I have a newfound respect for people who live with chronic pain. For over three weeks I’ve been dealing with constant foot/leg pain and cramps and last Sunday I pretty much reached my breaking point. I got maybe two hours sleep and it felt like I was going insane. I couldn’t get into the doctor’s office until Tuesday so I resorted to bumming a few pain pills from a friend just so I could get a little rest. They didn’t totally alleviate the aching and foot twitches but at least I got a little rest, even though I still had to sleep in my tennis shoes.
Wearing shoes 24 hours a day was a little trick I learned when I was getting radiation treatments last year and had constant foot cramps without the aching leg pain. My feet still twitch but at least they don’t fold up like a sandwich and leave this agnostic writhing in the floor and praying to God to make it stop. I couldn’t even take off my shoes long enough shower and let me tell you, there’s nothing sexier than a woman wearing nothing but sneakers leaning under the shower head trying to wash her hair and get a little sponge bath in. Obviously I’m not very good at conveying how painful this really is because the nurse practitioner gave me a referral to a neurologist who couldn’t fit me in until August and a blood work order to take to Sonora Quest Labs. I felt like some kind of junkie calling back that afternoon and begging for anything that would give me some relief.
They agreed to give me a muscle relaxant but unfortunately, unbeknownst to me, they called it in to Walgreens not CVS like I asked. I wasn’t able to get a ride to the pharmacy until after business hours so I didn’t find out about the mix-up until the next day. I tried taking a few more of the pills I had at home but they didn’t make a dent in the pain so Tuesday ended being pretty much a repeat of Sunday. I got the prescription filled and my blood work done on Wednesday and even though I had to take double the prescribed dosage, I was able to get a little sleep. I got up Thursday determined to go back to work but I only made it till about 1:30. If my friends Brandy and Michele hadn’t stepped in then and raised some hell for me, I’m afraid I would be at the emergency room right now instead of typing this post.
They got me in to see the doctor the next day and went with me to make sure she understood just how debilitating the pain really was. I came out of that office with pills for nerve pain and anxiety, an appointment with the neurologist on Monday and the results of my blood test that the receptionist said they didn’t have when I called. So for all you people who keep insisting that I just need to eat more bananas, my potassium level is just fine. In fact, everything came back good. She even said my sugar and cholesterol levels were great. Unfortunately, that leaves Tamoxifen side effects or nerve damage as the cause of my agony. Yesterday I quit the Tamoxifen and took my first dose of Neurontin for my nerve pain. It didn’t last long, but this morning I was able to take my first real shower of the month and drive to the grocery before the aching and twitching returned. Even though I may have my doubts, I’m still willing to pray to God/Allah/The Earth Goddess/Buddha or whoever if it will make the neurologist be able to give me some relief before I leave on my Adventure Bus hiking vacation in a few weeks.
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