Health Problems
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Gavinmad
Mr. Poopybutthole
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The first nurse practitioner I saw for the pain in my left wrist gave me the steroid injection but I'm pretty sure she didn't properly place the needle inside the tendon compartment because while it did relieve the pain, it lasted for barely a week. After that she sent me off to be tested for carpal tunnel and when that came back positive she wanted me to have carpal tunnel surgery, despite the fact that I had done some research myself and found something called a finkelstein's test that showed pretty definitively the issue was de quervain's tenosynovitis. She didn't seem to know about the test at all and had never asked me to perform it (it's literally just grip your thumb inside your first then slowly attempt to flex your wrist down).
I didn't think getting the wrong surgical procedure was going to be any help so I got a second opinion which turned out to be...another nurse practitioner. Fortunately this one was plenty competent and immediately dismissed any idea of it being carpal tunnel. After talking a bit we decided to try another steroid injection before going straight to surgery and she definitely placed the needle differently because I could feel a brief but intense pressure in my wrist as soon as she injected the steroids which I never felt from the first injection. I still ended up needing the surgery but the pain relief from that injection lasted ~6 weeks and I might have been ok with just the shot if I'd gone to her first.
That being said I've had even more issues with full fledged doctors over the past few years, including both a white male and a korean male doctor so it's not just didn't earn it hiring practices.
Goatface
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rant
2 weeks ago, had kidney ultrasound done at a place outside my local big_medical_system, it showed at least 2 stones, 5 and 9mm. called my urologist's nurse, who set me up for an appointment today with his NP and said you need to bring the ultrasounds here before your visit.
1 week ago, take the ultrasounds to them, give them a cd. she looks at me like i gave her a tablet with hieroglyphics. then says, i don't know what we can do with this, but we will figure it out. i tell her, i also have them on usb. (my last urologist would take either). she said no, cd was good.
today, taking to np. she says, looks like your last visit with us was dec after now retired doctor removed a stone. i say no, current dr removed 2 stones in feb. she says, oh sorry, i am just now reading your file. last images we have for you are from march.
ask about the ultrasounds i gave them last week. she and helper leaves. helper comes back saying no one there has a cd drive. give her the usb drive.
np comes back few mins later, our computers will not access usb. i really thought about bringing my laptop with me, but told myself that would just be silly.
np says, take cd/usb to the hospital next door and have them put them with your big_medical_system records.
go to hospital, no one at information desk, so have to wait in line at the outpatient registration. give the guy credit, he had never heard of such a request and called everyone he could think of, til finally found someone to give it a shot. he also gave me the number for medical records as in big_medical_system wisdom they have removed all the records offices from the hospitals to centralized it in some unknown place.
go to see this lady, no luck. they use system x and this isn't compatible.
call the records numbers, lady says, they can't do it and i need to go to the place with the records and they can fax them to my urologist. i tell her can't fax a ultrasound. she goes away again and comes back to say they should be able to figure it out.
urologist office is an hour from home so i am super annoyed. i end up going to office max and printing off the ultrasound report. figured that would be official enough to get something going. go back to urologist office, np comes out and says, "you had ultrasounds done. dr won't operate based on ultrasounds"
now i have a ct scan appointment at the end of the month and come back to urologist in sept. it could have been sooner, but have to wait to get cleared by surgeon/endocrinologist which could happen on the 21st.
i know a ct scan are far better than ultrasounds and knew would have to get one, but she either totally missed that i kept saying ultrasounds or just needed that report to move to the next step.
rant off, i am tired
2 weeks ago, had kidney ultrasound done at a place outside my local big_medical_system, it showed at least 2 stones, 5 and 9mm. called my urologist's nurse, who set me up for an appointment today with his NP and said you need to bring the ultrasounds here before your visit.
1 week ago, take the ultrasounds to them, give them a cd. she looks at me like i gave her a tablet with hieroglyphics. then says, i don't know what we can do with this, but we will figure it out. i tell her, i also have them on usb. (my last urologist would take either). she said no, cd was good.
today, taking to np. she says, looks like your last visit with us was dec after now retired doctor removed a stone. i say no, current dr removed 2 stones in feb. she says, oh sorry, i am just now reading your file. last images we have for you are from march.
ask about the ultrasounds i gave them last week. she and helper leaves. helper comes back saying no one there has a cd drive. give her the usb drive.
np comes back few mins later, our computers will not access usb. i really thought about bringing my laptop with me, but told myself that would just be silly.
np says, take cd/usb to the hospital next door and have them put them with your big_medical_system records.
go to hospital, no one at information desk, so have to wait in line at the outpatient registration. give the guy credit, he had never heard of such a request and called everyone he could think of, til finally found someone to give it a shot. he also gave me the number for medical records as in big_medical_system wisdom they have removed all the records offices from the hospitals to centralized it in some unknown place.
go to see this lady, no luck. they use system x and this isn't compatible.
call the records numbers, lady says, they can't do it and i need to go to the place with the records and they can fax them to my urologist. i tell her can't fax a ultrasound. she goes away again and comes back to say they should be able to figure it out.
urologist office is an hour from home so i am super annoyed. i end up going to office max and printing off the ultrasound report. figured that would be official enough to get something going. go back to urologist office, np comes out and says, "you had ultrasounds done. dr won't operate based on ultrasounds"
now i have a ct scan appointment at the end of the month and come back to urologist in sept. it could have been sooner, but have to wait to get cleared by surgeon/endocrinologist which could happen on the 21st.
i know a ct scan are far better than ultrasounds and knew would have to get one, but she either totally missed that i kept saying ultrasounds or just needed that report to move to the next step.
rant off, i am tired
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Update, had them done day before yesterday. Both in my left foot- 2 needles, one in the side (ankle) one on top. Doc targeted the nerve in my foot. Called it a 'nerve block'. The one in the side hurt like a motherfucker. In fact I inadvertently kicked out my foot (with the needle in it!) and shouted FUCK THAT HURT!. He got the spot as I had no control over it. He said he had to go in deep as the nerve was wrapped around an artery and he didn't want to mess with that. Afterwards whole foot was numb and I got the best sleep of my life that night and most of the next day.
So far so good, pain has dropped significantly. I know in my mind it's temporary but I'll take it.
On that note: anyone here had any experience good or bad with scrambler therapy? Doc was pretty ambivalent about it. They don't do it there and said if it wasn't too expensive 'it couldn't hurt' .
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sleevedraw
Revolver Ocelot
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D2 rating by Hayes, my usual evidence-based resource, meaning "not enough evidence to assess." Very unlikely to be covered by insurance; you will probably need to pay cash if you decide to have it done.
Seems safe unless you have a pacemaker, spinal stim, or something else that might get jazzed by conducting electrical signals through the body.
So basically my response would be the same as the doctor - if you have cash to burn and nothing else seems to work, you could try it, but don't expect miracles. Typical number of sessions per Hopkins is 3 to 12. If the provider doing it wants you to have any more sessions than that, they're likely taking you for a ride.
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thanks
sleevedraw
, that's kind of what I figured. I only looked at it to start because I saw it on a real medical website and not Karen's fixit FB page.- 1
ToeMissile
Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
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Bro, all best med advice has moved on to Tik Tok. Get with the times.thanks
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Sludig
Potato del Grande
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Stabbed a large gauge horse needle into the tip of my trigger finger a week ago. Doesn't seem infected, but good golly it really fucking hurts kinda funny if iI put any pressure oh it, really thinking i pierced a nerve or a tendon? It moves fine, but gives like a funny bone awful feeling under pressure.
Not sure if just time to fix. If it's permanent I'll go crazy and cut it off but i kinda need it to shoot for work.
Not sure if just time to fix. If it's permanent I'll go crazy and cut it off but i kinda need it to shoot for work.
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Well, more lovely news from our household. First my wife. She was feeling quite a bit better, so what did she do? Multiple hours a day of gardening. Now she is back in pain as well as nauseated. It was tough for me not to be a little pissed. She was doing so much better, and I think she set herself back at least a week. It is so hard for her to be less active. We're very much alike in that. Sitting down just for personal reading, just taking it easy, all of that just isn't in our blood chemistry.
Second me. I've been getting very peculiar and specific headaches. When they are really bad it has an affect on my cognitive abilities. For example, I would absolutely not trust myself to drive. My decision making is slower. Of course I'm convinced I have a massive tumor in my head, but everything else is normal. Next week I have an MRI. My doctor thinks it's Occipital Neuralgia. It's treatable, and my doc really thinks with the right drugs and physical work I'll not get the headaches anymore. I know he's likely right, but this is more anxiety in the house we didn't need right now.
Second me. I've been getting very peculiar and specific headaches. When they are really bad it has an affect on my cognitive abilities. For example, I would absolutely not trust myself to drive. My decision making is slower. Of course I'm convinced I have a massive tumor in my head, but everything else is normal. Next week I have an MRI. My doctor thinks it's Occipital Neuralgia. It's treatable, and my doc really thinks with the right drugs and physical work I'll not get the headaches anymore. I know he's likely right, but this is more anxiety in the house we didn't need right now.
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Take it from someone with firsthand experience, Tumors don't necessarily cause headaches. They do the 'Alien chest burster' way of announcing themselves.
Hey that floor looks good, why don't you lay on it and convulse.... Mmmmm yummy tongue, let's chew on it!
*I'm trying to lighten the mood here, I honestly hope it's a lot of nothing for you. You 2 have gone through enough.
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Oblio
Utah
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Been holding off on sharing this, because I wanted to see if the immediate results would last.
Back in April I had a hyper parathyroidectomy. Parathyroids are typically about the size of a grain of rice. You have four of them two on each side of your windpipe. Parathyroids regulate calcium in your body, the one I had removed was the size of two almonds. For the past twenty years I have dealt with kidney stones and I have had cataract surgery on both eyes. I switched doctors about a year ago and the new Doc was the first to notice my elevated calcium levels that should have been caught and dealt with years ago.
According to the surgeon, I shouldn't produce more kidney stones, however, anything that already formed in my body is still in play. So I am not totally out of the woods yet in that regard. The same surgeon said had this been caught at least 10 years ago and I likely would not have formed cataracts as a result. This is pretty frustrating to me as the only reasonable cause (prior to learning about the hype parathyroid) was head trauma. I have discussed here before that I played college football and thus assumed football was the cause and my doctors agreed. My frustration on that topic is a whole separate post that I may or not make about football and my kids etc etc.
Anyway, on the results that I have held off talking about. I am chill/calm, the chillest/calmest I have been in my adulthood. Prior to the surgery I would literally wake up angry every morning and have to force myself to be in a good mood. I wish I was exaggerating, but I am not. I went to therapy for years and learned how to cope, but I never found inner peace, it was always just willpower to be happy and not lose my shit at the drop of a hat. Over the years it got easier, but somedays I would purposely avoid my family in the morning just so I wouldn't snap at my kids over a nothingburger.
Since my surgery I have only raised my voice once at my kids and after one sentence of yelling I stopped. It felt forced, like I was making myself yell, instead of it just coming out (hope that makes sense). In the past, yelling would lead to more yelling. Basically opening the flood gates. Not anymore. I am way more patient in every aspect of my life, even fucking driving. I can't say that the hyper parathyroid was the cause of my anger and depression, but I feel very confident saying it exacerbated all those emotions. Physically my body feels WAY better, lots of aches and pains have just disappeared. In the past I just chalked all the aches and pains up to playing football. It is hard for me to describe, but honestly I feel like a new man.
I held off on making this post because I figured one day I would wake up and be back to "normal." That day hasn't come yet and I am thrilled about it. Fingers crossed that day never comes. It is pretty crazy to be pushing 50 and feel like I have a whole new lease on life.
Back in April I had a hyper parathyroidectomy. Parathyroids are typically about the size of a grain of rice. You have four of them two on each side of your windpipe. Parathyroids regulate calcium in your body, the one I had removed was the size of two almonds. For the past twenty years I have dealt with kidney stones and I have had cataract surgery on both eyes. I switched doctors about a year ago and the new Doc was the first to notice my elevated calcium levels that should have been caught and dealt with years ago.
According to the surgeon, I shouldn't produce more kidney stones, however, anything that already formed in my body is still in play. So I am not totally out of the woods yet in that regard. The same surgeon said had this been caught at least 10 years ago and I likely would not have formed cataracts as a result. This is pretty frustrating to me as the only reasonable cause (prior to learning about the hype parathyroid) was head trauma. I have discussed here before that I played college football and thus assumed football was the cause and my doctors agreed. My frustration on that topic is a whole separate post that I may or not make about football and my kids etc etc.
Anyway, on the results that I have held off talking about. I am chill/calm, the chillest/calmest I have been in my adulthood. Prior to the surgery I would literally wake up angry every morning and have to force myself to be in a good mood. I wish I was exaggerating, but I am not. I went to therapy for years and learned how to cope, but I never found inner peace, it was always just willpower to be happy and not lose my shit at the drop of a hat. Over the years it got easier, but somedays I would purposely avoid my family in the morning just so I wouldn't snap at my kids over a nothingburger.
Since my surgery I have only raised my voice once at my kids and after one sentence of yelling I stopped. It felt forced, like I was making myself yell, instead of it just coming out (hope that makes sense). In the past, yelling would lead to more yelling. Basically opening the flood gates. Not anymore. I am way more patient in every aspect of my life, even fucking driving. I can't say that the hyper parathyroid was the cause of my anger and depression, but I feel very confident saying it exacerbated all those emotions. Physically my body feels WAY better, lots of aches and pains have just disappeared. In the past I just chalked all the aches and pains up to playing football. It is hard for me to describe, but honestly I feel like a new man.
I held off on making this post because I figured one day I would wake up and be back to "normal." That day hasn't come yet and I am thrilled about it. Fingers crossed that day never comes. It is pretty crazy to be pushing 50 and feel like I have a whole new lease on life.
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Goatface
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how did recovery/healing go? i am having parathyroid(s) removed wed.
epic win, wishing you the best
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Oblio
Utah
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Not gonna lie, I felt like I got hit by a truck. I would say my energy levels did not feel normal(ish) for about three weeks. The first 10 days were the worst.
I poopsocked hard during the first two weeks, played more video games in two weeks than I had in the last year. I had to take Tums after every meal or my feet/ankles would get a really weird tingly feeling. I still get that feeling from time to time when I go to bed, I just get up and take some Tums and feel better in about 15 minutes.
What was cool, is they drew blood and ran labs while I was under. My understanding is once the hyper parathyroid is removed the body only takes about 20 minutes for it to regulate and get your levels back to where they should be. Pre surgery my levels (for whatever hormone they test) were at 91 post surgery they were 9. This also insured that they got the correct parathyroid. Had my levels still been elevated they would have gone back in and looked for another one that was hyperactive.
Goatface
Good luck Bro! I hope you get similar results to me!- 1
Oblio
Utah
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Like I said above, my labs were 91 pre-op and then 9 post op.
Hopefully for you that means your recovery won't be as rough as mine.
Glad your surgery went well! Good luck with recovery and please keep us posted.
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Goatface
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before surgery i weighed 200lbs, this morning 211. paperwork said to call if gained more than 5lb. doctors office never answered or returned my calls. finally found a different number, chick said could be normal, and see what happens tomorrow.
got hiccups last night, that lasted for about 4 hours. had 3 rounds of them today, lasting 1-2 hours each.. tried everything i know, pickle juice worked once last night, but they came back after an hour or so.
also, on my after visit packet, on the 1st page in bold, is a number to call if having any issues like spitting up blood, coughing etc. the number doesn't work.
on the good side, doesn't really hurt, when not moving.
got hiccups last night, that lasted for about 4 hours. had 3 rounds of them today, lasting 1-2 hours each.. tried everything i know, pickle juice worked once last night, but they came back after an hour or so.
also, on my after visit packet, on the 1st page in bold, is a number to call if having any issues like spitting up blood, coughing etc. the number doesn't work.
on the good side, doesn't really hurt, when not moving.
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Had blood work done 8/6/24 got the results today. Everything looked good - creatinine level is low but after the year I had that's not unexpected. Compared them to the last 'clean' labs I had which was May of 2023 and it's actually an improvement. I'd be really happy about that if I didn't have a fucking seizure a month after last year.
TL;Dr clean blood work is right up there with political polls for accuracy.
TL;Dr clean blood work is right up there with political polls for accuracy.
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Goatface
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got the report back, they removed lower left parathyroid, which was 2.6 x 1.5 x 0.8 cm and upper left, 1.1 cm in diameter. lower was bigger than they thought. the middle of my lower lip is still numb, but hiccups have stayed gone.
i fucked up and felt good thursday night and went for a mile or so walk around the neighborhood. afterwards felt like total hell and didn't move for like 3 hours. learned my lesson and been taking it easy for last 2 days.
overall the pain hasn't been that bad, except for a few brief issues.
i fucked up and felt good thursday night and went for a mile or so walk around the neighborhood. afterwards felt like total hell and didn't move for like 3 hours. learned my lesson and been taking it easy for last 2 days.
overall the pain hasn't been that bad, except for a few brief issues.
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