 of my journal entry typed and bang I get booted.  Therefore, I lose everything.  And, with my brain I never remember what I typed.

 

I was in the hospital.  The pain in my chest was so horrid that I had to put in a call to my rheumatologist.  Of course, the nurse there told me he said to go right to the ER.  Because one can never been sure about chest pain.

 

I was dreading going to the ER because of all the previous negative experiences I have had there. But, I was amazed because this time was very different.  The staff was very in tune with my needs regarding pain. The doctor kept trying until my pain was under control.  I really didn’t have to ask because he kept coming in and asking me if my pain was manageable.  He even gave me prednisione without me having to beg for it.

 

I was kept overnight for observation.  They needed to completely manage my pain.  Which was really hard.  This costocondritis pain was one of the worst in my life.  Plus, they kept me just to make sure my cardiac enzymes were good.

 

I was treated like a princess.  The nurse I had was very open to asking the doctor for stronger pain meds.  Within moments I had them.  Although, I absolutely hate being in the hospital; this experience was a very positive one.  The nurse even tried to find out which kind of pain meds were available for me to go home with.  It turned out that there wasn’t anything they could give me.  You see my PCP was on vacation.  So I left withno pain meds.  I had to make due with what I had here.  But, by the time I got home my pain level was significantly down

Once again, hubby had to drive me and sit there.  I finally sent him home a little after 10 pm.  The doctor told me within 45 minutes that I would be admitted.  He was worried about my underlying conditions of Lupus and Antiphhisiploid Syndrome.  He wanted to be safe.

 

The meds that they did give me was dilaudid.  It’s a very strong med and it worked wonderfully.

 

I am pretty tired this morning.  Last night I hardly slept at all.  This appears to be the new pattern.  I cannot fall asleep in my bed so I move to the couch.  Where I do fall asleep while watching TV.  I am up every hour on the hour.  My body just drags all day long and I anticipate being able to get a good night’s sleep.  But, alas, this does not occur.  I am walking in a vicious circle.

 

With this happening I flare a lot quicker than before.  You should see my face, it’s so red.  As a friend once said, I could feel the rash get worse on my face.  Plus my entire body is itchy.  There is no visible sign of a rash there.  I am just scratching my skin up.  I have tried triple antibiotic ointment but it’s not helping.  I was told to use topical cortisone cream, but that just makes it worse.

 

Everything hurts horribly.  Every inch of my body is experiencing some sort of pain.  So I must keep myself medicated.  That makes me even more tired.  Like I said it’s a viscous circle.

I had to cancel my sleep study for tonight.  I cancelled it yesterday because I wasn’t sure if I would still be in the hospital or not.  Also, had to cancel my foot doctor appointment.  For the same reason.  So now I have to life with that stupid pain.  I have a ganglion cyst on the top of my right foot.  The doctor gave me a shot and tried to aspirate it last week.  No luck.  He said hopefully, by this week it would be more uniform.   It looks like that has happened.

 Oh well, have a good day.  I am going to try to get to bed soon.  Everyone here is still sleeping.  Maybe I can get five hours.