not having a good week

vent mode on

These last two weeks have not been good. Only the fact that the holiday season means I get lots of time off and get plenty of time with family and friends has kept me from going completely over the edge.

It started with have a tooth pulled and has gone down hill from there. At first I thought my hemorrhoids were flaring up and started having a lot of discomfort back there. On Monday I saw my PCP doctor who suggested that there might be more going on. She did a recital exam that has to rank up there as one of the more painful exams I've ever had. Her thinking was either radiation proctitis or an anal fissure so she referred me over to the GI doctor to schedule a sigmoidoscopy to confirm.

My GI doc called yesterday and after discussing my symptoms with him his opinion is that I've got a fissure and based on the symptoms it's not radiation proctitis. Plus he doesn't think a sigmoidoscopy would show him anything useful and that doing any kind of cauterization would help me. So instead, he prescibed the normal treatments for a fissure - sitz bath, stool softener, nitroglycerin cream, a lidocain cream - and said to give that a couple of weeks.

Then I when to the pharmacy to pick up the creams and turns out the nitro cream has to be made up in the compounding pharmacy and won't be available for a couple of days.

Days. I am in pain now, don't need to way days.

Not happy about that and sitting here typing isn't all that comfortable.

The only good news I've got today is that the pain has reduced enough that I am more comfortable standing and working in my shop. So I am off to finish building my new entertainment center and hope that stool softener and sitz continue to improve things enough to reduce pain to simple discomfort.

Venting done - I return you to the regular forum.
Andrew

Andrew,

Hope you get some relief soon.  Now you know why the expression "Pain in the Butt" is such an appropriate one.   Take care and hang in there...Tim

Won't taking something like Advil help in the meantime?

Just came in from the shop. Got the two drawers for my entertainment center completed. Great to get out and get some physical work done.

Sunny - this is one of the best places to vent. I know you guys get it.

Tim - when someone tells me something is a "pain in the butt" I usually respond with, "Let me tell what that really means.

Logo, squirm - that's part of the problem. nsaids (advil, aleve) stopped working. I was taking 600 mg 3 times a day for the tooth pain and the butt pain got worse. So far the only that is working is sitz baths and stool softeners. Advil can thin the blood and in fact there is one theory that suggests taking it for my tooth made things worse. Which is why I am so annoyed at the pharmacy.

Ed and everyone - best wishes for the new year and the key to happiness is lots of fiber, seriously, lots and lots of fiber...

Andrew

Dave - thanks. It's a bit better today but I had to go into the office this morning. Never thought sitting would hurt. Even the cushion doesn't seem to help.

Todd - You bet, I'll get working on that right away. Never made a wine rack before...

but stemware? Wait are you suggesting you drink from a glass? I thought you just chugged wine right from the bottle, you know like beer. :)

Andrew