In the beginning

So, way back in the beginning I started this blog to show the every day life with our Frenchie Rosie, but life was busy and it was easier to do that on Instagram and there were privacy concerns about the kids and well, I left it alone.  And also fibro sort of took over my life and since I’ve got the space, I thought I would use the blog to talk about life with fibro.

So here’s how it all started – back in April 2008 I had surgery on my sinuses to fix a deviated septum which was hopefully going to help me with all of the recurring sinus infections I was having (which was basically one great big infection that never went away).  I healed really well from the surgery and I felt really great because I could finally breath through my nose!  But then about six weeks after the surgery I caught a cold from one of my germy kids and then another and then another which turned into a sinus infection and when I went back to my ENT, they did a culture of the infection and I had a staph infection (similar to MRSA, but not the same strain) so they put me on some heavy duty antibiotics and sent me on my way.

About three weeks later I went back in to the ENT because I still felt like I had a sinus infection – the pain and pressure in my face – and he did a CT scan which showed that there was absolutely NOTHING inside my sinuses!  Not even a single booger.  Clean as a whistle!  So, at that point he gave me a shot of migraine medication in the butt and passed me on to a headache specialist because he figured that I just had a migraine even though I had NONE of the symptoms of migraines. (Basically, I felt like I had a sinus infection, but without all of the stuff in the sinuses which actually MAKES one have a sinus infection)

So, at this point I’m taking about 2-3 times above the recommended daily amount of Aleve and Advil to try to bring me some relief and I’ve got an appointment with this hotshot migraine guy who has a three-month wait for an appointment because he’s so in demand.

I finally get in to see him and he tells me flat out that I don’t have migraines and that he’s sorry I wasted my time, but he also doesn’t give me any other options.  So I go to my primary care doctor and ask her for help.  She puts me on a medication called Tramadol which is a pretty decent pain medication, until you build up a tolerance for it.  Which I did after just a few months.  And I wasn’t sleeping because the pain was so severe.  (Think stabbing in your eyeballs severe)

She was very reluctant about prescribe anything stronger because she was very concerned about the DEA investigating her.  (this is a total crock – there are a total of TWO DEA Agents to investigate ALL of the doctors in Washington State.  The HotShot Headache Guy told me this) but she gave me 30 vicodin to help me sleep at night.  (there were TONS of other things she could have given me to help me sleep better!)

Anyway, after a few months, I tell her that the Tramadol isn’t working anymore and the vicodin only lasts for a couple of hours and she basically fires me as a patient  – the best thing she could have done, although it was rough at the time.

SO, I went on the hunt for a pain doctor.