Yesterday, we drove to our "shopping town" to keep my appointment at the cancer center in order to have the IV drip of pamidronate, a medication to help beef up my bones for the upcoming fusion surgery.
Alas, I ended up not getting the IV treatment at all. I spoke with Dr. Fu, telling him I have a lot of intense jaw pain every day, and since bisphosphonates can cause jaw necrosis, he had me go to the hospital for a bunch of xrays.
The nice girls doing the xrays were so gentle, but the way they had to manipulate my head to get the shots, it took the legs out from under me. I was supposed to go back and get the 3.5 hour IV drip if the xrays looked good, but I went back and said I'd have to reschedule, I had been there over 2 hours already and couldn't look at another 4.
Dr. Fu called when I got home and said the xrays didn't show anything but that was nothing because xrays are such a low-tech diagnostic tool. So, he is setting up an MRI of my jaw.
It's a deep, burning ache, lower right jaw. Doc said he wouldn't do a pamidronate infusion at all until I had the MRI and everything was clear to go. No DEXA (bone density test) until the end of the year, so I definitely won't be having the fusion until early next year, at the earliest, if all proceeds well. MRI is scheduled next week if it is authorized by work comp.
AND, praises to God, the MGUS (monoclonal gammopathy, pre multiple myeloma condition) tests all came back normal and fine. So no worries about that.
Today, I am in a lot of pain due to the positioning of my head during the imaging. Very weak and feeling very "neuro." I just can't be moving my head in different directions, no matter how little the movement seems to be. They also pulled downward on my arms to lower my shoulders out of the pictures of my jaw, but now I realise what I already knew but forgot: the arms are attached to the upper Cspine! They should have known how that might affect me, I told them all about my injuries.
I had hopes of cancelling my trip next month to see "Agreed Upon Medical Examiners" for work comp purposes. I am just not feeling up to it at all. But now, I am learning it is very important for me to go, so I will just cowboy up and do it. Then we'll be back for a week before flying back down to California to our son's wedding.
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