LIVING WITH CHRONIC PAIN WITH ANNA AND MAX

Month: June 2025

  • Concerned about recent finances with expenses that I have not had to incur before. 

    CHATTANOOGA TENNESSEE AQUARIUM BUTTERFLY GARDENS 🦋



    Lately, my finances have become a real worry 😟  I have had to purchase some unsessary items for medical use, which I have been unable to return. For instance, just the other day, I purchased a new heating pad for my arthritis. Unfortunately, the heating pad just didn’t get hot enough, so I had to purchase another one today. 😫  I also bought a diabetes meter to test for low blood sugar in the mornings 🌄 but I was not able to figure out how to properly use it. So, it really was a waste of money.

    My bill for groceries has also gone up expanintally, I have been purchasing a few new foods to find out if they would cause a flare-up, foods such as expensive cheese 🧀 and potatoes 🥔 as well as a few other items. Sadly 😥 they have all caused flares, so again 😔 I have been wasting money 💰


    Another large expense that I have never had before on my credit card is paying my two helpers. These costs have gone way up lately because I have been needing them to come around more and more. 😬 (But just as a side note, I do need them desperately) (this is no insult to them)
    (It’s definitely not their fault)

    Anyway
    I have needed them to go down to the apartment complex cluster of mailboxs quite frequently. For pills and other items. The mailbox is much too far for me to walk. 😬

    They also pick up my prescriptions from Walgreens often, they also take Max to the vet when he has to go (which he has recently) and now since I have had more dental and other appointments they have had to drive me to these also 😬

    Also, as I have discussed dental issues with this disease, I have been incurring massive dental bills as of late 😳  with no dental insurance 😳

    My last credit card bill really frightened me 😬 It was a lot larger than usual. And I imagine it will be the same for a while 😬 I really hope that I can afford the constant financial requirements for this strange illness 🤒

  • Painsomnia..

    Dear Max, I wish I could sleep. Painsomnia seems to be a fancy word for not being able to sleep due to pain.

    😴 To tell you the truth, Max, sometimes I get a little jealous when I see you sleeping peacefully 😴

  • Another possible cause and contributor to my Atypical Facial Pain..Spinal Stenosis or Cervicalgia ( it is also quite painful 😒)

  • It is just so strange 😳 that the world keeps going..

    A POPULAR SHOPPING 🛍 MALL HERE IN KISSIMMEE
    PALM TREES ALONG THE ROAD.

    Today, I was coming back from another dental appointment, sitting in the passenger seat while my “helper” drove.

    Since I rarely ever got out of the house due to the pain, I decided to open my eyes and really look around for a few minutes.🤔

    Even though I had been this route many times, something seemed to dawn on me.  So many people were  going on with their everyday lives. Despite the fact that I wasn’t able to do the same thing.

    This suddenly seemed strange to me. 😒

    While I have been lying in bed for almost three years now, traffic lights have been changing, and the palm trees have been swaying

    Things have been moving steadily along 😒

    When my ‘helper’ turned the corner, there was the familiar yellow McDonald’s, which I never thought much about. 😲

    However, today I began to picture the people ordering their lunches, some of them laughing and 😃 As well as  the wonderful aroma of onions, salted fries, and sizzling hamburgers,

    I wondered what the folks were happily chatting about when they sat down at their tables and began to eat.

    Directly next to the McDonald’s is the 7-Eleven, the one where I used to go to fill up my tank when I had a vehicle.

    Sometimes, I would go inside to pick up a snack or two.😀

    I would walk up and down the aisles of goodies, trying to decide on candy or potato chips.
    Then, I would pull into the Publix grocery store in order to pick out some fresh fruits: strawberries,🍓 apples,🍎 blueberries,🫐 and peaches.🍑 Sometimes, once in a while, if I think about it really hard, I can still remember how sweet and delicious they tasted.

    However, unfortunately, that was then, and this is now. I slowly closed my eyes again, not wanting to face my own reality. Coming back  back home to bed and quickly lay down, praying that today I could possibly sleep a little and maybe find a small amount of relief from my constant pain  😢

    I suppose sometimes it really hits me that I am not really a part of this thing we call life anymore, but the world keeps turning even so.

    Honestly, I just can’t seem to wrap my head around this concept. 😕 it is just  really strange 😕

  • Some Chronic Pain 😢 Quotes that I wish weren’t true

    ELMWOOD CEMETARY MEMPHIS TENNESSEE

  • My Facial Pain has been causing recent Dental Issues..

    ELMWOOD CEMETARY MEMPHIS TENNESSEE

    Dear Max,

    Unfortunately 😔 severe facial pain can contribute to dental problems due to the pain caused by toothpaste. Just like the severe pain that it causes with most foods.

    Over the years, I have tried many kinds of toothpastes, hoping that one of them might not be as painful 😳  There have been toothpastes without floride, as well as baking soda, I have even tried oil pulling.

    Luckily, at this point, I am able to use Burts bees toothpastes. It is free of additives and dyes.

    However, in the recent few months, I have needed a root canal, which, as I speak, is now infected and quite painful 😒  The crown did not fit properly on the gums, so the dentist had to sew the gum together. Now, since the crown is not permanent, I am hoping that all his work will not be lost. 😪 when I go to get the permanent crown next week.

    Unfortunately, another very serious issue is that my insurance plan does not come with dental insurance 😕 I am certainly on a fixed income, and this particular infected gum around the root canal has cost me a great deal. 

    Although the infected root canal has been  likely needed for a long time.

    I will probably need another one on one of my top teeth 😬 which will be another EXTREME EXPENSE.

    Unfortunately, the novacaine also cause my facial pain to rise expanintally. not only does it affect my face but also my head, I feel extreme pressure in the area.

    All these dental and financial issues that come with are causing a great deal of stress and constant worry. 😪 which, of course, makes the facial pain worse every day.

    It seems that I am caught in a vicious cycle. Stress always tends to equal more pain, and more pain always leads to more stress 😩

    TO BE CONTINUED

  • Atypical Face Pain What is it? Short Video

    VERY SHORT VIDEO

  • Daily prompt. What is your favorite season of the year, and why?

    What is your favorite season of year? Why?

    My favorite seasons are late spring and early summer.

    Since Florida🌴 doesn’t have any seasons. I am taken back to when I was a little girl in Memphis during April, May, and June before it got too hot to enjoy the days and evenings.

    Walking around with no shoes.Feeling the cool grass as you wiggle your toes.🌿

    Butterflies were fluttering through the fresh air. 🦋The magical days and nights for a child when it began to get dark later and later, and the fireflies would start to come out, lighting up the night sky🌄

    The BBQs are on the patio on the weekends.🥩

    I  would play on my jungle gym as dad got the meat ready to grill.🥩 The delicious smell was wafting through the air. The cicadas are buzzing in the trees.🪰

    Running  through the sprinklers at dusk, Mom came outside with a warm towel. Knowing that I had at least an hour left to play because there was no school, at the end of the night, watching the sun slowly dip below the trees with the soft colors of orange, yellow, and red.🌄

    As well as the warm summer thunderstorms that would pop up, sometimes lulling me to sleep when I went to bed⛈️. Such wonderful memories of this magical time of year.

  • A Simple   Hobby…..Max the Cat photos…..

    Today, I decided to post about something that did not involve doctors or pain.

    MAX IN COLOR POP

    One of my hobbies, before all these medical things began, was to take photos of all my kitties 😸 I really enjoyed editing them, and I loved the challenge of trying to make them perfect 👌 I can still take some photos once in a while. Which still brings a little  pleasure to life.



    These photos 📸 were taken with my phone a while back. I did not particularly feel the need to invest in an extremely expensive camera.

    Max portrait for today 😀

  • Tegretal that Dr. EL-SAID gave me “does not work”

    On May 22, I went to see my third neurologist, Dr. El-Said. Dr. El-Said prescribed some tegretal or Carbamazepine because I had mentioned to him that it was very painful to eat or to brush my teeth.

    Dr. El-said then mentioned that this  sounded  like trigeminal neuralgia, possibly. He also said that the medication would work immediately for my pain if this was the issue.

    I went home 🏡 and was quite doubtful. Unfortunately, I had reason to be. I took the medication 💊 and it did not work at all. The medication actually seemed to make the pain worse. Once again, I was so disappointed 😞  but unfortunately, this was something I was used to.

    Unfortunately, once again, it seems that I am living in the movie Groundhog Day (where every treatment does not work).

    Dr. El-said wants a couple more tests. Another blood test and another mri. Honestly, I do not know what doing more tests will accomplish (since I had already given him quite a great deal of test results), and unfortunately, Mris are expensive

    Somedays, I even questioned myself, wondering if I am even on the right track. The only thing that I have been diagnosed with is spinal stenosis in my neck and upper shoulders by Dr. Jason Song (I have an entry further down about him) and the arthritis injections that he gave me)

    Unfortunately, the spinal stenosis is also quite painful.. (perhaps I should move towards the arthritis route) It has also been told to me quite frequently that I need a headache specialist instead of a neurologist. During my own research for a “headache specialist,” I haven’t found one online at this particular time.

    😪 Sadly, I feel quite tired 😫 of all these things as well as more confused as ever.