Monday, March 21, 2022

5460 - Corona is winding down... sure it is


A story about the local emergency department. 

Claudia (wife) has been having neck pain the last couple of days. You know how it goes. It starts at 5PM on Friday right after the doctor's office closes. She's had vertebrae fused in her neck. 3, 4, and 5. And 6 and 7. It started with her moving her neck a little and getting a shooting pain. And it kept getting worse over the weekend.

So last night she can hardly move her neck without screaming in pain. I tried to help by telling her to quit moving her neck! That advice didn't work. 

We have some leftover heavy-duty pain pills from her knee doctor. She can take one every 6 hours. They were helping at first but last night we only got 3 hours of relief. 

I decided to call the hospital emergency department to see how long the wait would be or if I could sign up for a time slot. (Some hospitals do that now.) Nope, don't have a signup list. AND, the hospital is full (no beds), and the emergency room is full (no rooms), and the nurse said, "nothing is moving".

I didn't ask how many covid patients there were but the only thing that fills hospitals like that these days is covid. 

So we'll keep taking the pain pills and call the doctor this morning. If you hear screaming coming from the middle of the country, it's probably Claudia trying to turn her head.


21 comments:

River said...

Sounds like she might have a pinched nerve, I know they can be painful. the only other things that ever had me screaming was a muscle spasm in my lower back.
I hope by now she has had some help and relief.

Mike said...

RIver - Not yet. We have to call the doc in the AM.

Elephant's Child said...

Poor, poor Claudia. I hope that the doctor can offer some relief.

Bilbo said...

I know quite a bit about terrible neck pain - mine is arthritis. I'll e-mail you the German folk remedy I use for the worst of the pain. I'd post it here, but - although it works - everyone makes fun of me when I describe it.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Sorry to hear about Claudia's neck pain. I know you're not the cause, Mike, because people say you're a pain in the ass, not the neck. LOL, kidding!

Kathy G said...

Sending healing thoughts your way.

Mike said...

Sue - I got her a doctor's appt. at 11:00 today.

Bill - I got the email. Thanks.

Deb - My reputation proceeds me AGAIN!

Kathy - Double up on those thoughts.

Cloudia said...

I sure hope she feels better soon!

Ole Phat Stu said...

I can recommend Tilidin, which has Opium in it, so Claudia should take care not to get addicted. I don't know if she'd need a prescriptionin your country, as we do here. Works immediately. Takes a month
to wean yourself off it though.

Mike said...

Cloudia - She's a little better today. The doctor said Tylenol and exercises.

Stu - Looks like Tilidine is a Schedule I Narcotic in the US right up there with heroin and LSD. The chances of getting that here are as close to zero as you can get.

jenny_o said...

I'm so sorry to hear about your wife's pain. It's awful to have unremitting pain, and it's awful to watch someone with it and not be able to help.

I noticed your reply to Cloudia about the doctor's advice. Sometimes I wonder if doctors have an empathy-ectomy when they go through med school.

Lady M said...

Gosh I hope she got some relief today.

Mike said...

Jenny - Mainly the pain came when she moved the wrong way. So she was trying to say static for hours at a time. She's better now. 6:23pm.

Lady - Things are looking better for now.

allenwoodhaven said...

Glad there is improvement and wish much more. Extreme pain is terrible. My worst is from kidney stones.

Mike said...

Allen - I had lower back spasms once. It felt like someone was trying to rip my spine out.

Country Cottage said...

It's horrid to be in pain and not be able to get help right away. There is such a back list with the NHS that they say will take many years to clear - seeing a doctor in person is a hard task. I hope your wife finds relief soon.

Mike said...

CC - The frequency of her pain attacks has gone down. But that makes the ones that do happen all the more irritating.

Martha said...

I'm so sorry to hear about your wife's pain. I hope she finds some relief soon. It's extremely stressful to feel that way day in and day out.

jenny_o said...

Maybe the doctor knew what he was talking about after all ... glad she's had some relief.

Mike said...

Martha - It's now Monday night and she's doing better.

Mike said...

Jenny - So far so good.