Short Medical Update

I FINALLY was referred to see a pain interventionalist and had my appointment last week. It was eye opening. First the good news, she believes I have been undermedicated and that my pain is not well controlled. She added another pain pill as needed each day which means I can now take up to three pills a day as needed. This is a HUGE relief because juggling two was hard. I had to try to figure out if I hurt bad enough or if I should wait for it to get worse before taking one. Thankfully, it's a pretty basic drug and I have adjusted to it since starting it in January so it doesn't impair me as much as it used to. Still, driving needs to be factored in around taking it because there is NO WAY I'm driving my children around if there is even the smallest chance of me being impaired in any way. It's a risk I just won't take. Luckily, it's been doable. If I already have meds on board, like when Kaylen needed to go to the ER, Stephanie will drive. Second, the not so good news. I have been diagnoised with fibromyalgia because I exhibit too many "hot spots" that trigger pain. I did a double take at the secondary diagnosis, and I would be lying if I told you tears didn't come to my eyes, but once I did some research, I discovered that many syringomyelia patients are double DX'd with fibro because the symptoms overlap. In a way, this is good because fibro has been diagnosable (yeah - I made that word up)much longer than the knoweldge of SM and pain is the primary concern of both conditions. The excellent news is that my pain doc is going to take my scans to a local conference that is held with all different types of providers so that she can get some more input on how to help me. The best thing is, she didn't give me a laundry list of what I can't do. She told me I was in charge of how much I did on any given day and that I don't have to feel like I cant do something - I just maybe can't do it THAT day. I love that affirmation because that is how I have been living my life but now I no longer have to feel guilty. If the syrinx grows, it grows. I still get to have a quality life. Take THAT syringomyelia! :)