Feeling better and making progress

I have been so sick for so long, I feel amazing right now.  I have had numerous setbacks since my successful surgery on October 31.  I know I have gotten behind on keeping my blog updated, so I will try to give a brief recap of the past 5 months.

I had my surgery on October 31 to remove my right adrenal gland and egg size tumor.  It was a successful surgery and luckily the tumor was not cancerous.  I had my surgery on a Wednesday and was released to go home on Sunday.  I was sore from the surgery, but felt pretty good other than the expected pains.  On the way home from St. Louis I started getting sick. I was vomiting and felt tremendous pain.  I ended up in the emergency room the following evening in Springfield.  I was having adrenal insufficiency.  The next several weeks was a whirlwind of ER visits and hospitalizations.  I was very sick.  Ended up being transported back to St. Louis a couple of times. 

I now have a list of illnesses that I suffer from :  Cushing's Syndrome, Diabetes, High blood pressure, Chronic pancreatitis, gastroparesis, 2 or 3 herniated discs in my back, arthritis, and chronic pain throughout my body.  Luckily, I was recently able to get a doctor to listen to me and they put me on Fentanyl patches for chronic pain and I have a prescription of morephine for breakthrough pain.  This has made it possible for me to actually have some time without pain.  That is amazing to me.

I have applied for Social Security Disability and was denied.  I will be getting a lawyer to appeal this, of course.  I want to go back to work, but I am limited on what I can do because of my pain.  I also still have my seizure like episodes and that would not be safe for me to be working while suffering through one of them.  The doctor also told me that I cannot drive as long as I am on my pain medicine, so I will be trying to find something through the Missouri Career Center or Vocational Rehab to see if they can help me.  I want to feel like I am an active, vital member of society.  

I am being referred to the Chronic pain care center in Springfield to see what we can do to maintain the pain under control.  I guess only time will tell what will happen.  I will continue to blog and learn more about my illnesses.  I have learned that anxiety disorders and panic attacks are part of my Cushing's Syndrome.  That was comforting to figure out so I don't feel like I'm totally losing my mind.