Sunday, March 06, 2011

Pain and Strain

Yesterday afternoon and evening I was in such severe pain that I went to the ER. My right shoulder, neck, back, and right abdomen were beset with continuous, sometimes barely barable pain. I wondered if either I was having a heart attack or I was rejecting the kidney. This was accompanied by chest tightness and constriction, a fairly usual symptom, so generally I don't pay much attention to it. But coupled with this other pain and with nausea, I wondered if something significant was happening.

I drove one-handed to the ER in Downey. I was given priority, given my multiple health challenges. I begrudgingly submitted to a chest x-ray and an abdominal CT scan, both of which showered me with radiation. Both turned up uneventful. The CT scan increased my pain considerably, as I had to put my arms above my head during the procedure. Not only did this strain my shoulder, but it stretched my abdomen too.

I was moaning and carrying on for at least a half hour before I got two Tylenol. They wouldn't give me anything stronger as I had driven myself to the ER.

In the end, the doctor said that everything showed that I had not had a heart attack and that my kidney was fine. That's good news. He diagnosed my pain as muscle strain. The only thing I can think of that I could have possibly done to strain my muscles was lift a suitcase yesterday morning. At the time it hadn't hurt, but six or seven hours later, I felt it, big time.

I slept today away, taking one Vicodin the ER doc had prescribed at 6:30 this morning and another at 1:30 this afternoon. I feel so much better. Though there is still a little discomfort in my shoulder and neck, my belly feels fine. I'm done with the Vicodin, but this time I'm not going to give them to a friend who has pain but no health insurance. I amassed quite a stash of Vicodin in the past two years, what with four surgeries: dialysis catheter insertion, January 2009; triple bypass heart surgery, November 2009; twice-broken femur and rod placement, March 2010; and transplant surgery, December 2010. Each time, I took no more than two of the Vicoden after returning home from the hospital. This time, though, I'm keeping them, as I may need them in the future if I am really this sensitive to physical exertion.
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About Me

Southern California, United States
Perhaps my friend Mark summed me up best when he called me "a mystical grammarian." I am quite a mix--otherworldly, ethereal and in touch with "the beyond," yet prone to being very precise and logical, when need be. Romantic in the big-canvas meaning of the word, I see the world as an adventure, as a love poem, as a realm of beauty and wonder.

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