33 Weeks 1 Day

Yesterday went pretty good. My pain was low enough that I didn't need to be massaged all day but it was present and nagging the whole day. It was a very low intensity pain. The most pain I had, kicked in around 2am. I discovered that if I sit on the edge of the bed with my left leg hanging over the side, and my right leg bent in front of me and I bend forward as far as I can go, the pain will disappear almost completely! But, as soon as I sit back up and am not stretching anymore, the pain immediately returns... I thought that was majorly interesting. Stretching my back open must be taking the pressure off that nerve which is being pinched. After being awake for just over an hour, the pain subsided enough so Joseph and I could go back to sleep. 

This morning my pain woke me around 8 am. It was a constant 7/8 pain but not intense. When we got up out of bed around 10:00, my foot had started to hurt so mom massaged it out for about a half hour. We all then threw on our clothes (rather than pj's) and got downstairs at the right time. A man from church who does prayer ministry for those unable to go to church came at 11am to meet with, annoint with oil, and pray for me. He said that tomorrow morning is when ALL the pastors/leaders of the church meet and pray. He said that they will definitely be praying for healing and relief from my pain. 

It's kind of a weird thought that so many people are praying for me (&Blaire). I know my family has been very diligent in praying for our situation and I can not even express how thankful I am for their support and prayers. But now that we have so many people at church praying and friends of friends of family praying, it is an odd feeling to know that so many people care enough to pray for us!

Today I went to pain management in Fairfield to see Dr. P and find out if she would be willing to help me out with pain relief while pregnant. UCD Pain Management won't see me for any reason! Dr.P was very enthusiastic about helping and it seemed like it was no big deal for me to be pregnant. So, she did two spinal injections of Lidocaine (numbing agent?) into 2 different levels of my spine. The procedure was not bad at all! She said that if it gives relief either in my leg/foot/ or back, she can do the injections every week til baby is born! So far my foot has had no relief but maybe it will help my back! We shall see!

We have been living with my parents for a week now. "Our room" is slowly being emptied out so Dad can buy a bed for the room. We have been sleeping in Mom and Dad's bed while Mom sleeps on the twin bed in my old room and Dad sleeps in his rocking chair down stairs. It's hard to believe it's been a full week that we have been here. It only feels like it's been a few days!

Yesterday I got a call from my OB, Dr.F, and she wanted to know how much activity/walking around I do. Apparently she spoke with the other OB who is concerned about blood clots. I told her that when I get out of bed in the morning I crawl to the bathroom and then I crawl downstairs to the couch and am parked there all day. She was quite surprised that I'm so immobile. She prescribed a daily injection of blood thinner for me. When I called the pharmacy they said Medi-Cal needs more information (of course, like always) and that if I wanted to pay out of pocket it would be nearly $500.00 for one fill . . .  CRAZY!! I can pay for my other prescriptions that are$20 each, but $500 is ridiculous and they'd just need to admit me for the issue. 

32 Weeks 6 Days

Pain persisted from about 2am on through the whole morning. It wasn't super intense but it was enough to keep me up more often than not. Joseph was able to have a break of massaging and I was able to massage for the most part. The pain stayed at a level 7 but wasn't rising so I was doing okay. Joseph wanted to go to church and really really try to get there this week. We haven't been in about 5 months and I agreed to do my very best to be ready. I crawled downstairs and rolled on my scooter to the table for breakfast. After breakfast I rolled back to the stairs, crawled up, and crawled into the bathroom to fix my hair so we could leave. Pain immediately spiked up to a 10 and I crawled to the bed for Joseph to massage my leg. It wasn't too long before I had Dad, Joseph, and Mom all massaging my back, butt, and leg. They all worked hard while I clutched the pillows and mattress in immense pain.

  After about 45 minutes of pain and additional medications we headed to Sac for the L&D. Instead we went to Vacaville ER because I didn't think I could stand the pain for that long. I was wheeled into the waiting room while Mom or Dad checked me in. They both explained my situation of my back causing pain to travel down to my ankle and how bad it was, cuz you know me crying and constantly shifting in the wheelchair wasn't enough. A nurse came out and looked at me and asked, "Why are you holding your foot?" I then proceeded to scream at her saying, "BECAUSE IT FRICKEN HURTS!" 

We waited in the waiting room for at least 30 minutes. A woman who was waiting to be seen ahead of me went up to the counter and asked, "Can't you do anything? She is obviously in a ton of pain out here!" According to Mom, the woman was almost in tears asking if I could be seen. Another time she went up and asked if I could be taken in to be seen because it's causing more people than just Me, Mom and Dad to be emotional watching what was happening. Of course the receptionist said, "I understand but she has to wait for the nurse to come out." A little while later that woman's name was called and she asked if I could be seen and she would wait longer. They denied her and she was taken back. All the while I'm standing on my left foot, letting the other foot hang in mid air since I couldn't set it down, bending over to try and stretch my back so that Dad could massage deep into the exact place my pain was stemming from. 

By the time I was finally called back my pain had started to wane just the tiniest bit. All my pills from an hour earlier were starting to kick in. My pain had dropped from a level 18 to a level 15. I laid on the bed while Dad stood next to me massaging deep. The nurse checked my blood pressure and temperature and walked out to talk to the doctor. Crying black tears all over the place, we waited, Dad massaged, Mom cried, and slowly the pain continued to back down. 

We waited 45 minutes at least waiting for some help. Pain finally got down to a more manageable level 10 and we decided to take the drive to UCDavis to get help there. On the way out of the hospital, one of the other patients in the waiting room asked Mom if I was doing better. She gave him a thumbs up. Baby definitely slowed down, probably due to the flood of drugs in our system, and I wanted to make sure she was doing okay. After that first nurse left the room, NO ONE came in to check on anything. They dropped us off in the room and abandoned me. So, we left. 

I laid in the back seat on pillows and ice. At UCD they saw me within 5 minutes. The pain had dropped to a level 8 and was holding for the most part with random stab pains in my ankle every few minutes.

After a woman-in-training failed with two IV inserts, I asked if the meds could be delivered by injection instead. The meds kicked in about 15 minutes later and they went straight to my head and made me high with minimal effect on my foot pain. We spoke with the doctor I had seen when I was admitted in Dec. She is one of the ones I actually like haha. She explained things in a much better way than any other doctor of why our options are so limited and why we can't deliver yet. She seemed to understand my situation very well and showed much compassion for what I'm going through.

When they were ready to release me, pain started to rise. We decided to stay longer, take my 6pm meds, and see if they'd help. That way, if they didn't help then I'd be there for assistance. Pain leveled out at about 6 and still the random stabs continued. We headed home after getting dinner in the cafeteria.

At home I immediately hit the couch and put ice under my back. Hopefully tonight will go better than it did last night.

I'm still praying. 

32 Weeks 5 Days

Yesterday went VERY well. Today though, is not as good. I had an hour and a half of pain during the night. Today I've spent all day on the couch laying down on ice. It has helped quite a bit but pain is still present at a level 7. I was able to take a nap for almost two hours this afternoon!
When I've sat up or stood up today (non weight bearing on my right foot) the pain has come back quickly so laying down is definitely best. Looks like mom's couch will be my home for a while!
4 weeks 2 days to go!!
Dr.F said I could deliver at 37 weeks due to all my pain. 

32 Weeks 4 Days

I went to bed, exhausted, at midnight and slept ALL NIGHT LONG!!! 

(Except when I had to wake up to take medications.)

I woke in the morning with a little bit of a throb in my foot which Joseph willingly rubbed out, but the pain never intensified! I decided to risk walking on my foot and let Ivory use my scooter since she injured her foot. The walking was minimal though and when I went to my ultrasound appointment and the pharmacy, I used my scooter to not wear myself out and do too much.

The ultrasound went well. Blaire is doing well and still measuring about a week ahead of schedule but that's not alarming. She weighs about 4 lbs now! According to the ultrasound tech she has some hair growing on her head!!! I"M SOOO EXCITED!!! And she has some super fat little lips!! =D So adorable! I can't wait to see what she looks like!

Some of the outfits I ordered for her came in today and was excited to open them and show them off! I received my 'thank you' cards in the mail so I can start sending them out for my baby shower gifts. Ivory is still working on her wedding thank you's so we will be working together!

For weeks I've been trying to get to see Pain Management to hopefully be able to do a steroid injection in my back or nerve block in my leg to help my pain decrease. Pain Management is out-right refusing to see me. I got an email today from my OB Dr. F who reached out to her friends and sent an email stating that the doctor in P.M.(who is refusing to see me) said that he would agree to review my MRI's and nerve conduction test but I need to give the CD's to my OB and she will pass them on. He still won't see me in order to get the images or speak with me! And now that my pain has turned such a fantastic corner, I'm thinking I don't even need to see them anymore.... All that hassle and when they're finally/slightly willing to see me, I don't even need it... How crazy is that! Even then, if he reviews the images, he will not do any procedures while I'm pregnant, but is willing to come see me as soon as Blaire is born. No one is understanding that (if it follows the same way my pain went with Blake's pregnancy) my pain after delivery goes down to almost nothing. I shouldn't even need any procedures after delivery, it's ONLY during pregnancy that I deal with this pain!

Aye ya ya!

Well, I'm very thankful that God is giving me a huge break and I'm praying that He will allow this to continue until delivery and beyond!

32 Weeks 3 Days

The last two weeks have given me the most pain I've dealt with yet. It's constant and intense. I've been in either the Vaca ER or Sac L&D almost everyday and there was one day that I was there twice.

Last night found me in L&D again for the same old foot pain. There is always a nurse or doctor who thinks I'm in definite labor! Dad took me the previous night but mom came with us this time. I had a good and sympathetic nurse and doctor which was very nice since the night before I had very sarcastic and callus doctors and nurses. My pain last night wasn't a very high level. Mom massaged my foot and leg the entire drive while I laid across the back seat with pillows and ice under my back. I was at about a level 8 pain but it wasn't super intense. As I waited for pain meds and spoke with the doctor, explaining the situation yet again, the pain rose and the doctor acted fairly quickly. Within 20 minutes of the injection of meds into my butt (Dr C's orders are that I'm not allowed IV meds anymore due to risk of dependance) my pain was gone from my upper leg and slowly working it's way out of my calf and by 35 minutes out of my foot almost completely! This was the first time in probably the entire pregnancy that I've been this pain-free. 

I had been texting Joseph and he said that he really wants to make it a point to go to church this weekend. It's been 5 months that we haven't been able to go because my pain has been keeping me home during service times. He texted that he feels that God is leading him back to The House and that we have a lot of people praying for us, but we haven't contacted our pastors. He sent an email to them asking for prayer.

When we got home, I emailed both my pain med doc and my diabetes doc, Dr.C and Dr F. I explained how I'm totally at the end of my rope. How I'm desperate for help and during these pain episodes I'm praying for relief in the form of death. I'm not the type of person who is looking for attention and being dramatic and saying these things, this is really how bad the pain is and it seems no one is able or willing to do what is necessary in order to help me. How will I bear the next 8 weeks if I can't bear one day at a time? ...

Joseph received an email from Pastor Joseph within 2 hours of sending his message for prayer around 10pm saying that he will be praying for our situation, pain, healthy baby and all. He forwarded the message to the rest of the pastors making sure they all received it.

I headed to bed after sending the emails and my pain started to kick in. Joseph got my ice and heat packs and put them behind my back and under my foot. He started to massage my leg and within a half hour I fell asleep. Joseph has been sleeping on the floor next to the bed because he is afraid that if he rolls or moves in his sleep, I'll wake up and pain will start again. I told him that tonight I wanted him to sleep with me. I hate waking up lonely in a big empty bed. Once I fell asleep, he laid on the floor to sleep. After an hour or so, he said I started moving around in my sleep so he got in bed with me and I stopped moving. . . . Can you believe I slept solidly from 12:30am til 8am when my alarm went off?!!?! 

I looked back at yesterday's notes and pain medication timings to see what I'd done differently that could account for the drastic change during the night... Joseph suggested it was prayer.

 I received an email from Dr.C by this morning stating that she has contacted people by phone and that she hopes things will start going through. I had my NST and OB appointments which Mom drove me to. When I got to my appointment, Dr F came in and said how she called her friends in certain offices and said if they don't contact her with the info she asked for, then they've got it comin by 5pm. Dr. F is a very intense woman and intimidates everyone LOL! According to her note after leaving the appointment,  I should be hearing from Pain Management and Pain Clinic soon. She also said I should email them and ask why they're refusing to see me when they haven't seen all the imaging and test 

results.

This afternoon went well. I was sitting on the couch getting ready to get comfy and all of a sudden I felt odd... I couldn't tell if it was a constipated feeling or contractions. With Blake, I never could tell if my belly was getting hard. Even while laying in the hospital in labor and the monitor spiking every few minutes, I couldn't tell! So anyway, I rushed to the bathroom and nothing happened and after some cramping and a few minutes, I headed back to the couch. In just a few minutes later, the pain was back! I rushed to the bathroom... and nothing happened. I came back to the couch and as I sat there upright, pain came back.I headed back to the toilet and mom touched my belly and said how it was quite hard... I started timing my pain and duration. For the next half hour, while sitting "comfortably" on the toilet, pain came every 4 minutes and lasting 2-3 minutes between. The pain was so intense I was extremely close to throwing up! Panting and breathing rhymically, the pain spread from the pelvic floor, up the sides to the top of my belly. I still couldn't tell if it was uterine or intestinal! haha. Nothing went into the toilet so I had Joseph buy some Milk of Magnesia (cramp free laxative) and it didn't seem to do anything! An hour sitting on a nice chair without a bottom, I headed back to the couch. Being upright and sitting on my bottom, the pain started to return! I promptly laid on my right side and my tummy stopped cramping and hours later, only returns when I sit upright or sit on my bottom =)

Two days ago we moved (everything except our kitchen sink) into my parents house. That way Blake and I have 24/7 care. Until a room can be cleared for us, Mom and Dad have given Joseph & I their room. Blake sleeps in my old room with my Mom =) We don't know how long we will be here. I expect the whole pregnancy and even quite a bit of recovery time depending on how I'll be doing. Because I'm looking at surgery on my ankle and possible procedures on my back, we might be here a few months at least. It's weird living in a house full of people again! Joseph brought our tv over and when I came into the house today after my appointment, Dad was watching tv, and Joseph &Chad had each of their own tv's on the left and right side of Dad's while they played their games! haha

The rest of today my back and pain level have been quite a bit less than all the other days these last two weeks. I've only needed massage once and that was due to restless leg syndrome and some foot ache from moving it too much!
Joseph and I had planned to go to church tonight for the worship service but my cramping episode took up that time instead =(

Joseph has received some more messages from our pastors... which I'll post...  CLICK HERE!

"Are There Any Sick Among You?"

Dear TFH Pastors. 

My wife and I are expecting baby #2 in August, but the pregnancy has
brought on complications that we did not expect and it is becoming
too much. My wife, Amber, has suffered from a chronic foot pain for
11 years which came from when she used to be a swimmer. Over the years
different doctors have looked at her pain and have never been able to diagnose it.
They always gave her pain medications that would temporarily take the pain away,
but because of the pregnancy she had to stop those medications and was put on
some which are baby friendly. Unfortunately the medications are not taking the
pain away. In fact, the pain is intensifying. My wife did her own research regarding
her foot pain and was led to believe that the pain is coming from a pinched
nerve in her back. The doctors did some tests and determined this to be
accurate. There are a few things which can be done to alleviate the pain, for 

example a nerve block, but no doctors are willing to do the procedure because
of the pregnancy and the unknown affects to the baby. The doctors that she is
currently seeing are out of ideas as to how to deal with the pain. They keep
referring her to Pain Management but, that group will not see her again because
they did an earlier diagnosis which was not accurate and they do not believe the
recent findings of the other doctors. The last 2 weeks have been especially
difficult, the pain has increased in her foot, going all the way up her leg to her
back. She describes the pain as needles randomly stabbing her. We have been
to the emergency room 3 times and Labor and Delivery twice in the last week
in order to get some relief from the pain. It has come to the point where my
wife wishes she were dead  because of the intensity of the pain. We have not
slept in nights because the pain will last all night long. This is wearing on my
wife, and I am not sure how much longer she will last. We are constantly
 crying out to God for help, guidance, relief, etc. It is frustrating when Amber
is in so much pain but the doctors either don't do anything and occasionally
don't care. They do not know what she is going through. My wife is
frustrated with constantly explaining what is wrong with her while she is
writhing in pain so bad that she is asking God to take her life. We have not
been able to go to church for the past couple months because the pain is too
 bad to do anything. We know that God has a plan, we know that he can heal,
we are at the end of what the doctors can or will do, the only way left is for
some sort of miracle. So I told my wife that we need to ask for the leaders
to pray for us and she reminded me of this verse-
James 5:14 "Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the
church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord."
So I ask that the leaders of TFH pray for Amber, and that God will take the
pain away, it is too much for her. I ask that the leaders pray for the doctors
that are caring for her, that they show compassion, understanding and a
passion to help her. I feel like my prayers are so small and little, we need
an army of prayer warriors and leaders to take up our case before God.
Thanks for the time, please pray for Amber.
The baby is a girl, and her name is Blaire,
Amber asked me the other day if she was worth this pain... 

Your brother in Christ,

Joseph Bedford

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joseph,

So sorry to hear what you're going through.  We'll be praying for sure. Praying for healing, a total release of pain, and most of all, the safety of 

Amber & baby and a safe, happy delivery when all is said and done. 
Also praying grace for you, man

-Pastor Joseph

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joseph, 

Thank you so much for the email.  I will absolutely mention this to our
pastors and we will be praying for Amber and the baby.  Nobody should
have to endure that much pain.  I would also like to recommend a booklet if
she’d be up for a brief read.  I suffered with pretty severe lower back pain for
9 months due to a car accident.  One night, I saw this book on my shelf
and felt led to read it.  It honestly changed my life.  After reading it that
evening, I took communion and prayed for healing.  The very next morning,
my back pain was nearly gone.  I’ve put a link to the book here for you
but if you don’t kindle, its titled
“Health and Wholeness through the Holy Communion”.  

-Pastor Tim

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joseph, 

We would be honored to pray for your wife and believe for healing.
Please plan on bringing her to a service, this weekend if possible, and
let us lay hands on her and pray in faith. The verse you quoted instructs
us to "anoint with oil” so that’s what we will do. 

Please introduce yourself to me or any of the pastors in regards
to this matter. They are all CC’d on this email. 

Believing for healing! 

Dave Patterson

Lead Pastor

The Father's House

32 Weeks 1 Day

I've had two days in my entire life where it was too much.

I've had two days where I begged God to kill me right then and there 

rather than going about it in a slow and painful manner.

The first day I sincerely prayed to die was the day Blake was born. 

I didn't expect to live through delivering my baby 

and I never expected to meet my son while he lived.

Today was the second day. 

32 Weeks 0 days

Pain, more pain, and even more pain. Days are typically 'okay', but overnights and waking in the morning are severe. L&D knows me and when I come in, they say, "Here for your foot again!?" 

I'm experimenting with increasing, per dr's orders, the MSContin to two pills at bedtime and then two additional during the day at 8 hour intervals. Last night Joseph and I were up from 11pm all the way through 7am before any relief was found. Stacking Percosets on top of eachother didn't do a darn thing to squash the pain. Noon found me in L&D. . . 

No news is definitely an indicator that no good is goin' on in our world.

Blaire is doing pretty good though.  A little less active than dr's want to see but they say she is subdued some because of all the pain meds I'm on. 

4 L&D/E.R visits in the last two weeks for severe pain.

Dr. T (foot doctor) last week released me to Pain Management since the problem is "no longer a foot issue. It's all coming from the back" but Pain Management sent another denial to the request to be seen. P.M. is Refusing to see me, stating that their initial assessment (before the Nerve Cond. Test) was thorough enough and that they do not agree I'm a candidate for a cortizone injection in my spine (as Dr T ordered) or any type of nerve blocks. So I'll be going up to my spine Doc in the north to see what he has to say. OB and foot doc here are on board, but the people who would be doing the procedure, PM, refuses. Talk about frustrating... especially when you are dealing with the most severe pain episodes yet...

31 Weeks 3 Days

So much has gone on and I can't even keep my days straight anymore. I've been dealing with immense pain both morning and night. My days have been going 'Okay' for the most part though. It's been stated that "no news is good news," but in my case, no news is usually bad news. I've been in the E.R or L&D multiple times for pain relief in the last week and I'm so ready for a break!

I'm counting down now. 

8.5 weeks at the Very Max.

30 Weeks 4 Days

I am still taking the MSContin and the Percoset. MSContin doesn't seem to last for 12 hours, but I can't take the doses closer together. When I tried a 3rd dose I got a lot of symptoms indicating that the dosage was too high, but I find that I get into quite a lot of pain in the last 3-4 hours of the MSContin being in effect. I have noticed the pattern of needing to take a second dose of Percoset during those hours, typically in the morning between 7 &9:30am. It's been difficult to arrange my medications in the order of taking them at the right time and not mixing certain ones while mixing others. 

During the day and night, except for the 3-4 hours when the MSContin is wearing off, I'm doing fairly okay with managing the pain. I take the Percoset every 4 hours, but I do try to stretch it far as I can. During the night I'm able to stretch a dose up to 7 hours apart and during the day I can stretch the dose up to 5 hours max. I'm able to stop the pain before it hits a level 10 pain. The last 2-3 nights, I've been able to sleep from 11pm til about 6 am without pain waking me up! I make sure to time my doses that I can take a Percoset when I go to bed and it seems to be working great!

Today I had a consult with Pain Management in Fairfield. I talked with the Dr.P about my options and plan for getting off these pain killers after Blaire is born. She seems to think that things will go well and that my main side effect from the drugs will be that I'll just be tired, but not necessarily in pain. I don't totally agree with some of her thinking based on the research Mom and I have done, but hopefully she is right.

Blake is with Mom and Dad for the weekend so yesterday evening, Joseph and I watched a 45 minute tv show then I fell asleep (only waking short times in pain) from 6pm-11pm. Catching up on my sleep is fantastic! I sent Blake with Mom but forgot to ask how long they'd be out of town. For all I know they might have him til Tuesday! haha

I've been having some sharp pains down low. Feels kinda like a contraction but I haven't felt if the uterus gets hard... Dr suggested that I pay attention to see if it does. When I was pregnant with Blake though, I never felt the hardness of my belly. The skin was stretched so tight already so the contraction didn't seem to make a difference! Of course they'd tell me I was wrong so I didn't bother to bring that little tid-bit up during our convo.

Last night my shot went majorly wrong. At bedtime I was at 400bg and took about 40 units to come down. Then, by 7am I was at 50. I ate way too many carbs so when I woke up at 9:30, my bg was back up to 350. Talk about frustrating! Not cool. so yeah. 

Since my pain seems to be doing some better I will start focusing on my bg's again and getting them tight and right. It will be more difficult now to figure out what's going on. It's not just the balance of sugar vs. resistance vs. insulin. Now it's sugar vs. resistance vs. insulin. vs. bad shots(seems to be happening pretty regularly now) vs. pain pills. In the past, certain narcotics have increased my bg's massively. I can't quite remember if the Vicodin, Percoset, or Norco would be the culprit so I have to watch my sugars closely to find any patterns and line the bg's up with the dosing of the medications. It's a ton of work and takes too much brain power.

Swelling in my left foot/leg/arm/hand has been present lately, but it's pretty minimal. I haven't been wearing my compression stockings and that's making the difference I think.

I'm praying for exactly 5 weeks from today, July 17th, I will get to hold Blaire in my arms. Early is better. Pain will be lower. Medications will be decreased. And life can begin again.

30 Weeks 1 Day

Relief! 

Most of today I did very well, pain-wise!

I'm taking Percoset every 4 hours/as needed for pain. Over night pain kicked in 3 hours after my Percoset dose, at 3am. Joseph massaged my leg for about 45 minutes and we were able to fall back asleep right after taking my dose of Percoset at almost 4am. Pain woke me at 7:30 and Joseph massaged and heated my foot for about a half hour and I took my Percoset dose at 8am. I woke again just after 9am and had Mom massage my foot and then Ivory came in to help massage my calf. After that, my pain was super minimal. I took it easy, walking slowly and not keeping pressure on that foot. I was able to help Ivory make breakfast, but the last 15 minutes of breakfast prep I decided to sit down and rest. I don't want to over do myself. 

In the afternoon I was able to stretch my Percoset to 5.5 hours rather than the 4 hours and pain came around but it was more annoyance rather than true pain! 

I ran some errands and went to the chiro. He said that my back seems to be holding well and my back pain has definitely decreased with the treatments. I'll do a weekly check to see how things are going!! When I got back to the house pain started kicking in; just after the 4 hour mark. I took a Percoset and Dad massaged the bottom of my foot and after 20 minutes we combatted that pain before it had a chance to get me! 

Dad and I then ran a quick errand across town. I got back and started getting things ready to head home!! tonight and I could feel some pressure building. 

Mom is currently giving my foot a rub before I head home.

Overall, today has been Very good! No major pain, no pain over a level 7, and I was able to stretch the Percoset a little bit, all while being a little active but taking it easy.

We shall see how tonight and tomorrow goes. I'll be at home by myself tomorow afternoon and hopefully the pain won't rise much!

We shall see!

30 Weeks 0 Days

*Sigh* My, oh my, what a lot of crazy days go by!
Are you ready to read a Novel?
It's one of those days.

Joseph, Blake and I went home last night for the first time since Friday. We got home around midnight (our usual bed time). I got in the shower and Joseph got Blake ready for bed. Walking into the house and taking the shower ended up being too much time on my feet and I hobbled to bed. I read Blake a book while Joseph massaged my foot. I took my second dose of MS Contin 15mg at midnight with a Percoset 10/325 and was waiting the hour for them to start working and take my pain away. We sent Blake to bed and Joseph put heat on my ankle. 

1am til about 3am I spent moaning in pain and rubbing my foot on the sheets and Joseph tried to massage my leg. I think my leg has been over-massaged this weekend because massaging seems to irritate the pain level rather than reduce it. We slept about an hour and a half. I woke to more pain and Joseph tried his best to help. After a long while we were able to fall asleep, only to wake 45 minutes later to pain rising rapidly. 6:45am
I called my dad's phone, probably waking him up, saying when I took my meds, that I couldn't take more because the dose would be too high, and asked what to do. He and Mom suggested I call L&D and see what they had to say.
I explained to L&D that my pain was on the rise and that Dr.C was managing my pain meds and wanted to know if I came in, could they give me relief from this pain. They said that they couldn't treat me without consent from Dr.C and that I'd need to call her office at 8am when they opened. Breathing heavily and trying to stay calm despite the raging pain, "So you're telling me that I have to suffer like this for over an hour until she is in her office? There is nothing you can do if I come in for help?!" Again they stated that Dr.C is in charge and until she was in her office nothing could be done. I hung up and called my parents back and told them what was said.

7:30am - Mom and Dad show up and I hobbled out to the car, pain level 10 and rising, and we headed out to Sac at the busiest time of day. Surprisingly, traffic went at a fairly good rate. I wasn't to the screaming level of pain that I was on Friday but the pain was pretty equivalent. Because of what L&D had said, we decided to head straight to Dr.C's office and wait to see her as soon as we could. I'd writhe in her waiting room just so she can understand the intensity of my pain issue. The more we drove, the closer we got to Dr. C's office, the more Dad became upset/irritated that I even have to deal with this level of pain. I asked Mom to call Dr.C's office and make sure she was in today. Mom left an urgent message with the receptionist saying how bad I was doing and we needed to know if we should go to L&D or her office and if there is anything could be done. Dad decided last minute that we weren't going to waste time going to the office and that we were going to L&D to demand help.

8:15am- We arrived at the hospital and Mom ran in to get a wheelchair. She literally ran me through the halls of the hospital to get to the L&D double doors. She hit the "Call" button to request admittance into the ward and a woman from behind us said that she would let us in. We think she thought I was in labor by the way she reacted. I was at the point where the pain was so bad that I was totally unable to cry. Mom ran us up to the counter and gave my information so that I could be seen in triage. One of the nurses recognized me from my Friday visit and exclaimed, "Are you here for your foot pain again?!" They asked us to wait for a little bit while everything was being set up. Dad then showed up (he had been parking the car) and suggested that since I was unable to massage, try standing up. (Standing up at home and applying slight pressure helped for a short time.) I stood up and stood at the side of the wheelchair holding on to the arm rest and bending over, breathing deeply trying to maintain control. One of the nurses commented about me being in full labor and I laughed and said,"If only! That is far better pain than this pain!" I was wheeled right up to a bed and climbed on. I couldn't decide if I needed to lay on my side and clutch the sheets and pillow, sit up and rub my leg, or what, because the pain was insane I couldn't hardly think straight. Mom and Dad answered most of the questions for me because, again, I couldn't think straight. I probably couldn't have told them the date because this pain didn't just envelope my foot and calf, it took over my mind almost completely. The nurses asked what normally is done for my pain and I said that on Friday they had to talk to Dr.C. but when I had gone to the ER in the past, before being on so many narcotics, it had taken 4mg's of Dilauded (10x stronger than Morphine) before I was able to get ANY relief from this pain. They came in and out, doctors were paged, we were told medication would be ordered as soon as the doc assessed me, and we waited. I think this was the first time mom had ever heard me cuss... Pain this bad? . . . it's the first thing out of your mouth.. A cuss word to start off a prayer.

9:00am-  They started an IV and gave 1mg of Dilauded, Zofran(anti nausea), and 10/325 Percoset were given. Methadone (still in my system from Friday,9 Percoset 10/325, and MS Contin 15mg were still on board from hours earlier. Normally I get a head rush from the Dilauded but none ever came. 45 minutes in this bed I was on the verge of screaming, crying off and on, and clutching the sheets/kicking everything else off the end of the bed without realizing it, and my pain continued. Dad offered to massage my leg but it wasn't possible yet. Mom was crying off and on talking with the nurses and doctor. My initial Blood Pressure was 170/120.

10:00am- Pain was still beyond a level 10, I was still writhing in pain but the pain had begun to subside enough that massage was now possible. I'd been rubbing my feet along the sheets for so long that my feet both were numb. Dad massaged my leg for 45 minutes while the doctors checked in. 

10:45am- Pain was level 8, Mom rubbed my foot now, and I was 'back among the living' and able to communicate (without too much difficulty) with the 3 doctors who came in to talk to me. Most of the questions we had were really only geared for Dr.C. Mom called and was able to make an appointment with her just after lunch at 1pm.

11:45am- I was released. Walking was definitely slow and I was limping. All those drugs on board and I was still at a level 4 pain and having random needle-like stabs in my ankle. We went to get lunch at Safeway (Lunchmeat sandwiches!!) and we went over the list of questions we had for Dr. C. Because our appointments with her usually last 2 hours and majorly slow down her day, we wanted to streamline in order to get in and get out. Can you believe they only schedule patients for 10 minute appointments?! We know Dr. C. can't stand us coming in and tying up her day. She let us know last time how late we were making her by showing us her list of scheduled patients. We got to her office shortly after 12 noon and waited there for our turn.

1:10pm- I was called back to the room. My blood pressure was 153/93 with a pulse of 145. The assistant/nurse asked if we knew why my pulse was so high. We suggested low blood sugar? Pain level? Massive drugs on board?
Dr. C. came in pretty tight lipped and asked, "So what's goin on?" I said, "Where do I begin?" My head was starting to pound, my pulse was making my head fuzzy a bit, and I felt like I was in a room that was 100 degrees. Keeping in mind, I'd had just 2-3 hours of sleep over night, massive pain over the weekend, and had just come from the hospital... She seemed to not want to give any suggestions and waited for me to say everything. I was slightly talking like a confused person and Mom jumped in to help streamline things accurately. She backtracked to my Friday episode and filled her in on everything up til this point. I described my pain and she asked, "Well, what is the reason you're here?" I scoffed and said, "I want pain relief and what we're doing now is SO not doing anything. I took percoset every 4 hours over the weekend and pain just continued to rise and rise. This morning was unbearable, just as Friday was, and I can't continue like this." We talked about pain meds and the "no options" I'd had. She stated that she had never had a patient who needed this much medication and I was so beyond everything she knew. I asked questions and she looked at me like I was a crazy person, giving me that slight squinty eyed look when you don't believe anything you're hearing. She walked out to "make some calls to the hospital" and didn't return for 45 minutes. Our room was sooo hot so we opened the door for fresh air. We heard her interacting with other patients. When she walked out of one room, telling a patient that "pregnancy is rough but you're almost there!", and straight into our room and said, "So I've just been on the phone with so many people at the hospital..." Yadda yadda... They basically will not admit me to get my pain under control for ANY reason and the pain specialists she spoke with said, "Why aren't you just increasing her narcotics to cover the pain. That's all the hospital would do IF she were to be admitted."
Dr.C. left the room again to see some other patients make some more phone calls and came back after another half hour. She didn't seem to take things seriously until I, on the verge of insanely frustrated and pained tears, told her that -----"I just spent the last 3 days on my Mom's couch in pain while family members came to help massage my pain away and give heat/ice. My Mom and sister in law are caring for my son. When I am at home, I spend my days sitting in a rocking chair with ice and heat. I haven't been grocery shopping in who knows how long and I haven't been able to attend a church service in 4 months because I can't hardly do anything from the pain. My 2yr old brings me yogurt in bed with a spoon so he can have breakfast. He brings his cup to me at my chair and carries a Gallon of milk from the fridge to me so I can refill his drink. He climbs up on the chairs to grab food out of the cabinet so I can make him lunch. I haven't made a meal for my family in MONTHS because this pain is totally crippling!"----- She seemed to perk up then and then started to ask relevant and interested questions. She suggested that she could write a referral to Pain Management in better terms so that it wouldn't be denied again. She seemed to actually care about me now and actually gave medication advice. She gave permission to increase my meds at certain hours and how to titrate up with other medications. 

Mom asked Dr.C about my 145 heartrate. Dr.C (actually concerned now) then had my blood pressure taken again and it was still high but the rate had now dropped to 125. She ordered special labs for me and at next appointment in two weeks will give me a heart monitor to wear so they can make sure that my heart is functioning properly.
Our '10 minute dr visit' had finally come to a close after 1 hour and 50 minutes.

Surprisingly, the rest of today has given minimal pain. I've taken the Percoset every 4 hours and the second dose of today's MSContin at 8pm. I've been able to hold the pain at level 5 and been able to interact more with everyone. This morning was absolutely horrible, but the rest of the day has not been so. We're praying that this fair amount of relief will continue through the night and the rest of my days ahead.

Blaire has been enjoying her water aerobics classes today. She is becoming quite the little swimmer and loves to slam against the wall at the end of her lane! Blake has overcome his fear of his 'Thailand Screeching Monkey' since I performed some open heart surgery this afternoon, pulled out some stuffing and dumped the noise box into the trash can =)

I had a conversation with my brother this evening.
He called during a slow time at work to catch up on the new happenings in our life.

"Usually things don't go how we want them to or expect them to, but that's life. God has the plans. We just have to wait for Him to lead us and even if it's not what we wanted initially, He brings good to us when we're faithful to trust in Him."

9:15pm - Pain is kicking in ... time for some massaging ...

29 Weeks 6 Days

2 hours sleep then pain filled the rest of my night. Joseph worked a double shift and so Mom came to bed with me to help rub my leg/foot while it hurt through the majority of the night. Joseph came "home", which means to Fairfield since we've been here since Friday, at 6:30am. We drove to the 24hr CVS to see if we could fill the MS Contin prescription and pay for it out of pocket rather than waiting for the insurance to cover the cost. The pain through the night, Percoset 10/325 not lasting more than 2 hours at a time, made me decide that the medication cost, most likely in the hundreds of dollars out of pocket, would be worth it and we would deal with that as we go. I took my dad's insurance (which does NOT cover anything pregnancy) to see if the pharmacy could put the medications on that insurance and maybe we could squeak by getting the meds covered for now... and potentially pay the full cost later on.

The pharmacy couldn't fill the prescription without transferring it from my Vaca, not Fairfield, CVS. Too bad my Vaca pharmacy didn't open til 10am since it was Sunday =( We got back to the house and Joseph and I squeezed onto my old twin size bed to hopefully get some rest. All of Saturday and through the night I'd taken the Percoset every 4 hours on the dot. The pain kicked in around 3 hours and kept me awake for up to 2 hours at a time then I had a difficult time going back to sleep. So 6:30am we got in bed.

By 8am I'd taken another Percoset and pain was kicking in fast. Joseph was exhausted and tried rubbing my foot. Dad soon woke up and came in to help rub my leg at the same time. Poor Joseph fell asleep trying to help. Dad continued to rub for at least a half hour after that. I was then able to fall asleep for about a half hour. Dad and Blake had left to run to the pharmacy in Vaca for me and planned to use Dad's insurance to see if it would work. He got back around 10am with pills in his hand. His insurance covered the pills with a $30 co-pay.

Mom needed to do some research before I could start the MS Contin. I took my first dose at noon with another Percoset. For the first time in 3+ days, pain finally subsided enough and I was able to sleep for a few hours and spend the next few hours awake with minimal pain. It was so wonderful to be at a very low level of pain for 6 hours! I took another Percoset at the 4 hour mark even though I wasn't feeling any pain. 2 hours after that dose pain kicked in hard. More massaging and moaning were back around for just over an hour and I took another Percoset dose about 45 minutes early.

Pain has been off and on throughout the evening with consistent doses of Percoset every 4 hours. My leg still feels bruised and massaging my leg is starting to become less and less effective. Staying off my foot seems to help the most with the Percoset because when I've gotten back on my foot, the pain comes back quicker. 

Dad rubbed my leg right after dinner. I had him try something I have Joseph do for me. I have him hold the bottom of my ankle and the top of my foot at 90degrees to my leg then slowly pull the foot out of it's joint. It gives relief for about 15 seconds before the pain everywhere else builds and when you slowly allow the foot to go back into the joint, moving ever so slowly to keep everything in line, it feels like when it's going back into place that it's pushing on something and oftentimes is extremely painful even though it initially gives the 15 seconds of relief. Dad said that, to him, that sounds like that would be the bone spur issue causing the pain. We've been talking about my options while I've been here and leaning more toward that surgery post pregnancy. Even if it's just to remove the spur and see how it helps, it will be one way to diagnose and rule things in or out.

Joseph should be here any minute to pick me and Blake up and we're gonna try a night at home and see how it goes. I've missed my comfy bed and cool A/C blowing on me all night =) Twin sized bed for a couple will work but it's not preferrable! I have to call Dr.C in the morning to make an urgent appointment and will have Mom go with me. Then I plan to hang out in FF the rest of the evening in case I need assistance. I have awesome parents who are right there when you need them! Even Chad and Ivory have been extremely helpful in watching Blake for me on limited notice!

It's been a rough weekend.

I'm praying, hoping, and so far counting on 8 weeks to go.

Monday morning counts in 30 weeks =)

Blaire has been quite active and making me a little uncomfy in the last week. 

Blood sugars have been a little elevated, but it's too hard to manage pain and diabetes at the same time. It's just one or the other and that's just how it has to be. Nothing out of control though so I'm not worried about that. So far blood pressures have been great and swelling has been none to minimal for the last few days! No sign of Pre Eclampsia. Non Stress Tests to see how Blaire is responding to whatever starts this week and will be twice a week til delivery.

29 Weeks 4-5 Days

5am started the beginning of an incredibly long and painful day.

I woke up. Normally I wake with pain throbbing in my leg and foot but this time I just woke up for no apparent reason. The clock said 5am and I laid there wondering why I'd woken. Within just a few minutes time I felt the first pangs in my ankle. I thought,"do I get up and get the heat pack and risk making my foot hurt really bad really quick? or do I wake Joseph and make him do it... my pain isn't that bad." About a minute later I decided to wake Joseph, even though I felt so bad doing it, but I knew that if I were to put any weight on my foot during these early pangs of pain, I'd definitely be paying for it in the next hour. He put the heat on my ankle and started to gently massage my leg. Over the next hour my pain rose to a level 8 and I was very glad I had woken Joseph during the very beginning. He rubbed my leg/foot while I moaned and almost cried in pain for 2 hours and then some. Finally the pain started to subside and was enough so that we could get some rest.

An hour and a few minutes later, around 8:45am the pain came back suddenly. Instead of building like it normally does, this started right off at a level 8 pain. Writhing and moaning again, trying to bear this pain was so difficult. 

By 10:30am I texted my mom letting her know what was going on and asked her to leave Lodi as soon as she could to come get Blake and take care of him.
By 11 I was a bucket full of sobs and crazy immense pain. Nothing helped. I 911'ed Chad to come get Blake. Joseph drove me to UCDavis L&D and I was on the verge of screaming in pain during the 40 minute drive. At this time, I'd been at and above a level 10 pain for almost 2 hours. The Methadone didn't seem to help. The muscle relaxant and Tylenol didn't do anything either. Joseph wheeled me into the L&D triage and I was taken to a room immediately. They couldn't give me any meds until they got a hold of Dr. C since I'd signed a pain contract with her stating that I'd not get any meds from any other doctor except her. This contract is STUPID and ER's should be exempt and be able to get me meds no matter what. The nurses and dr on the floor asked when I'd last been in the ER and what they gave me to relieve the pain. I had a very difficult time trying to give them information since I was still sobbing and writhing in pain.
 

For over an hour I was wishing I was as lucky as one of my friends who was in labor rather than this pain. This pain is waaay worse than labor; give me that instead!

Eventually Dr.C got back to the nurses and doc in triage and said they could give me 10mg of Percoset. 20 minutes later the pain finally got to a level 10 where I wasn't crying and grasping for the edge of the bed, Joseph's hand, or the thickness of the pillow under my head. I was finally able to form complete thoughts and open my eyes enough to look at who was caring for me. It's now 1pm.

By 2pm, the pain still subsiding but now around a level 7, Mom and Dad showed up and Joseph traded places with Mom to sit with me. The doctor came in and was happy to see that I was back to functioning level again. We talked about the plan of action and about my options with medications. I was now out of Methadone because of the drama with Dr.C/pharmacy/Medi-Cal. I got a call from the pharmacy saying that Medi-Cal put another delay on my pain meds because I'm pregnant and they needed to contact my doctor...again. It would have the delay til Monday at least. So the doc in triage, with permission from Dr.C wrote me a script for pain meds to last me from Friday evening to Monday and said that I'll have to get in to see Dr.C on Monday. I'll still be in the jam of Medi-cal not paying for my meds. I'd gone low: 63. I drank a juice and got my level up to 99.

Finally happy to be so much more out of pain. Joseph pushed me down to the main floor just in case it would aggrivate my foot before I could fill my prescription.

We decided to have Dad's insurance pay for the pain pills for now but knowing that they will catch it and eventually make us pay for the full price of the meds. For now though, I have the meds covered and we'll worry about that consequence later on. I called my primary care doc and left a message saying how the insurances were crazy and asked that he work with the OB/GYN docs and write me my pain scripts so that my Dad's insurance will cover the meds with no issues later on. My primary care doc never called me back. I'd asked that the message be tagged as "urgent" and give me a response by the end of the day, 3 hours later, but now I'm just hoping he will get back to me by Monday. We shall see.
I've said before that Dr.C doesn't believe that my pain is real, valid, or significant. She treats me like I'm just another druggie trying to get a fix.... I was glad these nurses and doc was able to see the real physical pain I was in with full meds on board. They were able to see that the pain is real. I just wished (even though I don't care to see Dr.C) that Dr.C would have been able to have seen me and experience the pain episode rather than hearing it from someone else and not believing anything.

We left the hospital and went to Wally-World to drop off the prescription. I wasn't feeling well so I checked my level: 53. Low again. I'd not eaten anything all day and was low from the physical exhaustion my body was experiencing/lack of food all day and was feeling quite sick. I had another juice but it only brought me up to 99. Mom and Dad went out to dinner with Joseph and I to IHOP. I was able to eat a good meal but only took limited insulin, expecting to go low again. I topped out at 171. For a huge meal that is not a good number to top out at. That means that I would have gone very low, continued to go low if I hadn't eaten. We went home to grab some items and then went to Fairfield for the evening and to stay the night just in case my pain worsened.

Doc had me completely stop taking Methadone and start taking the Percoset 10/325 every 4 hours to stave off the pain. Since Methadone is in my system for about 5 days, each day a lower and lower dose in my system, I expect that my pain will be okay in the beginning but rise over the weekend. We are staying here at Mom and Dad's house so they can help me with Blake/pain while Joseph is working. Today Blake and I have slept most of the day away. He was up way too long since yesterday and is catching up now. I'm exhausted from dealing with so much intense pain and took about a 4 hour nap with Blake. Poor Joseph had to get up early for an exam and came home to sleep 3 hours before his shift and a half. So far my pain has come back between 3 & 5 hours after taking a pill, so I'm taking them regularly every 4 hours. I am experimenting this afternoon though and seeing how long I can go without a pill. So far, the longest time I've been able to go is 5 hours, barely. My leg is visibly bruised at one place but my whole leg is bruised to the touch because of the massive hours of hard massaging done while in pain. That means that when I'm in pain now and in the next few days, I"ll have to have massage only on my foot and not my leg so that makes it more difficult to deal with the pain. I've already gone low once today and hope that it won't continue to happen.

This was my longest pain episode yet. For 8 hours I was at a level 7/8 or higher. And for 2-3 of those hours, I was beyond a level 10 pain with writhing and hollering in pain.

Medication Fiasco Pissing Me Off

Dear Amber: 
I wanted to clarify a couple of things:
1. With the MS Contin you may find that you do NOT need to increase to three times daily after 5d - let me know if you do
2. Please contact me after taking your first dose if this medication is too strong
3. Please DO NOT use any percocet for breakthrough pain if you do not need it.
4. As we discussed - discontinue methadone
Please check in with me tomorrow.
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````Dr. C,
My pharmacy has been unable to fill the Oxy.&Perc.. I was told by the pharmacy staff that Medi-Cal requests further info from you, but they have been unable to reach you. You can contact them at 707-446-2400. My last name in their system is "Reeder-Bedford." Also, if these meds are unable to be filled by Friday, I will be completely out of Meth.. I have only enough tabs to last me til Friday night's dose. In that case, what would you suggest I do if I run out and am not able to get Oxy. & Perc. filled? . . .
You seemed to suggest that the dose of Oxycontin 15mg 2xper day might be too strong of a dose. Do I need a smaller dose, eg. 10mg 2x or 3xperday? Or is the 30mgOxy. equivalent to 35mg Meth. I'm currently on? . . . 
Also with the Perc., I had the understanding that I only need to take that for breakthrough pain; if the Oxycontin was unable to cover my episodes of major pain. I don't need to take it otherwise since the Oxycontin should be enough to cover the pain.
-Amber
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````Hi Amber,
I contacted them yesterday and they needed prior authorization requested which I had them fax to me, I filled them out and and sent them, I also notified our authorization person. Our office had no records of receiving phone calls or any notification from the pharmacy or Medi-Cal, nonetheless it is completed now. There is no specific dose conversion for MS Contin, but this should be fine (I don't think there is a smaller dose), so just start with 2 tabs a day and go to 3 if needed.
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````Dr. C,
I googled Oxycontin and the lowest dose they have is 10mg tabs. Is there any risk of the 2- 15mg doses per day being too large of a dose? I would much rather take too small of a dose an need to take the Percoset than have the initial dosage be too high. I will start with the two tabs of 15mg if you think that is the correct dose for me.
When I went to the pharmacy today they said that I will be able to pick up the prescription tomorrow, Thursday, and that I have 3 to pick up: Oxycontin, Percoset, and Morphine. I only had dropped off a prescription for the first two. Where did the Morphine come from and would that not be waaaay too many medications for me to be taking?
-Amber
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Amber,
Per the pharmacy formulary the lowest dispensible dose of MS Contin (which is the long acting Morphine Sulfate is 15 mg); For Oxycontin there is a 10 mg dose but the medication I ordered is the MS Contin formulation. Taking it twice a day should not be too high. You can hold off on the third dose if you do not need it. I have no idea where the additional prescription Oxycontin came from came from. The prescriptions I wrote were for:
1. Morphine (MS CONTIN) 15 mg SR 12hr Tablet 
2. Percoset 10/325

I have copies of the Rx I wrote. I have no idea about oxycontin
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````Dr. C,
Okay, so MS Contin is NOT the same as OxyContin. I was thinking it was the same medication. So for clarification, I'll be taking the MS Contin (which is also called Morphine Sulphate) 15mg and the Percoset 10/325. And the random OxyContin is the prescription I will NOT pick up from the pharmacy.
Thank you for clarifying. Now I get to talk to pharmacy and get it straightened on their end!
If I'm able to start the Morphine Sulphate today, I'll message you tomorrow letting you know how things are going.
-Amber
`````````````````````````````````Dr. C
Just so you know my plan, if my meds aren't filled by tomorrow at 2pm I will be headed to L&D to get help there. I don't know where this medication problem is coming from but there is nothing that I can do to make things better and I can't be missing doses due to the risk to baby and my pain level has been steady at level 8+ since yesterday evening. I've been up all night in pain and these issues with the pharmacy are only making my pain issue and baby's potential issue even worse. 
It shouldn't have to take 5 days to fill a prescription especially when the prescriptions are being written for specific days and I can't fill early at all. Taking this to the very end of my week's worth of pills is so not cool.
-Amber
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````I am sorry Amber there is nothing I could have done to speed the process up. As soon as I received your message I placed the authorizations. I just contacted the number on the claim form and there is nothing I can do to speed the process. I agree you will need to be seen urgently if your meds are not filled
I actually did not date your prescriptions to be filled at the very end of this of this week. I dated the day they were written specifically to allow additional time. The pharmacy should have copies of the prescriptions, they were not written to be filled late they were dated 5/28/15. Given that at this point I have not been able to find an adequate regimen for you, if this does not work and you do not receive your medication, you will have to be evaluated urgently and I will place an order to pain management clinic specifically for transfer of care for your pain management so that you have a specialist specifically in pain management managing your care. I am sorry we have not been able to control your pain adequately, but we can get you to an appropriate provider.
Thanks, Dr.C

````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Really? Wow.. It's taken MONTHS and all this hassle and she finally wants to/gives the option of me being managed by someone who knows what they're doing? She should have done this MONTHS ago when I complained of my pain not being controlled.
She wrote the prescription for 5/28 and I dropped it off the same day. But it's taken her until today to get all the paperwork into the pharmacy... That's so not allowing for enough time to fil the prescription.
Asking questions about why pharmacy needs extra paperwork/information and giving authorization for one prescription at a time over a 3 day span... nope. that's not doing it.

29 Weeks 3 Days

After my physical therapy appointment yesterday afternoon my pain kicked in big time. It came on hard and fast. Thankfully that episode didn't last super long, but instead of my pain reverting to the 5 level pain after the episode it only came down to a level 7 at best. All through the evening and night and into this morning the pain has stayed consistently at that level or higher. Joseph and I were awake most of the night dealing with the pain. We tried ice and heat with massage and it seemed none wanted to work. I was unable to switch positions to try and lay another way because my tailbone was causing soooo much additional pain. I guess I stood/walked too much during yesterday because by the time bedtime came, Joseph had to help me into bed because I was unable to do it on my own. The pain was Very intense. 

Thankfully my swelling hasn't been too bad lately but this morning both my hands were very swollen. My pain is still present at a high level and is starting to rise. I'm now sitting with my foot on ice to hopefully stay the pain. It's interesting with these pain episodes since last night because the pain is still in my ankle but on the outside of the foot rather than the inside where it usually is. I'm assuming the P.T. exercises are at fault for that. I need to call my P.T. guy and see if I'm supposed to continue the exercises despite the pain...

I've been dealing with the hassles of a lazy doctor (when it comes to talking with my pharmacy about new meds), a very confused pharmacy tech, and the hoops of Medi-Cal. I spent a few hours on the phone yesterday with all 3 multiple times and even today, I've already started the calls to the doc and pharmacy. I told the advice nurse who called to ask for more clarification that I was starting to get majorly on edge because the dr. isn't sending in the paperwork the pharmacy needs to fill my prescriptions and my pain meds run out on friday afternoon. She gave me attitude about the paperwork and I told her that since there is nothing else I can do, she needs to call the pharmacy and work it out rather than making me be the middle man. She didn't like it, but I got another call from her a half hour later saying that she talked with the pharmacy and straightened things out.... As of this morning, the pharmacy informed me that my doc only sent authorization for one of my meds, not both... and I still have to be the middle man it seems. =( 

This week has been especially frustrating having to deal with all these med issues and stress out about them not getting filled in time and it seems that I'm the only one who cares or is worried about this. . . . And my pain level is only on the rise.

29 Weeks 1 Day

Sittin' here in my easy chair; Halfway dyin' and wishin' I didn't have to be here.

I think my tendency to write a post on painful days rather than the good days comes from me just sitting in my chair trying to be rid of this issue...
But on good days I'm up and about keeping busy and enjoying Blake.

We got home at 4pm and he started playing with his trucks. Pain was packed and hittin' hard so I told him, "if you want to play with your trucks then you have to play in your bedroom, otherwise you gotta just sit on the couch while Moma's hurtin'." I sat down, leaned back on ice, and put heat over my ankle. He came over and asked me to put my foot rest up and said tenderly that I had "owies." I put my footrest up and almost silently he has played at the end of my chair for 30 minutes, running his trucks up and down the footrest; every once in a while commenting on my "owie" and seeing if I was okay.

I had a nerve conduction test this early afternoon. I had requested it from my foot doctor since my research seemed to point in the direction of a Sural Nerve Entrapment. If you've never had a nerve conduction test done...
... lets just say...
It's better than childbirth.

The doctor who performed the test asked a bunch of questions before starting but I didn't bring up anything about my bad back. About 30 minutes into the procedure, 3/4ths of the way through, the doctor asked, "have you ever injured your back? Because there seems to be nothing wrong with the 5 tested nerves in your leg and would seem to indicate that this pain is originating in your back." I told her about my 3 bulging discs and she suggested I continue working with my spine doctor. I had her forward the results to my spine doctor up north, Dr.O.  After this nerve conduction test was finished I made a July appointment to see Dr. O to see what options I have post delivery.

My theory, and strong hope, of the sural nerve being pinched or trapped seems to be totally wrong. Which I'm happy to be able to know definitely that it's not that, even though I was hopeful it was since it had an (fairly) easy fix. We're now back to -is the back causing the foot to hurt, the foot causing the back to hurt, the foot hurting all on it's own or a little of them all in one- issues.

When leaving the appointment, my pain was rising. It peaked once I got home, after picking up Blake in FF and took a while to calm down. I ended up taking my pills at the 5 hour mark rather than the 6-8 hour mark I usually wait for. 

I dropped off my new prescription for the Oxycontin and Percoset at the pharmacy a few days ago. Since yesterday they've been trying to reach my doctor for further information that the Medi-Cal is needing in order to fill the prescription. I called Dr.C's office letting them know that she was trying to be reached. When I got home there was a message on my machine from Dr.C. "Hi Amber. I got your message but no one has tried to contact me. I don't know why they'd need more info"....-silence for 5 seconds- "well, I suppose I can call them with this number xxx-xxx-xxxx" -silence- "um" -more silence- "yeah" -still waiting- "um. ok. So I guess I'll give them a call? Ok talk to you later. Bye"

Really?... and you're supposed to be a professional?

I then called my pharmacy and no one has heard back from my doc... 

So I emailed her by responding to her email, telling her that I need this prescription filled, what the pharmacy staff told me, and that I was almost out of Methadone. I asked what to do if Friday comes and I'm out of one med and the other two aren't filled yet....Cuz that would be NOT GOOD to run out... Not good for me and MAJORLY NOT GOOD FOR BABY! She had emailed me saying to let her know if the new Oxycontin dose was too high and to not take the Percoset unless I absolutely needed it to cover the pain. REALLY??! Seemed to me like she was insinuating that I'd be taking the Percoset for the heck of it... I responded---- extremely annoyed since I'm NOT addicted to the pills---- saying, "With the Percoset, I had the understanding that I only need to take that for breakthrough pain; if the Oxycontin was unable to cover my episodes of major pain. I don't need to take it otherwise since the Oxycontin should be enough to cover the pain."

I hate the insinuations of me being addicted to the pills. She totally skips over the fact that I took less than 1 pill a month in the years before this pregnancy and that I had only taken them for severe pain which, before being pregnant, was almost totally covered by Tylenol and Naproxen.

I'm so done with this lady.
I should only have to see her 2-3 more times so I'm holding on to that to keep me sane.

Rough Day

5:56pm.
Pain finally has subsided to a level 4 pain.
The first time today it's been under a level 7 pain.

29 Weeks 0 Days

It's 1:45pm and I'm in the midst of my 3rd pain episode in the last 12 hours. I can't take any more Tylenol until 5pm because I already took an extra one earlier when I shouldn't have. Heat is doing minimally and ice didn't help at all earlier when I used it. I haven't done anything different than the last few days so there is nothing I can think of that is causing these more often episodes. Early this morning  I was dealing with a lot of pain, Joseph was rubbing my foot, and I was trying to be distracted and I found myself thinking of Job.

Job was such a faithful man of God; never once did he blame or curse Him, but God allowed the pain and suffering (both physical and emotional) to continue at the devil's will.
I know God is allowing this pain for me and I don't know why.
My job is to glorify Him in all I do, no matter the circumstances surrounding me. 

With that thought I started praying.

"God please take this pain from me.
I know you have the ability to do so in Your own time.

Whether You're causing it or You're allowing it at the devil's desire,
Please help me through this.
Please take this pain from me!"

 I was in the middle of major pain, writhing, panting, and trying to deal with it.

And immediately, like a light switch being turned off,
The Pain Was Gone.
As soon as my prayer ended, my pain was immediately taken from me.
And it wasn't the Tylenol slowly kicking in, or the muscle relaxant finally starting to work, 

This Pain Was Taken Immediately As If It Was Never There At All

~ "I will never leave you or forsake you" ~