New Years In The Hospital

Sorry I haven't posted in a while things have just been a bit crazy. The new year for me did not start out very well. Over the past  month my right hip has been bothering me very much and for a while I thought I could just continue taking my breakthrough medication to cope. When I went to visit my pain management doctor last Tuesday he added Percocet as a new breakthrough medication. However it didn't work, and then hospice tried to tweak with my meds. My pain got so bad that they finally told me to go to the ER, and I was admitted early Saturday evening. The doctors and even my rheumatologist who was on call thought it was the AVN that I was told I had in both hips. The MRI was a bit fuzzy so it was hard to read. I was given IV Dilauted, and Roxycodone for the pain, and IV Benadryl, because the Dilauted caused itching. On Monday the orthopedist came buy and said that the AVN that was there in August of 2010 had healed itself, which was a relief, because it meant that I didn't need surgery. He was puzzled by wht could be causing my pain, so he wanted my rheumatologist to take over. Luckily, Dr. C had a pretty good idea what the problem was after learning that the AVN was gone. He suspected that pain from my Sacroiliac (SI) Joints was causing the pain in my hip. Pain in the lower back can radiate into the hip causing the patient and the doctors to believe that the pain is originating in the hip. Dr. C then said he wanted my SI's and hip to be imaged at an imaging center outside of the hospital. He wants someone to come do PT with me at home due to the fact that my immune system is to weak for me to do physical therapy at a therapy gym. After the new MRI's are done we will be able to isolate the problem and make me comfortable. I was released yesterday and am glad to say that I am now home, and doing better, though I am still in some discomfort. 


I also went to San Antonio to see my Hem/Onc doctor there. My blood tests show that my white blood cell count is low, which means that my actual bone marrow is suppressed, this means that the chemotherapy is working. There is some improvement in my joints so we will continue with the 18 month treatment plan. My blood clot is also 1/4th the size that it was, so that means that the blood thinners are working. Hopefully, I can get a Port-O-Cath inserted soon, so that I can get the PICC line removed from my arm, but we may have to wait until the clot improves even more. All in all I would say that there have been ups and downs, but my family and I keep chuggin along on this roller coaster of a ride. I hope that this new year will bring good new things both with my health, and life in general. 


Joyful Love
         &
Blessings In The Lord
Alexandra K. Acosta