Pain, Pills, Potions & Patches

My back is killing me today. There is a change in the weather and everytime there is a change, the pain is almost unbearable - doesn't matter if it is hot going to cold or cold going to hot, just the barometric pressure change either way seems to have an adverse effect on the severity of the pain I live with every day.

Sitting hurts, standing hurts, laying down hurts. I have put my pain patch on early this morning because it is so sore and taken some extra pain killers too, but it is taking ages to kick in for some reason today. What is causing the pain is chronic lumbar spondylosis - my L4 & L5 vertebra have worn each other away and also the disc between them at an odd angle and are now pushing on nerves and the spinal column to boot. Nice..... NOT!!

In July 2007 I experienced the most horrific pain in my right hip and had to have time off work with it. Later, the back began to hurt to the same degree as the hip and then the left hip decided to come out in sympathy with the rest of it making movement of any sort almost impossible. The result was that I had to give up work because of it. I was having more time off work than on with the pain and inability to move, that it wasn't fair on my (then) wonderful employers, to put them through any more of my prolonged absences from the workplace.

Since then, the pain has increased. I spent months running back and forth to Flinders for Physio and Hydrotherapy work - for nothing - it still hurts like hell. At the end of 2007, my GP sent me to a pain specialist. He prescribed patches (Durogesic - ie. fentanyl) for the pain, which I have to change daily, even though they are 72 hour slow release patches. They help - but they put me to sleep. I spend most of my time asleep nowadays, once I have put my patches on. The pain specialist also sent me to a Neurologist for assessment - he sent me for MRI's and regular xrays etc. and came back with the diagnosis of chronic lumbar spondylosis. The next step was for him to refer me to a Neurosurgeon and that is where the latest degree of my anxiety, depression and general unhappiness comes from. His other orders were that I was to stop using a walking stick (as I had been doing for quite some time) and to start using a walking frame on wheels so that I was not leaning towards the side and making the two vertebra rub together causing more damage.

Great!! Fifty years old and getting about with a bloody trolley - like my 76 year old mother does!! Wonderful !! Great for the self esteeem - NOT!!