28 Weeks 6 Days

As daylight ends that is when the pain begins.

Joseph rubbed my foot/ leg for over an hour. The pain wasn't intense but it was persistent. Early this morning I was woken by my foot/leg coming on full force with pain. Joseph helped to rub/heat my foot for an hour and a half before we were able to get back to sleep. We slept a few more hours, got up and had breakfast, he got ready for work and the pain was back. I dealt with it on my own since Joseph had to leave for work. The pain again was not intense but it was quite persistent. Now with the pain not being intense, it still provides plenty of pain for me. It just isn't hospital-worthy pain.
On Friday, my chiropractor suggested that with my swelling leg/foot, instead of just propping it, to prop and exercise at the same time. While my leg is up, flex my muscles to get the lymph system moving. He said that since the lymph system doesn't have it's own sort of pump, the best thing to remove the swelling is to exercise while propping. I have been hesitant to prop since in the recent past it hasn't seemed to help much. Since the chiropractor's suggestion I have been trying it and have been very happy to see that it works well! My swelling in the last two days has been significantly less! My upper left side pain has been bad as usual. I definitely don't think it's due to heart burn as my doctor last week suggested. It's worse when I sit down and it feels like a bruised area or cramping muscle type pain/extreme discomfort...  Doesn't quite make sense, but their explanations rarely do =)

I can become super annoyed at my team of doctors for one reason or another but my chiropractor is someone that I definitely like. I appreciate his opinion and suggestions. I feel like he is someone who really cares to help his patients rather than brush them off to the next doctor to figure things out. Having this chiropractor has been a huge blessing and God has provided back pain relief through his care of my back!

28 Weeks 5 Days

I can't believe how quickly my days have been passing me by! It seems I have some appointment or another every single day and it's only about to get busier! This next week I start my twice weekly Physical Therapy in Vaca & NST (non stress tests to check if Blaire is stressed at all) appointments in Sac. 

My last few days have been pretty good. Most days with only smaller episodes rather than the extreme episodes I've had in the last few weeks! I haven't had a really bad episode in nearly 5 days now! It's been wonderful! I increased my anti-depressant 5 days ago and seems too coincidental that this is the 3rd increase I've had with a less-pain streak following it!

When the pharmacy calls on Monday or so I'll pick up my new pain medication prescription. I'm switching from Methadone to Oxycontin E.R. and Percoset for the specific episodes of pain. The Methadone hasn't been able to cover my pain completely yet and with this switch I'm hoping the Oxycontin will do me better since I've been on this type of medication in the past and have had great relief from it. 

The end of this week I started Physical Therapy for my ankle/back. There was a whole mixup between doctor, Pain Management Doc, and physical therapy so the appointments will be starting slowly until the right orders can be sent to my p.therapist. So far I have a few foot/back exercises to do at home and at therapy I did some ultrasound something or other on my ankle to massage out the scar tissue from years ago where I had my surgery. 

I've had swelling start up big time. Odd though, my right leg/foot swells minimally or not at all, and my left foot up to my thigh has been swollen constantly for almost 2 weeks. Docs checked for a blood clot again with thankfully no issues evident! My left leg is at least twice the size of my right side or more. I've been trying to keep it propped which is difficult since I've been so busy! I've been wearing the compression stockings for the last few days which seem to help some but not a whole lot. When the swelling occurs in the right foot, even minimal swelling is causing me to be in some more pain so keeping propped is best. 

These days are flying by and Blaire is getting so much more active and I'm definitely growing daily it seems! Blake is growing quickly as well. Talking and singing more and more and is almost not a baby anymore! He is getting too big!!! I can't believe how fast he is changing. It's so fun to see him changing but a little sad that it's going so fast!

Just over 10 weeks to go!!

28 Weeks 2 Days

Hey All,

I'm sorry I haven't put an update on here lately. I've been dealing with immense frustration with my doctors and their seemingly inability to retain information accurately. This weekend I had another very bad episode of pain that lasted 2 hours during the day but the pain wasn't as intense as before so it was much more tolerable. One night we had gone to bed at 1am and Joseph was awake til the sun came up, rubbing my foot/leg the entire time because the pain wouldn't go away. He knows I'm in pain while I sleep because even in my sleep I moan in pain and move my foot all over the place. I had pain that was affecting me, but not enough to wake me. Joseph knew though, that if he were to stop rubbing, the pain would increase and my pain would increase to the point of waking me up and being much worse than when I was asleep. I feel so bad that he has to deal with this issue. He is living up to his vow" for better & for worse" and is doing a great job of helping me through this difficult time.

My pain level in the last two days has been pretty low, especially compared to the weekend. My left leg from my toes all the way up my thigh has been swelling a lot. It is quite concerning seeing that my right leg/foot is barely swelling at all.

I went to a physical therapy consult today and was frustrated yet again to see that my doctor had referred me to the therapy for my back rather than my foot. My foot is causing all this pain but the docs can't seem to get that fact in their tiny little brains. 

I'll try to get back to updating every/other day...

Pray that my doctors will get back into line and listen like they should be and that my frustrations will fly away =(

~ Butterflies Remind Me of Grandma Dorothy ~

27 Weeks 1 Day

This morning woke me up bright and early at 6am with immense pain. This episode lasted for just over two hours and was equivalent to the episode I had on the way to Chad&Ivory's wedding 3 weeks ago. Major massaging, ice, heat, full dose of Flexeril and Methadone (10mg each), and 2- 500mg of Tylenol which is half of the maximum amount for one day's worth. Mom came over when Joseph went to training at work.
Mom and I left urgent messages with both the Pain Management doctor, my foot doctor, Dr T, and with my Methadone doctor, Dr. C. They sure took their sweet time getting back to me. A nurse called me rather than the doc. I stated that I needed to talk to Dr.C concerning pain and that I spoke with her on Friday about it as well. Dr. C's nurse said that I shouldn't call the doctor or leave messages for her but need to call the advice nurse instead, because Dr. C was busy with other patients and was unable to call me back so I just needed to just talk to her. Then she began with questions and asked where my pain was. I literally yelled at her saying, "Really?! It's in the same place it's been for 11 years! It's in my right ankle/foot, travelling up to my knee and down to my baby toe!" (If she had my file, she would have been able to see the doc's notes from previous appointments) She then proceeded to tell me that I needed to go into the L&D to get checked for a blood clot in my leg since I have "all of a sudden pain." To that, both Mom and I started yelling at her saying, "It's chronic pain, not new stuff. I've dealt with this for 11 years! It's not a blood clot! It's chronic pain" and mom added, "Chronic pain to which the doctor has not prescribed enough medication to cover the pain!"  Mind you, this was the smack-dab-middle of an intense pain episode. I said "the reason I called is I want to know if I can throw a Norco on top of the Methadone to combat this current pain episode of level 15 pain!" She replied to that saying, "Oh that is not something I can make a recommendation on." Again I started yelling at the woman saying, "I KNOW! That's why I called to talk to DR.C!!!" She then said the doctor would have to call me back. Seriously? These nurses getting in the way of my messages is really pissing me off. I have questions that require a Doctor's word, not the word of an advice nurse.

Eventually the doctor called me back. She asked if I'd taken the Gabapentin to help the nerve pain and I said that after researching it a bit I decided that I don't want to take it because Blaire is already exposed to too many different drugs. She didn't seem to agree but oh well. She then started talking about my pain and contradicted herself left and right and so I told her... "I'm very confused." and she said she was feeling the same way so I said that I need something to cover this pain. Methadone hasn't ever covered my pain fully (except for the wedding sunday) and I need something else since I'm not able to increase the Methadone per her instructions. She said that I couldn't take Norco on top of the Methadone because it's dangerous. Then she said I could stop taking the Methadone and start taking the Norco instead since Methadone isn't working so well. Contradiction... I can't stack it on top (like take the pill for a single episode), but I can stack a Norco on top of the Methadone that's in my system for at least 5 days and that's fine. I asked if it isn't basically the same thing... To which she became confused ...  She then said that I can increase the Methadone up to 15mg x 3day. I asked if I could increase the Flexeril (muscle relaxant) instead since I really don't want to increase the Methadone. She said I couldn't but I can increase the Elavil up to 75mg... 100mg is the max and my current dose 50mg. I asked about Blaire's risk from Norco vs Methadone and she said Methadone is better for her so I went ahead and agreed to take the 15mg x 3day. This whole episode was spent me panting and huffing and puffing from pain and I made sure this doc could tell that I was in pain..... It will be interesting to see her notes on the call when I obtain the records...

So.... This week, I have a Tens Unit to start using (whenever they call me back and teach me how to use it), I have a Methadone increase and an Elavil increase. I will start with ONLY the Tens Unit to see if it helps.. If it doesn't then I'll increase the Methadone.... Then I'll increase the Elavil and see what all will give me some relief.....

Bg's spiked in the morning and I've been sitting between 160 and 173 all day. Glad to be level but need to increase carb ratio to bring me into my target range.

Because I have a "septated uterus" or a "sheet" within the uterus, it prevents the baby from going to the left of the uterus. With Blake, he never went on the other side of that sheet and with Blaire she hasn't been on that side either... until this morning. She had her hand up there wiggling around and it was a little alarming since she's not supposed to be able to go there. I was going to call Dr F. and see if I needed an ultrasound to make sure Blaire isn't stuck there at the sheet. She has been in that position quite a bit today. I didn't end up calling Dr F. because of all the pain and other doctors that I was preoccupied with.

I feel like almost a full week has passed since this morning at 6am.

It's been a very very trying day.

I sent Blake to stay with Grandma and Papa for a while.

Chiropractor visit went well and he said that I can start coming 2 days a week rather than 3 days.

26 Weeks 2 Days --- 6 Days

Early Wednesday afternoon pain started kicking in. We headed to bed around midnight but were up til nearly 4am trying to get rid of the pain. Thursday I had appointments all morning and early afternoon so waking up at 7:30am was not cool. We were sooo tired! I tried to get Joseph to take a nap while I was in my appt but he wanted to come with me =) 

I went to my OB appointment with the intention of telling my doctor that it's too much stress and aggrivation to give her my bg's each week. Since I'm constantly making insulin changes and doing basal checks it's difficult to turn in 5 days of data since those daily changes make each day the first day of current data... Anyway, Dr. F came in and basically said I'm doing very well and I don't need to turn in my bg's each week since Type 1 is so much more complex than what she typically deals with, Gestational and Type 2. Since I threatened to leave UCD for the Sutter Hospital care, Dr. F has been much more accomodating and less intimadating and that has been very helpful! I did voice my frustrations about the nurses intercepting my messages and how I didn't think Dr.F was even receiving them. She said that she had responded to all the messages I'd sent to her. When I stated that there were 3 very important messages that only the nurses responded to, she said that she would look back into the messages to see why she didn't receive them. I hope she does but I have the feeling she might not, since she often stresses how busy she is as a doctor and how if she "had to answer all the emails that came in, I'd never see patients because of the amount of messages incoming." :/
Overall, the OB appointment went pretty well. I was glad to have Joseph with me =D

Mom joined us for the next appointment with Dr. T for my foot followup. The appointment went very fast and the dr walked out of the room without any of us realizing the 10 minute appointment was over. I requested a nerve conduction test to see if the pain culprit might be the Sural Nerve. They were adamant that it wasn't typical signs of the Sural Nerve entrapment but I told them that I wanted to do the test to rule it out definitely... It totally makes sense to me that the Sural Nerve is being messed with because my pain is right along the path of that nerve perfectly.I guess we'll have to wait and see.

My last appointment of the day was a growth ultrasound. Blaire showed her face well and even gave us sign language for "I love you" which we got a picture of =) 

Between appointments I went and got copies of all my medical documents from the beginning of my pregnancy and while perusing the paperwork, 195pgs, I could hardly believe all the inaccurate information that these doctors are translating to paper after our appointments. I plan to approach some of them with my questions about that. 

Thursday afternoon, once we got home, pain was coming on strong. It kept up for a good while. Pain persisted through the night and into Friday morning. Friday afternoon my pain was Very high. My meds are wearing off by 5 hours in rather than 8 hours in. Mom suggested that I call the dr that's managing my pain meds, Dr.C. I left an urgent message for her and she called me back pretty quick. She asked "why the pain was all of a sudden worse" and wondered "where the pain was coming from." REally!?!? I've been seeing this woman for 4 1/2 months and she still can't remember that I have FOOT pain... She didn't even remember from our appointments what we'd talked about. I was NOT happy with that conversation. In the end, she didn't give any advice for helping out my pain and just suggested that I take a nerve medication (which I think is a good idea) since nothing else seems to be covering the pain. I explained that my pain isn't "all of a sudden" worse. My pain has never been fully covered by the Methadone and week by week the pain gets more and more intense. She didn't seem to be able to comprehend that either. 

Since she didn't give ANY advice on the pain, I decided to cut my 10mg Methadone and 10mg Muscle Relaxant in halves to make them 5mg each and instead of taking them 8 hours apart (with pain killing me at 5 hours) I am taking them every 4 hours. When it comes to the appointment I'll need to let the doc know what method I'm doing and if she has a problem with it then I'll let her know that I had to do something since she wouldn't give me advice when I was dying on the phone with her. I'm taking the same exact amount of meds that I've been on but I'm just taking them closer together.

 So Saturday, today, is trial day #1 with doing pills every 4 hours. So far so good, but there are still many hours in the day...
My tailbone has been bothering me quite a bit today so, like always, I'm taking it easy =)

My bg levels have been pretty good this last week, but today, my levels are on the higher side a bit (140-180 post meals) so I'll have to see if it's carb ratio or basals that are off.

overall... bg's are great! =D

25 Weeks 5 Days ---- 26 Weeks 2 Days

Here's a novel!
There were so many days to catch up on!
For you who read faithfully, Thank you for keeping your eyes on the details and your prayers heavenward. God is listening and giving me breaks from the pain every now and then!

~ "For the Lord is good and His love, His mercy, and His grace shall endure forever!" ~

Saturday

Wedding prep and rehearsal. I took it easy and with being on my foot for just over a week, I'd finally gotten to where my walking was 'wedding speed'. Making sure to not over-do it and making sure I was walking correctly was a big chore but the day went well. I walked to the point of nearly having cramps in my upper legs! My foot wasn't hurting too much. After all the prep at the site, rehearsal, BBQ and making bouquets, Ivory and I ran to the mall to look for Joseph's shoes. That was when I'd overdone it and pain kicked in hard and fast. I went to mom and dad's house and started to use the heat pad on my foot and had mom help rub me. After a little while the pain died down and thankfully wasn't too strong! I did miss the Bridal Lingerie party but that's okay because I didn't need to overdo it seeing how the wedding was the next day.

Sunday

We got to the location around 10am. 

At 8 am I had taken Tylenol and Methadone and I planned to take the pills whenever I needed to, no matter how close together it was. At noon I'd taken another Tylenol. 

At 1pm I took Methadone and a 10mg (rather than my usual small dose of 5mg. 10mg is what is prescribed though) Muscle Relaxant. From all the walking on Saturday, my muscles or whatever were extremely loosened up and I was able to walk correctly.just fine, at a quicker pace and with no limping! During the ceremony I was able to shift weight from left to right foot and that helped with the stress on my foot of just standing there. Walking on the uneven surfaces didn't seem to cause any issues. 

Just after 5pm I took another Methadone, Tylenol and muscle relaxant. My feet were super swollen from being up and about for hours so dad massaged the squishies for me when I took off my compression socks which were on top of the compression tights.
Joseph and I had missed our window for some slow dancing and didn't get a chance to do our songs so I don't know how that would have affected my feet. They swelling didn't continue to worsen and I tried to stay sitting most of the day and that did pretty well.

Around 8pm, after Mom took some pics of Me&Joseph, we went to get something to drink and all of a sudden I got a strong stabbing pain in my foot. I limped over to my table to sit down and took a Tylenol. The pain only lasted for less than 5 minutes so I must have stepped wrong or something because it didn't last at all! It was so nice!

We got home around 10pm and I took Methadone, Tylenol, and Muscle Relaxant. Over all during the day, other than aching feet from standing all day like the rest of the wedding party, I was pain free... Completely (well, aside from that short period at 8pm)! It was a huge relief!

For medications I normally take:

 Methadone -30mg. This day I'd taken 40mg
Tylenol -2000mg. This day I'd taken 2500mg
Muscle Relaxant-15mg (drs want me to take30mg). This day I'd taken 30mg.
So I really didn't take a lot more drugs but I did take them closer together and it definitely helped. 

Monday

I had gone to bed after coming home from the wedding, around 11pm? Blake stayed with my parents because I needed to be able to sleep in for exhaustion from the day! I'd expected a very painful night and for the day to catch up with me. I actually enjoyed a very hard and long sleep, waking around 1pm on Monday. No pain at all during the night/early morning. The rest of the day I had 0 pain. Like, seriously, None at all!! I had a TOTALLY PAIN FREE DAY! I figured the meds from yesterday were still in effect? ...

Tuesday

This was a relaxing day. I had two small episodes of pain, each lasting less than a half hour and required some heat and massage to give relief. It was wonderful to be in such minimal pain! I was walking more this day. I did deal with some major constipation cramping but it was different than the usual cramps I've written about. The cramping occurred completely independent from the usual factors which create the cramps. I do know this is strictly constipation due to the stress of the wedd prep and lack of regularity in the last 5 days or so.

Wednesday

I had run out of insulin around 5am and had to refil. By 7 or so, my foot started to hurt so I took my pills and Joseph got me the heat pad. I then got up on the (ahem) "early" side (10am) and went to my chiro appointment. I'd missed Monday's appt since I was busy relaxing from the wedding! haha After that Joseph, Blake and I went grocery shopping. Because my foot was aching a little bit again, I used my scooter rather than walking and gave my foot a nice break. I'm back to taking my pills on time, 4pm, midnight, and 8am. I'm still doing very well today with minimal pain. I've done the laundry and need to wash dishes. It will be interesting to see if dishes make my foot pain come back in due to standing at the sink.  I have been dealing with the cramping again today. It was not so bad as to cause nausea/throwingup but it was close. I need to take a laxative to clean me out more but I did make quite a bit of progress this afternoon =) TMI yes, but that's what this blog is about =D I don't know if I can take the lax any time soon due to my schedule still being full =(

I have a dr appointment in the morning and really do not want to go. My levels have been PERFECT this week and I just don't care to share my numbers with the docs. I'm trying to not think about things so I can stay less stressed. On the bright side, I do get to see Blaire since I have a 'growth ultrasound' in the afternoon. I'll have an u.s. to check her growth every 4 weeks min. from here on out!

Blaire was quite active this morning and I woke early to a pain in my right side. I was laying on that side and rolled over to see if that would help. Turns out, she was curled up super hard on the right side. I tried to push her to the left and even things out but she was a stubborn little thing and kicked back to let me know she wasn't moving! I laid on my left side to hopefully get her to shift some. I guess it worked since my pain went away and I was able to go back to sleep for a few more hours! She has been kicking/nudging me a lot today and it's not been painful except for early am.

I keep saying that I want her to come 4 weeks early but am slowly changing my mind. Since she will most likely be addicted to the Methadone, I think she needs to stay put in order to be born stronger and healthier and have a bigger/better chance at recovery. I'll keep praying that she is one of the 50% who is born NOT addicted! I'm hoping that I'm not getting addicted either. The pain management prescribed the Tens unit to see if it helps. If it does help then I can back down on the Methadone. I'm hoping I can be almost off of it by the time Blaire is born. Doc says that i can't go totally off of it because that wouldn't be good for baby but I can reduce the already very small amount I'm taking.

God is in control and He has allowed this pain to persist during pregnancy. I'm confident that He will be faithful to carry us both through to be healthy and happy when she is born!

25 Weeks 3 Days

In the last 2 or so days, I've been having some strong discomfort in my upper left side with a lower left side cramping; like I've walked too much and wore myself out. The upper pain is not quite cramping but is a strong ache and includes the numbness I've had off and on. The only thing I can think is causing the strong ache and major discomfort is dehydration possibly? I've always had a hard time drinking water and even now I am still struggling to get enough in during the day. I do drink plenty of milk and juices/other drinks, but not so much water. Last time this happened it was evening time, after dinner, and I immediately drank 2-3 glasses of water and then took a nap; woke up feeling better. This time, before dinner, I'm feeling it again. I'm a little nauseated from the ache and am slightly afraid to eat, lest that gets worse and puts me in a dangerous situation.

Blaire has been moving around quite a bit. No big jabs or kicks. More like rolling and swimming around! It has the tendancy to make me a little motion sick which is adding to this discomfort. Joseph has been able to feel Blaire move in the mornings when we're laying in bed. Other than when I lay on his hand, outside movements are difficult to feel. I know she is getting bigger though because I am starting to feel more pressure near my bellybutton and can push what feels like an arm or leg =D So far she isn't making me uncomfortable, except for the rolling =)

Insulin Resistance is coming on strong. I have majorly increased my insulin and am still having a slight issue with the high bg's. This is totally normal at this point and to be expected. I'm almost there with the right insulin amounts and am not worried one bit! Yesterday's range was 120-166. Higher than I want but really, not bad at all!

As I stated in the beginning of my pregnancy, I will not feel guilty for high bg's and will not stress out about them because I know that I'm going to be doing my best; and that will be good enough! I was supposed to turn in my blood sugars for the week to my doctor online but this week I only sent in my new insulin rates. They probably won't be happy but I  feel that I'm doing very well with getting things under control and I do NOT need their bad advice or guilt trips. =D

Today I went to the Hangar Clinic in Fairfield and got a pregnancy support belt thingamajig. It wraps around below my belly and then wraps around the top of my belly with a back stabilizer tight across my low back. It is to help my back pain by lifting my belly up and releasing stress across the back somehow =) When I first walked into the room, the woman said, "So you're here because of your RSD diagnosis right?" 

The other day when I had my Pain Management consult, the first thing the doctor asked was, "You're here for an RSD consult correct?"

At both appointments I responded by saying that I was unaware that was the reason I was referred to their clinic. I brought the condition to my other doctor's attention as a possible explanation for my pain, but they've not yet told ME that it is a possibility. It's strange that they have either told me "no" or not approached the subject, but are referring me to P.M. and H.C as needing assistance with RSD as my diagnosis.....

I've been extremely stressed out lately and have stayed off the computer/ internet, minimized my appointments this week, minimized my calling/texting interaction, and have done much better than the week before! De-stressing to the max! 

25 Weeks 0 &1 Days

I've had massive pain at bedtime (1am) and upon waking in the mornings (8-10am). 

I don't think that the pain is being caused from my walking on the foot rather than 

continuing to stay off it. The pain has not changed in any way from before being 

on my foot. I had a consult with Pain Management today and they've prescribed 

a Tens Unit and Aquatic Therapy. I'll see how it goes!
I've been SO very tired lately.
So much for "feeling better and having more energy in the second trimester!" =)

24 Weeks 6 Days

My foot hasn't given me too much pain these last two days. I'm still thinking on the lines of the possible Sural Nerve Entrapment and a form of the Sympathetic Nervous System Dysfunction. These last two days have been stress free and if I do have a form of the SNSD then that would make sense of why the pain has been a little lighter.

I was able to attend my cousin's baby shower yesterday with minimal issues. I heated my foot all during the visit and my pain held at a constant 7 for most of the day and then late at night my pain finally dropped down to a level 4 or so. I've been sleeping very hard at night and sleeping many hours 12+. My bg levels have been really good but yesterday and today they decided to spike into the 200-300s. My guess, insulin resistance has started to kick in big time. I'm raising my basal rates tonight and hopefully I'll be able to stop the rise. 

Blaire has been moving all over the place. I joke that she's started some Water Aerobics! She isn't making me uncomfortable yet so that is nice that I get to just enjoy feeling her bounce around.

My own diagnisis was verified by the doctor a few days ago. I am dealing with the Pubic Symphysis Dysfunction. 

http://www.birthsource.com/scripts/article.asp?articleid=189

Today has been quite a painful day in terms of this condition. It feels like my tailbone is extremely out of place and no matter what position I get into, the pain does not subside. I know a woman on FB who has been in a wheelchair since week 32 due to the severe pain. The doc said that the best I can do is to not walk, which only helps the pain minimally. I guess I'll be using this knee scooter for the rest of my pregnancy! The pain hasn't been too bad but today I stood for 10 minutes to wash dishes and another 15 or so minutes cutting up food/fruit. It was too much and by the time that chore was finished I could barely walk back to my rocking chair. I had to take it VERY easy for quite a while. I asked mom to come over and help with washing the rest of the dishes and make some dinner which will last a few days. According to the doc, this pain will not go away; it will only continue to get worse. Fun, fun, fun for me! At least it is helped by not walking and the pain stays away as long as I don't move. It won't be like my foot pain that comes for no reason, so that is a good thing! Apparently this pain, once it begins in a pregnancy, gets worse and starts earlier with each following pregnancy. This time, the pain began during week 24.

24 Weeks 4 days

This week hasn't been too bad. Tuesday was nearly as painless as I get so that was wonderful! My right foot has started swelling a little bit so that has caused some additional pain but not too bad. I've been thinking on the Sural Nerve Entrapment in the last few days. Joseph told me to heat my back today rather than my foot to see what happens and it did help to relieve the foot pain! I'll do some more research on the S.N.E. and ask my doctor about it in about two weeks!