Friday, June 28, 2013

THESE ARE THE CHALLENGES WE FACE!

Yesterday was just one of those days that anyone with IC knows is going to be a huge challenge and that the next day (or maybe even longer) we will pay the price. I am paying the price today.

My Mom had knee replacement surgery 6 weeks ago and yesterday she had a post-op appointment with the orthopedic surgeon; it was to be the first time she would see him since the surgery and it was an important appointment. I also had my six week follow up appointment with my Urogynecologist scheduled for later in the day yesterday. Mom also sees the same Urogynecologist for other issues, and since all of these doctors are down in the same area, which is an hour drive away, it always seems like a good idea to schedule them on the same day to spare us having to drive all the way down there multiple times.

So, Mom made her appointment with the Orthopedic surgeon for Noon. Our appointments at the Urogynecologist were for 3:40PM and 4:20PM respectively. We figured that would give us time to have lunch in between and plenty of time to get from where the ortho is located over to where the urogyne is. HA!

Right now my Mom is still not driving long distances so my wonderful niece took the day off from work to drive us and asked if, after our appointments, we could make a stop for something she needed and that was at a store on the way home anyway. Seemed doable, so we agreed.

Well, we left the house at 11AM to get to the ortho by noon. And there we sat! And sat; and sat, and sat. THREE HOURS we sat at the orthopedic surgeon's office! Now, I'm used to waiting in doctor's offices as most of us are. My IC doctor runs late all the time. But this was a new level of waiting! My Mom was proactive and kept trying to push things along and she finally got back there, but only after waiting for 3 HOURS! Luckily she was not long with the doctor, but we had no time for lunch - maybe if they had told us he was running that late, we could have poppped out for a quick bite, but when you never know if you're going to be called next, you don't want to take a chance and leave. So there we sat.

We got out just in time to hop in the car and just made it to the Urogynecologist's office by the narrowest of margins! All 3 of us starving by this time. Mom's appointment went fairly quickly, but my IC doctor is so great, he spent 45 minutes with me. As I am such a complex case and we have so much to discuss, he never rushes me, talks and reviews thoroughly what we have been doing since I saw him last and if we want to tweak anything. I got an instillation - WOW did I need that by that time!

So by the time I was finished, we didn't leave the hospital until 5:45PM. Then off to the errand for my patient niece who had been driving us and sitting around all day with us. She certainly earned the trip to the store for what she needed. Of course, when we left the house at 11AM it was hot and sunny. By the time we left the hospital it was POURING rain - AGAIN! Just what we needed to drive in! 

She didn't take long and after her errand was complete we decided we had earned ourselves some dinner. So we headed in the direction of home and made a stop at a restaurant we all agreed we could find something to eat (all 3 of us have special food needs) and got a wonderful dinner. Boy that tasted good! They served us quickly and we unwound and relaxed while enjoying a nice dinner.

Then it was time to finish the drive home, pulling into the driveway at 8:00PM! Can you believe that we'd been gone for 9 HOURS! We couldn't. All three of us collapsed when we got home and luckily I did sleep fairly well last night.

These are the challenges that we have to deal with that never used to turn us into a pile of mush! Remember going shopping and out to lunch for an entire day before IC? Those were the days! Even working (some of you still do and it's a struggle I know). We used to be able to do things like this, but not anymore.

Now a day like this takes a huge toll on our bodies and there's just no getting around it. This did not turn out as we anticipated and had we any idea we'd be cooling our heals for 3 HOURS at the first appointment we would never have scheduled things this way. You know what they say; the best laid plans!

But as the title of this post says, this was a big challenge and today I am beyond exhausted and will not get out of my chair except for bathroom runs and food! In fact, a nap is in order very soon. I know everyone can relate to these types of challenges. Just getting to and from a doctor's appointment can send us into a flare or state of exhaustion that can take days to recover from. So today I will rest. Try to regain what little energy (I use the term loosely as an IC patient) I have. 

Hopefully tomorrow will be a "better" day!


This is me today!


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