Mood:
irritatedNow Playing: Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play...?
Topic: Update
It's Thursday night, Oct. 2, & I returned from a few days of tests & appointments with doctors in Fargo at the Meritcare sytem, catching rides from my brothers or sister the past few weeks. I haven't driven my car in nearly 2 weeks because of the extreme pain in my feet. When did all that start,some of you might be wondering? I first experienced leg or foot pain last December when I chose not to drive to Faribault for Christmas.
I kept appointments at the U of M BMT clinic through the winter months, but had to stop at every rest area to walk around, thinking it was restless legs? My time with my sons in Cabo San Lucas was challenging, but I managed to walk the beach & get some "color". Upon my return I saw my U of M oncologist & he detremined my Graft vs. Host Disease (GVHD) required me to me on Predisone ( a steriod), which I still take because they won't change my medications until they can see me.
By June I knew I couldn't mange the drive to the twin cities, & even with a driver I would probably suffer foot pain from being idle so long. Actually, I cancelled 3 appointments there & chose to see my hemoatologist-oncologist in Fargo instead.After an exam of my feet & legs, she prescribed 3 types of pain medication, all of which causes some dizziness & my stomach is most affected by the pills adversely. I've seen my Fargo doctor 4 times & she suggested a Pain Clinic, which I assume is a way to "manage" pain? I asked about seeing a Podiatrist (foot doctor) & she did get me an appointment. He immediatley said my feet & legs were not the result of neuropathy (a nerve affliction), but from poor circulation. I suspected this when I saw my Cardiologist at the U of M last May, but he
actually told me any foot pain was not caused by my heart. It took me weeks before I decided that cirulation IS directly related to the heart, but I wasn't scheduled to see him again until December, so let it be.
Anyway, in the last 2-3 weeks I've seen my Fargo oncologist 4 times, the Podiatrist twice, & a Radiologist twice. The poditrist made an appointmnet for me with the vascular lab so saw them last Friday. The tests showed little or no blood flow , which I found out Wednesday when I had an appointment with the Interventional Radiologist again to do a procedure called a Aorto Femoral Arteriogram. My hope was that the solution of dye which they injected would tell them it was posible for blood to flow below my knees. No such luck, so after an afternoon of recovery from the angioplasty, I stayed another night with my brother Warren & Lynn in north Fargo.
Today I again saw the podiatrist & he saw the formation of ulcers under my feet, which alarmed him because without blood flow to the feet, healing is near impossible or not possible. The time with him was discouraging, to say the least, because he implied that amputation may be my only option. Before my brother & I left, he set up an appointment with A Vascular surgeon for Tuesday, Oct. 7 in Fargo. My
return home had mixed feelings about all my tests, consultations, & the diagnosis. My pain is such that I walk very slowly, take rests frequently & "cover" the pain with medications, as needed.
So... my prayer request to you is that whatever the outcome, I will be okay with it, even if it means prosthesis for the remainder of my life? My family is a great support system, for which I'm very grateful. Keep the faith for me!
Wes
(P.S.All my Fargo doctors have determined that the CAUSE of my affliction is the heart damage from the sepsis infection & the affects the several doses of chemotherapy had on my artieries dealing with leukemia)