Ok...new take on the same question....

Thunderwolf, MSN, RN · Oct 22, 2005

Your post was nicely done.

IloveSnoopy · Oct 22, 2005

Thanks Thunderwolf :) I guess nobody else thought it was nicely written because I have no replies.... :crying2: ...lol. Thank you for making this board a great place to come to :)

hugs,

snoop'

rach_nc_03 · Oct 22, 2005

hi snoop-

i haven't responded yet because....i'm in pain! hehe. seriously. i've dealt with the pain of endometriosis and daily migraines (probably an outgrowth of the hormonal imbalance caused by the endo) for about 2 years now...just when i thought those were kicked, i ended up with debilitating pain in my hip that will culminate with me having arthroscopic hip surgery in the next few weeks- and could put me on unpaid medical leave for several months. :crying2:

i'm off work til tuesday, and i'm experimenting with the different non-narcotic meds I've been prescribed, none of which are doing much good. and i'm taking whopping doses of ibuprofen on days where i work- up to three grams per day. i'm hoping the combination of ultram and voltaren might help some- even though the ultram is technically non-narcotic, it certainly lays me out, so i don't think i can take it and work.

i'm just trying to muddle through til thursday, when i have a 2-week stretch off while my fiancee is home on leave. my hope is to have the surgery while he's here, as i don't really have anyone that can help me get around while i recover. if i can't have it soon, i'll have to ask to be put on medical leave early, or 'light duty', which is a complete joke. what's the 'light duty' form of bedside nursing? the only thing i can think of is working half-shifts, as a colleague in a different unit is doing after knee surgery. but, to make matters more complicated, i recently switched jobs, which automatically puts me on a 3-month probationary period. great. what i *hope* is that the hospital would fear a lawsuit too much to fire me while all this is going on.

speaking of murky legal waters, i'm curious to know what other chronic pain sufferers have done about this issue- in my old unit, i told *one* coworker about my hip problem and pending surgery. i mean, i have a pronounced limp now, but i didn't talk to anyone else about it. not only does my old manager know i'm up for surgery, my *new* manager knows about it as well....and, somehow, everyone on the new unit seemed to know about it before i started orientation there, plus details had been embellished (like i was going to take six months off after the surgery). I can't believe this is happening in the face of all the HIPPA stuff we deal with every day. I mean, i know i started the ball rolling when i discussed this with one my former coworker, but the fact that my *new* coworkers knew about this really kills me. i had a meeting with the old and new managers to discuss my job transition, and when they asked, i told them both about what's happening exactly- i did think it was only fair to the new manager to have a reasonable idea about what timeframe i'm facing for recovery. but everyone else? come on.

sorry to rant and ramble, but this is really getting me down, on top of being in severe pain. because i'm financially compelled to work, my quality of life has gone to zilch. i come home and collapse. I can barely drive- pushing the gas pedal is agonizing. I'm so frustrated by all of this, and i used up all my paid time off for my fiancee's upcoming leave. plus, there's a distinct possibility i won't qualify for FMLA, and if i don't, i'll have to pay my health insurance premiums while i'm out- to the tune of $450 a month.

so, i guess the answer to your original question- i'm not sure how i'll be dealing with this going forward. there's a very real possibility this latest problem will force me to leave bedside nursing in my first year of my nursing career! when i worked in technology, it was very easy for people to deal with many health issues- many of us could work from home, if need be. i'd really like to go into nursing research at some point, but going back to school now is a complete impossibility financially. so i guess i'm not exactly the best person to get advice from right now.:stone

IloveSnoopy · Oct 22, 2005

Rachel,

Thank you so much for your response..it means a lot to me!! Gosh...first off..I wanted to say that I am so sorry for everything you are going thru right now!! I really wish you weren't going thru all this but I must admit...it makes me feel better knowing that I have someone in the same boat with me. Actually are cases are very similiar...especially if I get this new job(cross your fingers). Yeah....my quality of life has been near ziltcho lately too.....when I'm not having pain..(which is rare) I concentrate all my energy on what to do in times of pain. Endometriosis is a dirty word in my book...it gives me pain, impairs my ability to work, to go out with friends and family, to have a child,etc, etc... I'm just so sick of it all. My current NM and co-workers are very understanding...but I must admit....it took awhile for them to get it. Finally I just said what one of my doctors said; "having endometriosis pain (and working) would be like being in the very active stages of labor and working"....after I said that everyone was like "ohhhhhhhhhhh..yikes".

Yeah..if I get this new job..I'm just not sure what to do. I really, really don't want her to immediately reget hiring me. That's why I'm going to go hush-hush for awhile and try to muddle thru for awhile. I'm just so nervous about missing work, having to take leave for more surgery(which I may have to do for infertility reasons), and then to get right down to it....I'm scared to get pregnant cause I would be worried about taking maternity leave so soon after starting. I really want a baby though.....so as you can see...I'm also facing a few issues as well. I do have over 50 PTO hours and 50 EIB hours (extended illness bank)..so that reassures me a little. I take one to two days a month (right now) for "cramps" but I don't know if I'll be able to do that if I get my new job? Yeah....I don't take 'normal and fun' vacations like most of my co-workers.... I spend my vacation days sitting at home with a heating pad, rocking back and forth in pain.

Anyways..this is getting kind of long...sorry to rant so much. May I add you to my buddy list? Maybe we could be "chronic pain' buddies or something? What a name...."chronic pain buddies"...yikes. Anywho...ok...good luck to you..i hope everything goes well. Feel free to pm me anytime.....I may be pm'ing you in the future just to talk...if that's ok? OK..take care..

Luv,

snoop;

LoriAlabamaRN · Oct 27, 2005

I also have chronic pain... several years ago I broke my back in a car accident between L4-5 and L5-S1. Since then three discs have herniated and I have been fighting the need to have back surgery because it terrifies me. When I started having so much pain, I admit I took narcotics. But then one day it sorta hit me- there is no happy end to that route. I decided that I was not going to live my life taking pain pills, increasing dosages and adding new narcs when I developed tolerance. So I started forcing myself to live with the pain, to ignore it and work through it. Now the only time I can't handle it is when I lay down to sleep and can't ignore it or distract myself anymore- so if I need a pain pill, I take it then. Otherwise I simply don't sleep well at all, waking up every two hours, pacing, etc because of the back pain/sciatica. When I took a week's vacation with my dh to our beachhouse, I did take the pain meds so I could relax and fish, walk the beach, etc without hurting. Other than that, I take Advil and Aleve during my shift, walk around several times an hour (even just getting up and stretching if sitting too long at my desk.) My father is addicted to pain medicine, which I guess is another reason why that route scares me. When I find myself dwelling on my pain, I force myself to think about something else, I pray, I check on my residents (many of whom have far worse problems than mine), and then I allow myself to take the narcotic once I am home and going to bed. I have only had to miss work twice in the last year because of back pain, and once was when I had to catch a falling resident and wrenched it. If I am hurting to the point where I HAVE to take a narcotic, I call in to work, its that simple. I guess overall I try not to let my pain run my life. My staff knows about my back and they are great about helping me with anything I need (even scolding me when they see me carrying something heavy). Most people are very understanding when it comes to something like this. Over time I have built up an incredibly high pain tolerance, which has helped a LOT also.

There will always be people who assume you are an addict. Don't let them get to you! When I first had my back go out on me (which left me on the floor of my apartment for 14 hours until a neighbor found me) I was treated horribly by the ER nurses... sort of like "Oh great, another addict claiming back pain" until an MRI was ordered and a ruptured disc was found cutting into the sheath around my sciatic nerve. I have never felt so embarrased in my life as when they treated me like a drug addict, and it has taught me to never put anyone else through that type of treatment. Don't let the closeminded people bother you.

I pray that you will find relief from your pain, and that you will be surrounded by compassionate people willing to help you through it.

Lori

jerseyboy · Dec 6, 2005

ILoveSnoopy,

Please visit www.painreliefnetwork.org. There are millions of Americans in pain and this organization is fighting for the rights of pain patients. Help may be on the way, please see www.doctordeluca.com/Library/WOD/PRN_v_USA.pdf

JB