Yesterday was Halloween. It was a mixed bag for me. We started the day just past midnight heading in to the hospital. I had hoped that if the doctors could see what's going on as it was happening, they might be able to provide better answers than me trying to describe it. Unfortunately, the doctor on staff was the same one that saw me on Friday, and he was not pleased to have to deal with me again. Because I've been on the prednisone, which is an anti-inflammatory, the pain level of this attack only maxed out at about a 6 (out of ten), which was a relief for me, but a bad thing when you're trying to tell a doctor that it's usually a lot worse and we made the 45 minute drive when the pains started, with no way of knowing they wouldn't escalate as they normally do (to 9 and 10). They decided to do the CT scan as long as I was there, but due to timing (they kept us sitting in a room for hours before ordering the CT and then the CT requires an hour and a half of drinking contrast fluid prior to the scan), the scan didn't happen until the pain attack was over.
The doctor really surprised me with his bedside manners, or complete lack thereof. He told me in no uncertain terms that there was nothing wrong with me, that "there are plenty of people in more pain than you are that are up and out of bed" and that I needed to man up and just deal with it. He told me that I was frustrating him because I come in complaining of pain and say all I do is lay in bed... This doctor actually put "be more active" on the discharge papers, and refused to listen to me at all when I told him (again) that the pain cycles have been worse than un-medicated labor, and that the day after I finished my last round of prednisone I actually blacked out from the pain - caused by simply sweeping! He wouldn't hear any of it. He also told me to scale back on the acetaminophen and ibuprofen, and "just let the prednisone work." It was horrible. I now have no answers, no hope of getting any answers, a large medical bill, and I've lost all hope in the medical staff at that hospital. We got home literally one minute before the alarm went off to get kids up for school.
The kids were excited for Halloween. They wanted to get into their costumes as soon as they got home. We split up for the first time this year. Usually we all go everywhere together, but this year #1 wanted to go to a friend's house and trick or treat with a group of friends, and #3 and #4 wanted to go to their school that was holding a "fall festival" with kids games and goody bags (no candy). Then we regrouped and visited all the grandparents, but by then it was bedtime, so nobody but #1 really got to go trick-or-treating this year. It was beautiful out though, not too hot or too cold, and it stopped misting just as we headed out. You won't hear any complaints from me about less candy.
As we headed toward bedtime, the pain started up again, but again, maxed out at a 6 or 7 and didn't get to the 9-10 pain I've been having. I cried myself to sleep. I'm really afraid of how bad it will be when the prednisone runs out. I'm actually very scared of having another blackout, or of the pain increasing to some all-new level that I can't even fathom.
That said, with the prednisone, I have gotten my appetite back, and have been gaining some strength and ability to move around. This happened last time I was on this medication too, and it does seem to be temporary.
Today I moved some bunnies around, moving the white bucks into the grow-out pen with Fabio, and putting Penelope and Sushi together and Elizabeth and Jack Frost together - though neither doe seems interested in breeding. Today #5 and I broke up three smaller pumpkins that missed the cut for jack-o-lantern carving, and shared them among the bunnies. Pumpkin seeds are natural de-wormer for animals, and they seemed to enjoy the bonus treat.