Friday, December 7, 2007

Recovering Slowly From Dental Appointment

Wow, I still can't believe how hard that dental visit hit me. I'm slowly getting better from it, but I'm not yet back to where I was before the dental appt.

I never even made it out of my PJs yesterday. I was in bed until about 1:30 p.m., then dragged myself downstairs to spend a few hours in my recliner before going back to bed.

My jaw hurt so bad I could barely open my mouth. It's better today, but it still hurts badly if I open my mouth wide. I saw my internist today and she pressed on my jaw joint and I about jumped out of my chair. That was one joint that hadn't bothered me yet, and I don't know when it will go back to its previous condition, or if it will.

My chest pain was so bad I spent a lot of yesterday in tears. I thought very seriously about going to the ER, but talked myself out of it because I'm not convinced they could do anything for me other than give me some stronger painkillers and send me home.

I'm moving very slowly today. In some ways, I feel worse than I did during and immediately after my hospitalization in July, if only because I have more places that hurt than I did then.

I guess I don't know if my heart rate is as bad as it was then because the medical assistant didn't take my pulse today. But my blood pressure was high for me at 124/88. Before being sick, I was usually under 100/and somewhere in the 60s. Although my blood pressure is still low enough that it doesn't seem to spark any interest from medical people, I still don't like that it's higher than it should be. It had gotten lower again (although not as low as my pre-illness levels) lately and I don't like that it went back up again.

My internist is putting me back on Prednisone for at least a month. I'm starting at 60mg per day, and she told me to start checking my blood sugar two days after I start the meds. (I was too worn out to stop at the pharmacy, so Scott will go in the morning for me.)

The best news, I guess, is that she made an appointment for me at the rheumatologist she wants me to see. It's not until Jan. 8, but since so many doctors take time off over the holidays, I figure that's pretty good. She's trying to reach him by phone to see if he can get me in sooner, but I'm not too unhappy about having to wait until Jan. 8.

I was too out of it to ask for a copy of the results of my platelet function test. There was an irregularity that she said accounts for my bruising. But I'm still confused on how I can have an issue where I'm bleeding too much when I also test positive for anticardiolipin antibodies, which are a warning sign for blood clots. This illness is so confusing. But I've never heard of what she said was odd on that platelet test, so I need to get a copy next week so I can look it up on the Internet. I love labtestsonline.org!

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