God Fights For Me!!!!
Oh boy! Do I have an story for you! I have been meaning to post this for awhile now but just couldn't get the right words together. (Thank you brain fog!😝) Now, please don't be worried about me. This experience occurred back in the middle of July. Nevertheless, it does not negate the importance of this story.
DISCLAIMER: There are references to male organs in the following paragraphs. This is a very sensitive subject but worth the read.
In my previous blogs, I have talked about God’s perfect timing. Whether or not we see it, we need to know our trials are all for the glorious plan God has for us. In the last week, I have been able to see God’s plan and timing in only a short week. I’m going to give you a day by day play back of the crazy parts of my week and discuss how God moved through it all.
MONDAY:
Monday afternoon around three, I started to feel pain in my left testicle. As the day progressed the pain became crippling. I couldn’t move at all. Even the pain pills/creams, that my pain doctor prescribed, were not working. My parents and I discussed whether or not I wanted to go to the ER. In the end, we decided to not go and did our best to try and manage the pain at home.
TUESDAY:
The pain is still intense, but I get up early in the morning to go to my orthopedics office to check my progress from my labral repair. I pray somehow he has an answer. After his examination, he tells me he sees nothing wrong that should be causing the pain, but that my hip looks GREAT! Being the wonderful doctor, he texts a friend who is a urologist and hopes they can get me. We waited for the office to call, but we were growing inpatient rather rapidly. Once 2 P.M. rolls around, mom can’t take the wait anymore and calls the office. Once she finally gets a hold of them my mom explains the situation to the receptionist, who becomes very worried and sends me to the ER. But! Being the smart mom I have, she scheduled an appointment for the next day just in case, even though the nurse didn't believe it was necessary. At this point, the pain has traveled all the way around my hips and down my legs. Absolutely everything from my waist down is sensitive to any kind of touch or movement. The ER did absolutely all they could in taking care of me. I had a CAT scan and ultrasound done and both showed nothing abnormal. (There was a small kidney stone in my right kidney, but I am told it’s nothing to worry about and won’t cause pain.) Through an IV the doctor gave me morphine, saline, and Zofran while I was there, but the medicine still didn’t help take away all the pain. They sent me home on Percocet and told me to follow up with a urologist. (See this is where having that smart mom comes in handy!💙😀)
WEDNESDAY:
The pain is still excruciating and the pain pills are not working. ( I realized later that the IV did work slightly with the pain but not so much to lower the level to anything below 7.) Mom and I again must wake up early and get ready for the urologist appointment. Sadly, my orthopedic's friend was out of town so we saw one of his co-workers. As soon as we get into the waiting room I have to fight back tears from the pain. Even though I am not walking but riding in a wheelchair, the pain is still a 8-9. The receptionist had us come to the office an hour early (We assume that she wanted us there that much earlier to also be able to give the appointment to someone else if we didn’t show.) to fill out paperwork and get correctly installed in their system. While we were waiting my mom received an email, from a doctor who is a dysautonomia expert and we were were waiting on results from over 40 test, saying that I appear to have Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (Check previous blog for explanation). After the hour wait in the waiting room we finally were taken back to an exam room. The doctor comes in and starts asking the typical questions. Once he gets to the question about past medical history, things start to go downhill from there. He did not know what 70% of my diagnosis were. He didn’t know what Dysautonomia, POTS, or EDS were. That’s when I knew I wouldn’t get any help. The doctor talks for a few more minutes asking questions then walks out to grab some diagrams, does a physical examination, and says, “I’m sorry but I don’t feel/see anything wrong. I hope your find doctors who understand the things you said and um… well good luck and it was nice seeing you.” I almost decked the man! I’m in a level 8-10 pain and the best he can say is good luck? For real?! Not even a different medicine? On the worksheet I had to fill out about my symptoms put me in the severe class even without the pain, and he does nothing?! Let’s just say I was ticked and hurt. My mom is devastated with how I was treated and starts calling the pain clinic before we even leave. I have such wonderful doctors that care for me and want the best for me. Because of this my mom was able to get me an appointment the next day in the morning. (She’s my wonder woman!👸)
THURSDAY:
Again another early morning doctor appointment, but I can’t complain because at least I have one! Once I arrived at the hospital, I did not have to wait long before I was back in a room. The doctors (I was only going to see the nurse practitioner, but when she saw my case she grabbed the doctor who grabbed another doctor. In total, there were three doctors examining me.) asked for everyone to leave so I could have privacy, and man! Once that door was shut they went to town. I was almost afraid they would just cut my clothes off with how fast they moved! After their thorough examination, the doctors concluded with what they believe is causing my unconventional pain. They believe that due to the surgery the nerves around my groin are firing in a continuous cycle of pain, and that the MCAS is also attacking the nerves which is why the pain has spread. Obviously this is not a definite answer but it is a trial and error solution. The plan is to go in Tuesday morning, be put under anesthesia, and use numbing shots in six spots to hopefully take care of the pain once and for all. He also prescribed one of the highest doses of pain pills he can. (LOVE 💙 him!!)
Now I can breathe a sigh of relief.
Of course, at the beginning of this week I definitely did not expect for it to end in a procedure like this, but its totally better then living with the pain. Now at the same time there is a downfall. This isn’t an answer, but instead a band aid solution if you will. We are just treating the symptoms. Hopefully this will stop all the pain from my waist down, but even if it doesn’t, what I have learned this week makes it all worth it!
As I look back on this week I see Gods handiwork woven throughout each day. Let me explain. If I had gone to the ER on Monday night, then the doctor would have assumed it was from the hip surgery and not something else, but because I didn’t and went after my hip was clear and they were able to run all the tests they needed. If I hadn’t gone to the ER I wouldn’t have had the imaging tests run then the urologist would have sent me to do them, and I would have been in pain for at least two more weeks trying to do the tests. Even the rudeness of the urologist was needed. If he hadn’t been so rude then my mom and me wouldn’t have made it such a big deal about getting into the pain clinic. Last but not least, if I hadn’t done all these thing beforehand I wouldn’t be getting the procedure on Tuesday! I was even able to speak about my week during my lesson for my church’s men’s ministry, and touch lives through it.
When the pain first came on, and it became difficult to walk, I was very angry with God. (Like what the heck???? I’m just now getting to walk from surgery, and you’re going to do this to me? This is not ok!!) Haha! You’d think that I’d take my own advice from my blogs every once and awhile. I just needed to step back and have some perspective! On Monday I couldn’t see the whole plan, but now that it’s Sunday I can look back and see the whole picture. This week has taught me so much even more than a trial normally does. My faith in God is now stronger because of this wacky week. Does this mean that when my world shakes I won’t scream and fall? No. It means that next time my world shakes I will be able to get up quicker and stronger.
DISCLAIMER: There are references to male organs in the following paragraphs. This is a very sensitive subject but worth the read.
In my previous blogs, I have talked about God’s perfect timing. Whether or not we see it, we need to know our trials are all for the glorious plan God has for us. In the last week, I have been able to see God’s plan and timing in only a short week. I’m going to give you a day by day play back of the crazy parts of my week and discuss how God moved through it all.
MONDAY:
Monday afternoon around three, I started to feel pain in my left testicle. As the day progressed the pain became crippling. I couldn’t move at all. Even the pain pills/creams, that my pain doctor prescribed, were not working. My parents and I discussed whether or not I wanted to go to the ER. In the end, we decided to not go and did our best to try and manage the pain at home.
TUESDAY:
The pain is still intense, but I get up early in the morning to go to my orthopedics office to check my progress from my labral repair. I pray somehow he has an answer. After his examination, he tells me he sees nothing wrong that should be causing the pain, but that my hip looks GREAT! Being the wonderful doctor, he texts a friend who is a urologist and hopes they can get me. We waited for the office to call, but we were growing inpatient rather rapidly. Once 2 P.M. rolls around, mom can’t take the wait anymore and calls the office. Once she finally gets a hold of them my mom explains the situation to the receptionist, who becomes very worried and sends me to the ER. But! Being the smart mom I have, she scheduled an appointment for the next day just in case, even though the nurse didn't believe it was necessary. At this point, the pain has traveled all the way around my hips and down my legs. Absolutely everything from my waist down is sensitive to any kind of touch or movement. The ER did absolutely all they could in taking care of me. I had a CAT scan and ultrasound done and both showed nothing abnormal. (There was a small kidney stone in my right kidney, but I am told it’s nothing to worry about and won’t cause pain.) Through an IV the doctor gave me morphine, saline, and Zofran while I was there, but the medicine still didn’t help take away all the pain. They sent me home on Percocet and told me to follow up with a urologist. (See this is where having that smart mom comes in handy!💙😀)
WEDNESDAY:
The pain is still excruciating and the pain pills are not working. ( I realized later that the IV did work slightly with the pain but not so much to lower the level to anything below 7.) Mom and I again must wake up early and get ready for the urologist appointment. Sadly, my orthopedic's friend was out of town so we saw one of his co-workers. As soon as we get into the waiting room I have to fight back tears from the pain. Even though I am not walking but riding in a wheelchair, the pain is still a 8-9. The receptionist had us come to the office an hour early (We assume that she wanted us there that much earlier to also be able to give the appointment to someone else if we didn’t show.) to fill out paperwork and get correctly installed in their system. While we were waiting my mom received an email, from a doctor who is a dysautonomia expert and we were were waiting on results from over 40 test, saying that I appear to have Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (Check previous blog for explanation). After the hour wait in the waiting room we finally were taken back to an exam room. The doctor comes in and starts asking the typical questions. Once he gets to the question about past medical history, things start to go downhill from there. He did not know what 70% of my diagnosis were. He didn’t know what Dysautonomia, POTS, or EDS were. That’s when I knew I wouldn’t get any help. The doctor talks for a few more minutes asking questions then walks out to grab some diagrams, does a physical examination, and says, “I’m sorry but I don’t feel/see anything wrong. I hope your find doctors who understand the things you said and um… well good luck and it was nice seeing you.” I almost decked the man! I’m in a level 8-10 pain and the best he can say is good luck? For real?! Not even a different medicine? On the worksheet I had to fill out about my symptoms put me in the severe class even without the pain, and he does nothing?! Let’s just say I was ticked and hurt. My mom is devastated with how I was treated and starts calling the pain clinic before we even leave. I have such wonderful doctors that care for me and want the best for me. Because of this my mom was able to get me an appointment the next day in the morning. (She’s my wonder woman!👸)
THURSDAY:
Again another early morning doctor appointment, but I can’t complain because at least I have one! Once I arrived at the hospital, I did not have to wait long before I was back in a room. The doctors (I was only going to see the nurse practitioner, but when she saw my case she grabbed the doctor who grabbed another doctor. In total, there were three doctors examining me.) asked for everyone to leave so I could have privacy, and man! Once that door was shut they went to town. I was almost afraid they would just cut my clothes off with how fast they moved! After their thorough examination, the doctors concluded with what they believe is causing my unconventional pain. They believe that due to the surgery the nerves around my groin are firing in a continuous cycle of pain, and that the MCAS is also attacking the nerves which is why the pain has spread. Obviously this is not a definite answer but it is a trial and error solution. The plan is to go in Tuesday morning, be put under anesthesia, and use numbing shots in six spots to hopefully take care of the pain once and for all. He also prescribed one of the highest doses of pain pills he can. (LOVE 💙 him!!)
Now I can breathe a sigh of relief.
Of course, at the beginning of this week I definitely did not expect for it to end in a procedure like this, but its totally better then living with the pain. Now at the same time there is a downfall. This isn’t an answer, but instead a band aid solution if you will. We are just treating the symptoms. Hopefully this will stop all the pain from my waist down, but even if it doesn’t, what I have learned this week makes it all worth it!
As I look back on this week I see Gods handiwork woven throughout each day. Let me explain. If I had gone to the ER on Monday night, then the doctor would have assumed it was from the hip surgery and not something else, but because I didn’t and went after my hip was clear and they were able to run all the tests they needed. If I hadn’t gone to the ER I wouldn’t have had the imaging tests run then the urologist would have sent me to do them, and I would have been in pain for at least two more weeks trying to do the tests. Even the rudeness of the urologist was needed. If he hadn’t been so rude then my mom and me wouldn’t have made it such a big deal about getting into the pain clinic. Last but not least, if I hadn’t done all these thing beforehand I wouldn’t be getting the procedure on Tuesday! I was even able to speak about my week during my lesson for my church’s men’s ministry, and touch lives through it.
When the pain first came on, and it became difficult to walk, I was very angry with God. (Like what the heck???? I’m just now getting to walk from surgery, and you’re going to do this to me? This is not ok!!) Haha! You’d think that I’d take my own advice from my blogs every once and awhile. I just needed to step back and have some perspective! On Monday I couldn’t see the whole plan, but now that it’s Sunday I can look back and see the whole picture. This week has taught me so much even more than a trial normally does. My faith in God is now stronger because of this wacky week. Does this mean that when my world shakes I won’t scream and fall? No. It means that next time my world shakes I will be able to get up quicker and stronger.
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