Little update

Sorry I have been unable to blog as much as I'd like lately. I've been working on some short devotionals and I am going to be sharing my testimony with my MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group on Friday. I would appreciate your prayers. I pray God will use my life story and in particular my struggle with pain over the last couple of years to glorify himself.

I did see my pelvic pain doctor on April 1st and she is going to order an MRI in Phoenix in August. There is a radiologist there who is learning to look for pudendal nerve entrapements so I pray it will be helpful. I am also trying to get a better cushion to sit on.  My doctor doesn't really have anything else she can offer me other than trialing different meds. I often feel like the side effects of meds outweigh the benefits and I am functioning at a decent (albeit greatly modified) level so I don't want to mess with other meds till I see the specialist.  She did give me valium suppositories to try when I am especially flared. I took one the other night before bed (as ordered) just to see if it helped, but I couldn't tell a difference because I was sleeping. My pain returned the next morning as usual (I normally wake up feeling better, pelvic pain wise-not widespread pain wise, but within an hour or so of normal daily living it returns. Ironically within an hour or two of waking my widespread pain feels a little better). So I don't see much point in the suppositories.

I am continuing to go to physical therapy once a week, but I really don't feel like I am getting much benefit from it anymore. My doctor thinks it's good to continue, but my therapist agrees that if in the next 4 visits or so I don't see any improvement in my pain levels then it might be wise to start backing off.  I have been doing PT now for a year (consitently from Feb-July and then Oct-present) and I am not any better. It may help manage my pain a little, but I highly doubt PT is going to "cure" me anymore. If this is a condition I must live with longterm I have to decide how I am going to manage it. With PT costing me about $40-50 a visit until we meet our out of pocket maxium, that's a lot of money with little benefit I think. So I need prayer in this decision as well.

On a good note, the weather has been a lot better lately. I have been trying to take my daughter and dog for a walk on the sunny days and I think this helps my overall pain levels a bit (I know it helps my "spirits" as I love exercise).  This week hasn't been quite as good, but I'm learning to manage better I think. That's what living with chronic pain is about: managing and most importantly leaning on God's all sustaining grace.