Meanwhile ...

... I'm having more frequent and severe back pain, the nerve kind that races through my butt and legs like a lightning strike, and the bone kind, like a newly cut piece of vertebrae right after surgery. My back muscles tighten up so much that I've been getting large knots in my butt. They are palpable and hard. That can't help "the cause," ie keeping me free of back pain.

Then there's these bolts of electricity going through both sides of my lower body. I never had any problems on my left side, only my right side. Now, I have the nerve pain in my right front thigh and my backside and legs, BOTH sides. I'm afraid something is very wrong, but I'll have to wait until I see my surgeon again on April 4th. I expect more x-rays and MRIs will follow, so I won't know right away. Still, I have to have this followed up. I'm becoming more incapacitated and life is not fun now, like I thought it would be after surgery. I just hope all of these new symptoms don't mean more surgery.

My Pain Management Doctor Says ...

...it's time to see my surgeon again because I have new problems and he's concerned. My left side is bothering me just as much as my right side, and these are all post-op developments. He gave me my scripts and told me he'd be sending a status report to my spine specialist, the doctor who did my surgery. I called and made an appointment as soon as I got back home again. I'll probably have to go for more x-rays, MRIs, etc. April 4th is the day it all begins again.

Meanwhile, I've had my Lyrica prescription upped to 75 mg more a day. Now I'm taking three 75 mg pills daily. I'm still using hydrocodone, usually a half 10 mg tab at a time. A half (5 mg) gets me out of bed and moving in the morning, so when I have to get up and go someplace, I set my alarm so I can take it before my day starts. The rest is as needed, and it's usually by halves up to about 15-20 mg a day. I still have oxycodone for hard pain days, but I don't use it very much anymore. I find that, besides being a constipative, it's also a depressive for me. I don't need that.