Balancing Act

My dad's WW II ship LSM 447 Yea Olde Tub

Sometime over Memorial Day I pulled a muscle in my chest. I didn't get an "Ouch $&#!" moment, just found when I laid down for sleep Sunday that it was very painful over my left pectoral muscle area. It mainly hurts the last couple of inches before my back hits the mattress. It then hurts like hell and eases over a few minutes. It makes it difficult to get up and impossible to do my PT correctly.

So this along with phantom pain (PP) started the week with me in a particular grumpy mood of misery. Only a pain pill later in the day kept me from getting very dejected over my lot in life. I have gone from Gabapentin (neurontin) to Lyrica back to Gabapentin trying to get some relief. At 2 x 75mg and 3 x 100mg respectively/day, I felt my dosing significantly lower than what I read other amputees used, typically 1600 - 3000mg /day.

After emailing my CP, I finally called my doc's PA and asked for a nerve med adjustment on Tuesday. I was very tired of hurting and they bumped up my dosing to 3 - 4x 100/200mg, still low I think but there you have it. I do take 200mg and it takes the edge off but the trade-off is sleepiness for me. Afternoons at work are a struggle to do my job and stay awake. I am sleeping better at night so I will deal with this compromise as best I can and know eventually that the PP will get better.

I did very little PT given the PP and muscle pull this week, but I consider this largely my failing. When given a problem there is often more than one solution - and we don't skin cats around here. I may not be able to lie on my back and do my PT, but I can sit on the floor and still do the exercises with little loss of effect.

Speaking of PT, it is Sunday, May 31 as I write this and need to do a session. When I finished I want to write about Friday separately. I am also working on a time line to post the milestones of my amputation journey.

Also, please email me if you have questions or topics you'd like more information about. If you are an amputee runner in SC or near Charleston, I'd like to hear from you as I need a mentor!