Tag: CT Scans

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Disability/Scoliosis/EDS Journey: Ended up in ER

jamiesjourney0591

 8/12/2020

So earlier today, I had my appointment with my GP who agreed to refer me to an EDS geneticist that I had found in New Orleans- Great news, right? Right. 

later that evening, I was outside helping my fiance’ do some yard work around the backyard and he asked me to go get him some bottled water; should be a simple task, right? Wrong. It ended in me having to go to the ER. 

I went into the house, got the bottle waters(1 for him, 1 for me), and started back out the backdoor: Now our backyard door has a drop about 1-2 ft and then the first step. I don’t know if I missed the step or if my ankles/legs decided to give out; it all happened so fast- All I know is next thing I know, I am losing my balance and falling forward and landing face-first onto the concrete sidewalk. 

Landing forward, should spare my rods right? Hmm. well, I’ll get to that…

When I fell, I hit my legs and knees and felt like I couldn’t stand right away, I busted my head on the concrete and had a big gash and later a knot, scraped up my right wrist, and had landed on my left ring finger that had started to already swell. 

I waited for a little while to see if the headache would subside and I’d feel better. No luck. So we went to the ER. They did a CT Scan (to look at my head to make sure no damage) and a Xray(to look at my rods and back). 

The Drs said the finger wasn’t broken; it was a busted blood vessel and ice and rest should bring down the swelling. The CT revealed no signs of any damage or concussions. However, the Xrays were not as lucky: My rods that I just had fixed almost a year ago, from being broken previously, were broke once again! Now the rods could’ve been broken before this incident- After all, I was still taking pain medication on and off as needed and I had an experience months ago while still in the apartment where i had stood up and it felt like a popping shockwave down my back. The timing just really sucks, so now I have to call Dr. Kelly and tell him the bad news about my rods. I feel like I let everyone down again, but I did everything I was supposed to- I wasn’t straining, I wasn’t bending, I was being cautious,, I didn’t get on inflatables this time and I still end up with broken rods. I wonder if my EDS could be a contributing factor to the rods continually breaking? I suggested it to one of my fellow Scoliosis friends who is in a scoliosis group and said there was a girl who kept breaking her rods and getting infections and was later diagnosed as EDS and ended up having her rods removed, so it could be a contributing factor. Hmmm….I don’t know. Seems like I try to do everything right and then something still f** it up and I am back to being a disappointment. UGh. I hate these voices in my head and feeling like I am mentally unstable. Will things ever get easier? 

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another sleepless night; chronic pain and tears.

jamiesjourney0591

A bad storm passed through Louisiana this week so it has been quite a bit of sleepless nights for me lately and then add in the dreaded once a month bullshit us females have to deal with, adding in stress, anxiety, hormones, emotional roller coaster, all that (sarcastic tone) “fun.” Tonight, I tossed and turned for 2 hours while my fiance’ just lays next to me snoring; sure, I could wake him up and make him suffer with me, but that is selfish plus he works to provide for us, so I guess he needs the sleep more than I do, but it sure would be nice to be able to talk these things out instead of blogging them.

I have a mattress that can elevate the head, it helps with migraines and sometimes my upper back (then I gotta deal with my lower back and hips hurting), but tonight my upper back is hurting and I am not even gonna use the head-elevation because lately it has been making my fiance’ back hurt in the morning; which sent me down the dreaded “rabbit hole” of the uncertainty of a future together: What if I become bed-ridden, what if he has to help me with everything more than he does now? That isn’t what he signed on for! It isn’t fair to him. I know he made a commitment to me and he constantly reminds me of it anytime I start crying and freaking out about how much pain I am in and the fears that sends into me about how uncertain my life and future are; I just don’t want him to have regrets or resentments. I love him, I really do, but when these fears kick in, I go into flight mode and tend to push him away, thinking I am saving him from being stuck in a sucky future with me and my damn disability. How can I expect him to accept it and what it does to me, if I cant even accept it completely myself?

If there was a pill created to make me “normal,” like everyone else in society, I would take it! Even though I also feel like having my disability has made me a well-rounded, wise, empathetic, compassionate, supportive, loyal, passionate person. Does it make me a bad person? Why is it I can be a support system and cheerleader for others with disabilities but yet I cant even accept myself completely? Does it make me a hypocrite? Maybe its just the pain talking; well the pain and the damn devil. I need to really work on myself and loving myself for me; whole-y and completely. Maybe after my surgery to fix my rods, maybe my pain will be better, and I can start being happy again. One can only hope.

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The last week-Stomach problems-May 2019

jamiesjourney0591

The last week or so, I been having stomach problems. First, my fiance’ niece was over here and any change in routine and my stomach routine goes out of wack (constipation). I was hurting more in my back and hips, lots of belching, bloating, nausea, decreased appetite, and gas; so I thought maybe it was due to constipation, however, once I did get back on my bathroom routine, I still had problems continue.

when I am hungry, I get nauseated, and once I eat, it chills out for a little while, unless I overeat, and then nausea comes back. I still have decreased appetite, craving more sweets, still belching a lot, still got a lot of bloating and gas, and at least my pain in my back and hips has returned to its normal-pain levels.

Yesterday and Today, it was BBQ lunch I had yesterday and then I also had red velvet cake today, so my stomach is really hurting and gurgling 😥

August cannot come fast enough. I think that is a lot of my issues- the broken rods, my Kyphosis getting worse again, putting pressure on my tummy. 😦

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update from last post- April 2019

jamiesjourney0591

Just got off the phone with Dr. Kelly’s nurse person (dawn). She said that she hasn’t gotten the CT CD in her possession yet, despite that the tracking on USPS said it was delivered Friday. She says not to worry that it doesn’t mean it wasn’t delivered to a wrong spot, she said more than likely it has arrived, but the mail department has to sort through the mail and then bring it to them. She said as soon as she gets it, she will bring it up for Dr. Kelly to look at and then call me ASAP.

Will keep yall posted. If I haven’t heard back by Wed or Thursday, I will call them back again

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Gonna be 28 in 13 days!!! ahhh!!! – April 2019

jamiesjourney0591

I cannot believe that my birthday is in 13 days and counting! I cannot fathom that I will be 28 in 13 days. It came too quickly. All I want for my birthday is a simple little get together at the apartment pool (If I am not in St Louis having back surgery yet.) I hope I get it done soon though, and I hope I am in and well enough to go to my cousin’s wedding in June (but his fiance and he both said they understand if I can’t.)
Just playing the waiting game; I called the hospital this morning and left a message to see if they received the CT scan disk. According to the USPS tracking, it arrived at its destination Friday, but that doesn’t mean they’ve checked their mail or anything yet; So just waiting for a call back now.
Don’t know how much longer my pain meds will work, they are starting to require more doses; David (my fiance) used the wrong word the other day. He used “Addicted” when he meant “immune” oooh boy did I give him an ear full! That is one thing you never ever ever use with someone who suffers with Chronic pain. That is one thing we constantly worry about when we have to take pain meds. People thinking we are “Addicted.”
Yeah, if I could let people feel what I feel on a daily basis with just a touch, we’ll see how many people think I’m “lucky” because I get to use handicapped parking, hover-scooters, etc. We’ll see how many people think I’m “addicted” to my meds.
we’ll see how many think I am just “lazy”.
…great now I wish I had that ability. darn it!

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Can’t sleep so I am going to ramble- March 2019

jamiesjourney0591

After staying up till midnight, then going to bed only to toss for two hours uncomfortably, I came back into the living room while my fiance’ slept. Normally, he’d still be up as well, doing his best to help get me comfortable(sometimes its out of either of our control),  but he has to work the rest of the week with a new job he just started so I put on a “brave face” and hid my pain from him.
My wound that I have been dealing for almost 2 years feels a tad swollen and it itches around it. It looks really red in the pictures I take myself, but again I don’t want to say anything to him because knowing him, he will ditch the job to take me to ER or wound care center.
I am also hiding it and not saying anything to Mom, because she is busy with planning a baby shower for her niece Heather. doesn’t have time to worry about little old me and my wound. I know that I need to get it seen about and it could be dangerous, but at the same time, I hate being a burden. 😦 it’d be so much simpler if I wasn’t disabled and didn’t have this stupid wound. I am conflicted and hiding something that could end up being very serious.
I know that once they read this (if they read this,) I will get some sort of lecture, but this is my feelings sometimes; that I am a burden. If it wouldn’t be for my friends and family, I’d probably have “offed” myself years ago during middle school or high school. There are times when doubt creeps in.

1.) With my fiance’:  will never have a normal life–they may not have kids, they may be stuck taking care of me the rest of their life, I won’t be able to cater to them like a wife should, etc etc. Why does he love me? Why is he here? He could be with anyone? Why does he want some virgin girl with barely any boobs and a little butt, and short as all heck with disabilities out the wazoo?

2.) My parents: I feel like sometimes I am a disappointment(more with my dad). I don’t know what dreams they had for me (some parents have their kids futures all planned out). I am pretty sure if they had a plan for my future, it wouldn’t have included all these disabilities, dr appointments, and “curve balls of life.”

3.) I am really immature still. I am almost 28 and still love dress up, cartoons/kids shows and movies, the Children’s Museum, riding 4wheelers and go-karts and golf-carts, I love animals and dressing them up in clothes/costumes, I still think about my dolls and my barbies. I can still get “in touch with my inner kid,” easily and my dad “rags me” about it a lot. I don’t watch the news at all- I see enough of it on social media and it depresses me (My fiance’ says I need to “get with reality”- No thanks, if reality is watching the news, then I rather live in my little fantasy bubble. I already know things are messed up and crazy in the world. 😦 #ITrustInGod to fix things. My mom seems to get me the best. She doesn’t mind me being immature. Sure there are times when we see things differently, but she doesn’t rag me on stuff I can’t help; like my “immaturity.” Come to think of it, once I reached age 10, was when Dad started trying to get me to “grow up a little” and Mom always defended me saying “let her be a kid as long as she likes.” (I am sure that’s not her feelings now, but she knows I “adult up” and take care of what needs to get completed.) #BestMomAward

4.) Life has beaten me up and I lost a lot of the fun-loving and creative person I use to be. I am more introverted, self-conscious, anxious in public, feel like I wanna hide when I get stares, or when people are rude/discriminatory towards me or someone disabled, I am ready to throw down and fight. I don’t know. I just don’t feel like my old self. I feel like I need to get back to the essence of who I really am. I need that spark and zest for life, back although it is kinda hard when you living on pain meds and sometimes even that doesn’t help. Maybe once I get these broken rods taken care of, maybe my pain will diminish and I can get some of that joy for life back. One can only hope.

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pain level 100 tonight 😭😭😭😭- March 2019

jamiesjourney0591

I legit want to break down, crying in the fetal position, due to how much pain I am in tonight. My curve is sensitive to the touch and making “creaking” noises. My pain meds don’t seem to even dull the pain anymore.
The CT scan needs to hurry and done (found out today that Medicaid approved, so now just to wait to be put on schedule UGH!) So I can get this surgery and get back to a semi-normal life like I had before all this pain!
#ScoliosisProbs #KyphosisProbs #Humpback #HunchbackGirl #TwistedSister #TwistedPretzel #PretzelGirl #CurvyGirl #Curvyinwrongplaces #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #EDS #ZebraGirl #SpinalFusion #BrokenRods #NeedRevisionSurgery

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Medicaid Headache (March 2019)

jamiesjourney0591

So I have been waiting for orders for a CT scan to be approved for a little over a week, almost 2 weeks through Medicaid. I decided to call to find out what the hold up is.
Took 3 calls back and forth from Medicaid to my GP’s office, but I think I finally got it all straightened out.

1st Medicaid person: we need them to do prior authorization. (Total confusion, I hang up and then clear my head and call again to better explain my situation.)

2nd Medicaid person: shows only 1 CT scan and it shows it been approved. They need to call us with the prior authorization # that was sent back to them.

(Okay, simple enough. I call my Gp’s office): There was another one that needs to be done and the website shows that one is still pending.

Okay..so I call Medicaid a 3rd time: The 2nd order isn’t showing up on their side so I sit on hold while they call the GP’s office and try to get this all straightened out.

I Need these CT orders done so I can get my CT sent to Dr. Kelly and figure out a surgery plan to fix my broken rods and get the f off these pain meds.

Waiting and living on pain meds isn’t a life!!!! Why does Medicaid and health-related issues (billing, etc.) have to be such a freaking headache????

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Ideas for my Youtube Channel-March 2019- Not implemented yet*

jamiesjourney0591

Thought of something for my YouTube channel. Name the channel “Jamie’s Journey” and have a weekly Q&A segment called “jabber-jawing with Jamie”. Anyone like this idea??? It would give in-depth looks at my life with my disabilities and trying to push through, to have a semi-“normal” life. Some days will be out and about, some will be looking at doctor visits, some will be routines, some will be about me doing cooking/baking, some will be me lip-syncing, etc. … Some will be me dancing around the apartment, some will be tag videos, some will feature guests like my fiance’, my parents, grandmother, family, etc…. However, I am sick and this will not begin until after I am feeling 100% better.

Update: I still have yet to do this, due to my Chronic pain and living on pain meds; probably won’t happen until after I have my surgery for my broken rods.

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Xrays and Shreveport LSU E.R. visit (Feb. 2019)

jamiesjourney0591

my wound care doctor suggested going to ER at LSU med center in Shreveport to just have them look at my back and consult about the broken rods. Mostly a wasted trip..I knew the rods were broken and I was pretty sure they weren’t gonnado any surgery on me; plus the doctor’s name was “dr. Sin” LOL..Never trust a doctor with the name Sin! JK. I am sure he is a great doctor, but I already have my hopes set on Dr. Kelly in St Louis since he trained under Dr. Lenke (who originally did my surgery)